In this Goulet Q&A episode, Brian talks about aluminum nibs, blindfolded pen tests, and how we part ways with brands. Enjoy!

This week:

• Good family time, board games, bowling party, Christmas play, Frozen 2
• Full swing of holidays, our busiest time of year at work and home
• Christmas choir concert this weekend, lots of practice
• Platinum Prefounte
• Van Gogh Orchard in Blossoms
• Visconti Opera Master Turtle and Oceanic
• Pelikan m200 gold marbled
• Diplomat Excellence Waves
• Santa Jaws stickers
• Coming soon:
  • TWSBI 70ml ink
  • TWSBI Eco-T Mint Blue
  • ST DuPont, Line D, Paris with Love
  • Montegrappa Elmo in Marshmallow
  • Montegrappa Elmo Fantasy Blooms
  • BENU Supreme New Years
  • Monty Winnfield

Pens/Writing

1) nitnelav1994- Instagram (22:25)

When people talk about “tuning” a fountain pen, what does that mean?

• This refers to the nib, and means a couple of different things
• One purpose of “tuning” is to allow the nib to write smoothly, it has to do with the feel on the page as you write
• the other has to do with ink flow, consistency and wetness
• reshaping the nib is generally referred more as “grinding”, which falls into repair or customization, generally a step beyond “tuning”
• tuning is a term the community uses in a couple of different ways, either referring to getting a nib to work well when it doesn’t, or just adjusting it to meet a personal preference, such as writing smoother or wetter
• this is something that at the simplest levels can be done by anyone, but more complexity is added the more specific you try to get

2) frijoldelsol- Instagram (25:50)

Why aren’t there any aluminum nibs? There seems to be a large number of aluminum alloys but no aluminum nibs.

• aluminum has about the same bending strength as gold, significantly less than steel, so that could possibly work
• aluminum won’t rust but corrodes in particular with salt, which is a component of ink
• corrosion hugely increased with basic or acidic contact, which many inks are
• this is the exact reason why you don’t want to eyedropper convert pens with aluminum-lined bodies inside
• more difficult to weld, so likely would have more issues keeping the bond with the tipping material
• Vintage pen experts may know of some pen companies that tried aluminum nibs (surely this was something tried in the past) but there’s a reason you don’t see them around, I’m willing to bet

3) angkevinli- Instagram (31:05)

If you were blindfolded, could you tell the difference in writing between a gold and steel nib?

• that’s a fun question! I don’t know, surely with some pens, but maybe not with others
• some gold nibs are rather stiff, like Platinum, Lamy 2000, etc
• some steel nibs are softer, Omniflex, Diplomat Magnum
• I’m sure I could likely tell the difference far more than your average person, but I’ve never tried this so I honestly don’t know how I’d do!
• This sounds like a fun idea to try, I’ll think on it some more and maybe test it with Drew in Write Now 🙂

Ink

4) @mchapman18- Twitter  (33:01)

Do you feel that the ink market has become over saturated? I feel like there’s been an explosion in manufacturers and special editions since I first started paying attention. This is good for the consumer but are people buying enough ink for retailers and manufactures to profit?

• It definitely has exploded in the last several years
• We’ve increased our offering a lot (and dropped a lot, too)
• existing brands have increased their lines
• new companies have come on the scene
• pen companies with existing lines have come out with whole new ones (Lamy Crystal, Pilot Iroshizuku, Pelikan Edelstein)
• more companies are doing ink with LE/SE pens
• more special edition inks in general
• shimmer inks, sheening inks
• this has been something really over the last 20 years that’s grown so much, really ramping up in the last 5 years
• it’s great to see, but yes, I would say certainly we’re starting to hit some walls, similar colors cannibalizing each other, entire lines losing marketshare, it’s becoming much more competitive
• it’s supply and demand, I do think there’s enough room for everyone right now (especially globally), but certain markets will surely do better or worse for some brands

5) akorb1987- Instagram (38:44)

Are Diamine InkVent Calendar inks going to be on sale individually?

• good question, I don’t know yet
• certainly if there are colors that really rise to the top, they’d consider it, so keep that feedback flowing!
• what should we vie for?

Paper

6) unjuanequis- Instagram (40:14)

Can paper lose its coating? I have some Fabriano pads that feather a lot, unlike previous pads, same line

• I’m sure it can somehow, but I don’t really hear of this regularly
• sometimes hand oils or other environmental factors can obscure the coating impacting how the ink is absorbed
• more likely, you’re dealing with batch variation from pad to pad, that is much more common
• I don’t know anything about Fabriano’s production process, or how consistent they are
• I do know that consistency of paper is most noticeable with fountain pen ink, and is an issue with many notebook brands who aren’t absolutely adamant about the paper’s consistency

Personal

7) andrej.rusakov- Instagram (43:54)

How’s it going?!

• good, I’m really good. Pretty busy, but I like that. Trying to manage my stress, balance a lot of priorities, but I’m just super grateful for everything I have and get to do. Thanks for asking

Business

8) journaltimesimagination- Instagram (44:28)

When you guys stop selling a brand, do you sell it until you run out or do you get rid of it in other ways?

• it can depend on the circumstance:
  • the manufacturer changes their distribution strategy, stops retail and wants to sell direct, or drops their pen line altogether
  • the manufacturer goes out of business
  • it’s a poor seller for us and there’s not enough customer interest to support the brand in our store, so we drop it
  • it’s an okay seller and there is demand, but the logistics are so challenging we just can’t justify it
• there are a couple of different ways we could go about it all
• we are authorized retailers for all our brands, so we always want to be on good graces with our brands, even on the way out
• most of the time we’ll just sell through what we have until we run out, offering as much support as we can, and not making a big stink about it out of respect for the brand’s impact
• we’ll offer for the brand to buy back our stock if we have enough to justify those logistics, so we don’t sit on it forever or flood the market with discounted product
• if they don’t want it back, we’ll try to move it along with a clearance price discount, but then ongoing support/returns aren’t feasible on our end
• we haven’t tried anything much more creative than that, like selling to another retailer directly or dumping it on a marketplace under a different identity
• we want to stay on the up and up, try to be graceful on the way out with any brand we are parting ties with
• this industry is small, and you never know when a brand you’ve part ways with could come back around

QOTW: What are your thoughts on the current state of ink offerings? Is it oversaturated? Where are there gaps in ink offerings? (51:50)

Write On,
Brian Goulet

In this Goulet Q&A episode, Brian talks about what he does with my fountain pens the most, step 1 when getting a new pen, and how we can objectively state which nibs are smooth or scratchy. Enjoy!

This week:

• Thanksgiving
• Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Weekend, etc
• Write Nows this week with new product roundup on Monday, Goulet Grab Bag on wed, lots of fun
• Let’s jump right into it!

Pens/Writing

1) christian.prentice93- Instagram (4:21)

What is the thing you do most with your fountain pens? Do you have a favorite activity involving your pens? (Journaling, Calligraphy, etc.)

• With most of MY pens? Honestly, I reference them more than anything else
• I write with them daily, but I’m not writing novels or anything, just meeting notes and stuff like that
• I do journal, though I’ve fallen hard off that wagon recently
• My favorite thing is just to pull them out, compare, reference, photograph, talk about them, show them in videos…I really love sharing about the pens and learning about them, that’s probably my favorite activity!

2) mindthebodynl- Instagram (8:57)

I have a Platinum 3776. I have been considering expanding my gold nibbed fountain pen collection by getting a Lamy 2000 or a Pilot VP. But later realized that getting one of these pens would not necessarily widen my collection in terms of writing experience that much perhaps, given that all three of them have relatively stiff gold nibs. What would be some options you’d recommend for a relatively affordable gold nibbed pen that has a more flexible nib than the Platinum 3776 (the Lamy 2000 and the Pilot VP)? #gouletqa

• solid question, “deep track”
• firstly, all the pens you mentioned here are rock solid, I’d recommend them any day of the week as they’re some of the best value and workhorse gold nib pens around
• You can, on some of the 3776’s get soft nibs, and those are going to be a pretty different feel than the non-soft 3776
• Shoutout to the 3776 Carnelian, dropped in price recently to $192, has a soft-fine nib
• Lamy 14k two-tone gold nibs (basically everything but the 2000) is soft, wet, and great as an experience, you can get these on some Studio, Scala, CP1, Dialog 3, and individually and put them on any Lamy (but the 2000)
• Pilot Custom 74, this is where it really stands apart from the VP, it’s got a spring to the nib
• Pilot E95s, also a nice springy nib with even a little line variation
• Pilot Falcon, the OG soft nib

3) Kimiko C- Facebook (21:22)

“What is step one when receiving a new pen? Flushing entire nib? With what? (I read there can be residual oils left on them!?) Do I then have to let it dry for 24 hours?”

• Make sure you got the right stuff in your order
• Give it a quick visual inspection, make sure there’s nothing damaged, not craziness going on
• Every manufacturer will recommend cleaning the pen first
• There are some manufacturing oils/residue/dust/swarf that happen in the making of a pen, and many many of them do clean the pens as they’re being made, but still, it’s a good idea to clean them first
• Just flushing with water is okay, maybe add a little dish soap, then flush with clear water after to be certain if you wish
• ink up, be patient as the feed saturates and begins flowing, assist it with a paper towel to wick ink from the nib
• don’t tap it on the paper, you can “shake the ink down a bit”, but that can get messy
• No, you definitely don’t need to let it dry for 24 hours, that’s something I really only recommend if you’re going to be storing the pen unused for a while (months)

4) Amy A- Facebook (34:42)

As a person fairly new to the fountain pen world, I find myself extra anxious about the cycle of filling the pen and cleaning it. Any advice on how to get over this anxiety/fear?

• Watch our FP101 Pen Maintenance and other videos showing tips about how to do it
• Cleaning them is one of the best ways you get to know them, how they work
• Anytime you know something better, it demystifies it and you get more comfortable
• Unless you do something crazy, you’re not going to hurt your pen filling and cleaning it!
• Then just do it…they’re pens, don’t be afraid of them
• The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll get, so you just have to sort of dive in and try it

5) Rung W- Facebook (39:13)

What are the pros and cons of heavy vs light-weighted pen? Why a person might prefer one over another?

• They’re definitely a personal preference thing, so my pros/cons will not be set in stone, just generalizations
• Heavier pens are good because:
  • Bigger pens are usually heavier, can be good for people with bigger hands
  • Some people associate weight with quality
  • Often made of durable materials like metal, stone, etc
• Lighter pens are good because:
  • Less tiring for your hand when writing
  • Weighs down less in your pocket, less likely to fall out of a pen loop

Ink

6) Caroline F- Facebook (48:44)

Tell me about options for a red shimmer ink! There are a handful on Goulet and I’d love to know which one you like best.

• The OG and my favorite is Jacques Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite, nice red/green/gold color
• Diamine Red Lustre is up there in popularity too, red with gold shimmer
• Diamine Wine Divine if you wanted a little more of a burgundy color, again with gold sheen
• There are others if you go on our site, navigate to ink in the top navigation, then the sheening category, filter by reds on the left side of the page
• These will be fun for holiday cards if you’re into that, but be aware some cardstock won’t show the shimmer so well, the more absorbent the paper, the less shimmer you see.

Troubleshooting

7) Curt A- Facebook (52:53)

I keep seeing complaints about “scratchy” nibs. It’s a term that needs some definition (and a discussion of causes) because there cannot be THAT many terrible nibs out there. What some people see as a “terrible, scratchy nib” might just be feedback to others. And of course, there’s the whole issue of writing angle and pressure.

• yeah, this is tough! It is not a universally understood term
• scratchy pretty much means “not as smooth as I want it to feel”, and often that can just be sort of normal feedback
• our fingers are actually quite sensitive, I found the article A Handy Guide to Touch from Elise Hancock from Johns Hopkins Mag:
  • the human hand contains around 100,000 nerves, of 20 different types that serve different functions
  • twelve receive various touch sensations, including pressure, high and low frequency vibrations
• I came across a multitude of scientific studies I didn’t really comprehend fully that essentially say the same thing, our fingertips are some of the most sensitive things in the animal world
• so basically, it doesn’t take much for something to “feel” scratchy, especially with high frequency (is a scratching nib high frequency? I think so?)
• as for exactly what point we can definitively say a nib is “too” scratchy, that’s up for debate, and not scientific, unless we’re talking about it creating some measurable degree of vibration in our hands…and that’s where my brain breaks
• there is no perfectly smooth surface with a perfectly smooth nib, there is friction happening at some level, and scientifically, we would need to collectively agree at what point that amount of friction is causing enough vibration to cause discomfort
• writing angle impacts it, the paper being used, writing pressure, writing speed, ink used (lubricant in it), and of course the nerve sensitivity of each individual would be wildly impactful
• Bottom line, there is a scientific way to measure it, but I’m not qualified to do it! So until then, it will remain somewhat subjective and qualitative…

QOTW: On a scale of 1-10, 1 being really scratchy 10 being really smooth, where would you rate an acceptable level of nib smoothness for yourself? (1:06:38)

Write On,
Brian Goulet