In this Goulet Q&A episode, Brian talks about pens he loves to dismantle, rose gold ink, and how to have strong relationship between a retailer and pen manufacturer. Enjoy!

Pens/Writing

1) amberschmidt22- Instagram (1:08)

How should you prep your pens for long term storage? Should you disassemble them?

  • it’s pretty simple, really, just clean them and ideally make sure they’re dry
  • dismantling them is not ideal, it just means you could lose parts, mix them up, damage them, get dust/etc in them, just keep them together
  • if you mean disassembling for cleaning, like doing a really thorough cleaning? That’s not a bad idea, it depends on the pen though
  • basically, just try to get them back as close to the state they were when you bought them new, and they’ll be good to store

2) heidisnell- Instagram (7:57)

Most fun pen to clean/take apart?

  • it’s a tie for me, probably
  • TWSBI 580(AL)- seems to trip up some folks, I’ve got the knack for it though
  • Noodler’s Boston Safety Pen– cool bc it’s a unique design and doesn’t require any tools, a great tinkering pen
  • Honorable mention to the Kaweco Supra, which you can mostly take apart while it’s inked!

3) @legalshemndrik- Twitter (12:18)

Am I the only one who can never tell if I’m filling up my Visconti Homo Sapiens properly and finding it impossible to gauge if there’s ink in the chamber?

  • you’re in good company there!
  • there are many other pens where you don’t have a solid gauge on how full the ink is, but this is one of the few power-fillers (vacuum fillers) which are a little tricky inherently
  • best way is to pump it 2-3 times in the ink, then pull the nib out of the ink and pump it again, you should see a lot of ink come out, then you know you had a good fill, put back in the ink, and pump it 2-3 times again
  • you really can’t tell when it’s running low until the nib runs dry
  • I like to use the Visconti Traveling Inkwell (or Pineider Pen Filler), you get a fuller fill and then you always have ink with you to refill
  • they do make Homo Sapiens in the Skylight with an ink window or Limited Editions with clear bodies so you don’t have to guess so much

Ink

4) t3ha1t- Instagram (20:04)

What are good inks that go with rose gold? Some of the reds seem too harsh.

5) @kimlindseyOH- Twitter (23:23)

So many sheening inks have a red sheen… Are there any blue inks with a green sheen, or green inks with a bue sheen? Why is it always red? That’s my one turn-off for Emerald of Chivor: why couldn’t the sheen be blue or green?

6) i.c.u.r.1.2- Instagram (27:23)

What can I do if I really dislike the color of a bottle of ink I bought?

  • This is always a bit of a gamble, right?
  • we (and other retailers) really can’t take used ink back, and may not cost enough to be worth the trouble anyway (depends)
  • you can resell it, perhaps, recoup some of the cost
  • donate it to another pen lover
  • keep it for ink mixing/experiments
  • consider what else you could use it for (ink washing/watercolor)
  • throw it out
  • keep it and revisit it later
  • the best thing can be to try to avoid it in the first place, which is where samples can really come in handy
  • in the end, it’s sometimes a calculated risk and you gotta do what feels right for you

Business

7) bradthebear1- Instagram (32:27)

How are good relationships established between a pen manufacturer and a retailer?

  • this is an interesting side of things that you all don’t really get to see so much of
  • You do sometimes get to see us work together, like Dante Del Vecchio coming here and shooting videos with us
  • our relationship is often two-fold, with both distributors (who may carry multiple brands and knows the local market better) and with manufacturers who know their products better but are a little more insulated from end-user feedback and local market preferences
  • whatever arrangement there is, it’s really all just people, from the end-user all the way up through the raw material suppliers the manufacturers buy from, everything is people
  • Communication (and trust) are the #1 issue, and the better you communicate, the more trust you have with each other, and the more your goals and values are aligned, the more successful that relationship will be
  • We view it really as a partnership, and we should all care about similar things
  • The better we understand each other and feel that synergy, the better, faster, more inspired products you’re likely to see

Question of the Week: What do you do with ink you no longer like? (42:33)

Write On,
Brian Goulet