June is Almost Here! Father's Day and Graduation Gift Ideas

Believe it or not, June is upon us, and many of us find ourselves in the market for a graduation or Father’s Day gift. Whether you’re looking for a gift for someone else or responding to requests for “gift ideas”, our shop carries many different options for the analog-minded, from pens and notebooks to reading accessories. As we all settle in following the long weekend, I thought it might be helpful to point out a few of our favorites.

• Traveler’s Company Brass Pens and Pencils. A highly functional piece of stationery with a dash of history and Americana thrown in, the Traveler’s Company brass pens and pencils are inspired by the vintage “bullet pencils” of the early-to-mid 20th Century. The classic Brass Ballpoint is one of my favorite travel tools, and can frequently be found clipped to the front of whatever book I’m reading on the beach in the summer. Pair with a leather Traveler’s Notebook for an excellent gift set.

• CW+T Pen-Types A through C. Love the idea of the Traveler’s Company Brass Pens, but want to up the game a bit with something that will stand out and probably last forever? Consider one of these three releases from CW+T. Pen Type A combines a stainless steel ruler and straightedge with a pneumatic-fit pen that accepts Pilot’s Hi-Tec-C refill. Pen Type-B offers the same pneumatic fit technology in a more portable form and additional finishes, while Pen Type-C is a fabulous bookmark-style pen that you can take anywhere with you!

• Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebook. For the journaler, commonplace booker, or someone who would enjoy a fine hardbound notebook with excellent paper, consider this hardcover book from Write Notepads, featuring their fountain pen friendly lined or dot grid paper. Of course, the rest of the Write Notepads lineup features many other highly giftable, classically styled stationery options.

• Lochby Tool Roll. While I use it as a pen case, the versatile Lochby Tool Roll is capable of much more. Stash anything from bike repair tools to wrenches to, yes, fountain pens or mechanical pencils and still have room for odds and ends in its various pockets and pouches. The durable waxed-canvas construction makes for a true go-anywhere piece of EDC kit.

• Fine Bookmarks and Reading Accessories. A classic graduation or Father’s Day gift for a reader is a sterling silver or brass bookmark, and I speak from personal experience because I have nearly a dozen myself, accumulated over the years, treasuring every one! We carry anything from sterling “Page Points” and “Page Markers” to a pack of smaller. .1mm-thin bookmarks perfect for sticking inside a card.

From left, CW+T Pen Type-C, The Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, and the Traveler’s Company Brass Fountain Pen in the “Factory Green” finish.

The Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebook with the CW+T Pen-Type C clipped in.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands we stock, including those featured here. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by shop purchases and pledges through the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Sunday Reading for May 29, 2022 (Memorial Day Weekend Edition)

1. Solace in Pens (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). With each day seemingly bringing worse news, what can you do to cope? This excellent article discusses incorporating pens into a self-care routine.

2. I Am Bitter: Lamy Aion (via a fleeting ripple). This pretty much sums up my feelings about the Aion as well. While the color of this green version is gorgeous, there’s a lot about the design I simply don’t enjoy as I find it uncomfortable to use.

3. Wearingeul Stonecutter’s Song (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). This sepia/brown/grey color is one of the more intriguing inks I’ve seen from Wearingeul. I have yet to place an order.

4. Aderillium Inks (via Well-Appointed Desk). I now have three Anderillium inks, including the Chicago Pen Show special release, all of which I’ve found to be well-behaved and enjoyable to use. Look for a review soon.

5. ScriBo Grigio (via Dapprman). So far, this is my favorite of the ScriBo Inks, though I’m in the process of working my way through other colors. I absolutely love the grey-blue tint.

6. On Fountain Pen Nib Sizes, #5, #6, #7, #8 (via S.B.R.E. Brown). Fountain pen nib sizing can be confusing. This video walks through the differences and the numbering system.

7. Robert Oster Cities of America: Chicago Ink Review (via Pen Addict - Jeff). While I’m a little tired of the “cities and states of America” theme that seemingly every ink company has been trying to run with these days, I should’ve picked up a bottle of this ink in Chicago.

8. Hey, Where’d You Go? (via EdJelley). For those who have been missing Ed’s reviews, he’s still writing, just not at his own site. Check out this post to see where you can follow his work.

In Case You MIssed It…

This week I took things back to basics, writing this piece on Fountain Pen Maintenance: How I Clean My Pens. I also wrote a piece on one of my latest custom nib grinds that I received from Mark Bacas, a Predator Hybrid featuring an ultra extra-fine point on the “normal” end and a wider, brush-like point on the reverse.

New This Week in the Curated Shop, Plus a Memorial Day Weekend Special!

We’ve had a lot of new stuff hit the store over the past two weeks, including pens from Platinum, a boatload of new washi tapes and snail mail accessories from iLootPaperie, and more. This week, we’re also running a Memorial Day Weekend special, where all orders placed in the Shop through Monday (5/30) will receive a free “extra,” which could be a pencil, pen, ink sample, stickers, accessories, or even something like a bottle of ink! While there are no official “tiers” to this promotion, bigger orders will receive a bigger add-on. I have a ton of cool stuff to give away as I clean out my workspace and storage, so be sure to take advantage.

Caran d'Ache

Midori MD

Platinum

Washi Tapes

AND Don’t Miss Our Memorial Day Weekend Giveaway!

We’re running yet another giveaway, with more to come! See the post for details, but this week’s giveaway features products courtesy of The Well-Appointed Desk Shop and Skylab Letterpress, including some cool notepads and Col-o-ring notebooks! The giveaway closes end of day Monday, Central U.S. Time. (After which it will be replaced by another!)

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Exploring Custom Nibs: Predator Hybrid by Mark Bacas

Late last year I embarked on what I expect to be a year-long experiment of comparing custom nibs available from the different nib grinders currently working, focusing on those grinds from each that can be considered a specialty or “signature”. Mark Bacas is one of the most experienced nib grinders out there, and whether you’re looking for a simple tuning or a more complex grind like the “Predator Hybrid” I’m discussing today, Mark will work with you to ensure the nib is ground to your personal preferences, and that you’re happy with the result.

So What the Heck is a “Predator Hybrid” Nib?

I can only assume that the “Predator” name draws its inspiration from the shape - pictured at the top - which resembles a bird’s beak. The “Predator Hybrid” nib is ground to an ultra-fine point on the normal side, with the reverse a wider, slightly brush-like medium. To compare, a “Predator Extreme” nib has the same ultra-fine point on the normal side, with the reverse ground to a full architect. You can read Mark’s own descriptions on these and other nib grinds he offers directly on his site. I would say that on this “Hybrid” version, the reverse is slightly softer than a full architect, while still offering a bit of the line variation you would expect from that grind.

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A writing sample showing the “normal” (i.e., nib down) width, compared against the reverse (i.e., nib upside down) width.

So in practice, how do I use this nib? If you’ve read my past pen reviews, you’ll know that I value pens I can use for annotation during my reading and research. This particular nib falls squarely into that category. The ultra-fine point accommodates my tiny handwriting and allows me to make even the smallest margin notes, while the reverse side is perfect for underlining, highlighting, and even standard writing. Frankly, I’ve never had a reversible nib write well to the point where I could use the reverse side for much more than a line or two. This one is smooth enough for standard writing.

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The TWSBI Diamond 580 Fountain Pen is one of many that features interchangeable nib units, so you can have multiple custom nibs ground to switch among your various TWSBI Pens.

Why I Love Interchangeable Nib Units for Custom Nib Work

For this grind, I chose to have Mark modify a TWSBI 580 medium nib unit, so that I can swap the nib between my various TWSBI Diamond 580 pens. Lately, wherever possible I’ve been having nib grinders modify interchangeable nib units from JoWo, Bock, and TWSBI so that their work isn’t tied to any particular pen. It’s quite helpful to be able to move the nibs around at times - some grinds are more suitable to different pens, depending on weight, balance, etc., and these threaded nib housings make swapping nibs a cinch.

Cost of Nib Modification - Cheaper Than Buying a New Pen

The grind featured here cost $50, and since I did not pay a rush fee, it took several weeks for Mark to turn around. (Mark is fast - some nib grinders take months, or even up to a year.) In response to posts like these, I often get the question: “Why pay extra money to ‘fix’ a pen that should write perfectly out of the box?” Here I think we need to break down the question a bit: Are you paying to fix a manufacturer’s flaw with the nib, in which case I absolutely agree with you that the cost of any repair should be born by the company that made the pen, or are you looking to personalize the pen for how you write? It should be fairly obvious that if you write extremely small, a standard stainless steel extra-fine nib may not be narrow enough for you, and you should consider a needlepoint or a nib like the Predator.

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The “normal” point of the Predator nibs writes a very fine line, even finer than a needlepoint nib like the one ground by Kirk Speer (Pen Realm) for Esterbrook.

Even with standard nib widths, it’s impossible for a manufacturer to anticipate things like the amount of pressure you use and how you hold the pen. I have pens in my collection that, out of the box, wrote within “the range of reasonableness” and wouldn’t be considered defective, but still didn’t work for me until I had them tuned. I would estimate that 80-85% of the pens in my collection have been modified or tuned from “factory standard,” either by a nib grinder or yours truly. At the end of the day, if you love the look of a pen, and it’s not writing perfectly, consider paying a little extra to make it yours. If you keep it for years, you’ll get more enjoyment from the writing experience than the $20-50 modification fee, and in many cases it’s cheaper than buying a new pen.

Further Reading

If you enjoyed this article, you may want to check out some previous posts discussing fountain pen nib modifications. I’ve written a general introductory piece on some of the more common grinds, as well as an article looking at custom grinds from The Nib Tailor (Architect + Inverted Architect), as well as the Kirk Speer Needlepoint nib currently available from Esterbrook as an add-on to Estie purchases.

This post does not contain third-party affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop, as well as pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Since it’s Memorial Day Weekend, all orders placed in the Curated Shop from Saturday, May 28 through Monday, May 30, will receive a complimentary add-on gift! Many thanks for all of your support!

Memorial Day Weekend Giveaway: Courtesy of the Well-Appointed Desk and Skylab Letterpress!

As it turns out, I have a lot more stuff in storage that I will never be able to work my way through, so let’s do another giveaway! The plan will be to continue these periodically (maybe weekly or every other week). This week’s giveaway is a product sampler from my friends at The Well-Appointed Desk and Skylab Letterpress, who have been kind enough to send me many samples of their excellent work over the years. Included in the giveaway will be Well-Appointed Desk Col-o-ring ink testing notebooks, including a “Dipper” and one oversized notebook, as well as some Skylab Letterpress notepads. In addition to what’s pictured here, I may throw in some additional product samples as I sort through my backlog. This giveaway will run through Memorial Day Weekend, and end at 11:59pm Monday, May 30, 2022 US Central Time.

As per the usual, enter via the Gleam widget below. While I need participants to provide an e-mail address so that I can contact the winners, I don’t compile e-mail addresses into a marketing list. That said, Gleam is a third-party, so please see the app below for their privacy policy and the full terms and conditions. This giveaway is open to anyone, though if you’re international (i.e., non-US), your ability to receive the prize may be limited by shipping regulations and cost. If shipping is prohibitively expensive I will give you the opportunity to cover some or all of the cost if you still wish to claim the prize. Many thanks!

Thursday Drops: Recapping All That's New and Shiny

It’s been a big couple of months around here and I’m only now getting caught up. Between our milestone giveaway, office renovation, and just life in general, you can say there’s been a lot going on and, of course, more to come! I wanted to take a few minutes to recap all the recent new arrivals, and personally thank everyone who’s supported the site and our little shop during what’s been a fun - but stressful - growth phase.

The biggest news from this week, of course, has been the arrival of a massive shipment of Washi Tapes and Snail Mail accessories, discussed in this post from earlier this week. We’ve also redesigned the Washi Tapes and Enamel Pin section of the shop to make it more navigable. and to better show off the designs of the individual tapes.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

1. Caran d’Ache “Black Code,” “Gold Bar,” and “Brut Rosé” Mechanical Pencils. What I like to think of as our “signature” everyday writers, since they were the first high-end pens we carried, are now available in .7mm mechanical pencil format.

2. TWSBI Swipe Fountain Pens in Salmon and Pear. TWSBI has begun to release its “Swipe” cartridge-converter fountain pens in different color acrylics, including Salmon (more of a peach than a pink, at least to me) and Pear (a bright green). I find these a perfect match for a couple of ink colors in TWSBI’s six-ink sets.

3. Platinum Carbon Desk Pens. Featuring one of the best steel extra-fine nibs that I’ve tried anywhere, this desk pen is an excellent writer and costs only $13. The base is sold separately, if you’d like to add a vintage look to your desk setup.

4. Caran d’Ache x Nespresso Swiss Wood Set. We recently received a large shipment of the Caran d’Ache x Nespresso collaboration pencils! These have been out of stock for a while, but the Swiss Wood with colored ends made from recycled Nespresso capsules are back. Standard Swiss Wood gift/starter sets are back as well.

5. Tombow Mono 100 Woodcase Pencils. It’s a toss-up between the Tombow Mono 100 and Mitsubishi Hi-Uni as to what’s the best high-end Japanese pencil on the market. Both brands sharpen exceptionally well, and as a gross generalization, those who prefer a slight bit of tooth to their graphite will appreciate Tombow, while those who like a perfectly smooth pencil will go Hi-Uni.

6. Mitsubishi Hi-Uni Woodcase Pencils. See above. You can’t go wrong with either. We recently received several 22-pencil drawing sets containing the full range of Hi-Uni graphite hardnesses.

7. Midori MD Notebook Light. In addition to the thicker Midori MD Notebooks (which have probably become our best-selling product in the shop), we’ve also stocked the Midori MD light range, which are slimmer notebooks sold in packs of three. In addition to the standard sizes, we have the 70th Anniversary set.

8. Traveler’s Company Spiral Ring Notebooks. In addition to the standard Traveler’s Company lineup, we’ve added the Traveler’s Company Spiral Notebooks, which contain 100 pages/200 sheets of blank Midori MD Paper.

9. Midori Five-Year Journal 70th Anniversary Edition. I’ve picked up my five-year journal again, and what spurred me to finally do it was the release of this gorgeous leatherbound edition for Midori’s 70th Anniversary.

10. Midori Leather Notebook Covers. These are on backorder from the distributor, but I have a couple of the natural leather notebook covers in B6 size. I will update the site once the other sizes become available once again.