Goulet Q&A Episode 165: Useless Ink Swabs, Designing Tomoe River Notebooks, and Where I Disagree With the Pen Community!

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In this episode, I talk about useless ink swabs, designing a Tomoe River notebook, and where I disagree with the whole fountain pen community!

This week:

• Easter/Holy Week gauntlet
• prepping for vacation

New/Upcoming Products: - (1:41)

• restocked a lot of random products we've been backordered for a while
• Montegrappa inks
• Doubling up on Q&A this week to publish one for next week!
• Lamy Dialog 3 is coming back! in black

Pens/Writing - (3:35)

1) Evan M.- Facebook - (3:36)

So I just got a new aurora flex 88. my question is. is there a break in period or anything with it? because my dreamtouch and m1000 nibs flex wayyyy more than this one. it's not disappointing or anything it goes from xxf to b but I expected more from a "vintage flex".. ps best company ever

• there's a difference between softness and flex
• Visconti Palladium nibs and Pelikan m1000 nibs are softer, yes
• the problem if you try to flex these out is they will spring and not bounce back properly
• Aurora did several iterations of softness in developing their 88 flex nib, including softer ones than this
• they felt they sprung too easily, so they dialed it back
• Omas nibs in my mind were some of the softest modern flex nibs available, but people sprung them a LOT
• I see where Aurora's coming from, they were going more for maximum line variation and maximum bounce back with minimal risk of springing the tines
• that said, there will be a break in over time, so it can only get softer, yes

2) zdia- Instagram - (8:25)

I've always wondered what exactly a converter converts. Why is it called a converter? What does it convert, and into what? A boring cartridge pen into an exciting breadth of ink possibilities? That's my best guess... can you help?

• you pretty much answered your own question
• converters "convert" cartridge pens into pens that can use bottled ink of any brand
• they're often referred to just as "converters" when their more official designation is actually "cartridge/converters" or C/C like you see online
• other pens that have built in mechanisms don't have anything to convert to, so they just go by their filling type (piston, vacuum, etc)
• Some cartridge/converter pens can even be eyedropper "converted" too, further demonstrating what that term is actually accomplishing

Ink - (12:48)

3) mnmlscholar- Instagram - (12:50)

Ink reviews often have huge swatches of the ink smeared or swabbed onto a page. But in my experience, inks rarely look like that when I write with them. So I tend to focus on the writing samples in the reviews to guesstimate what it might look like in my own pen, and on my own paper. What should I be learning about an ink from the giant ink swatches on GouletPens (and reviews)?

• ink swabs have been used online to show inks for as long as I've been conscious of the existence of fountain pens
• it's true, the swabs themselves do look different than it does in a pen, but at a glance they show the most

dramatic representation of the color

especially in digital form, the color can be hard to see just in the writing, unless you are REALLY zoomed in

they're also, frankly, just a lot faster to do!

writing samples are definitely more representative, and a full ink review even better!

We hands down do a swab for all our inks, writing samples or ink reviews when we can/have time, and highly encourage ink samples

there's just nothing like getting to use it yourself!

Paper - (19:40)

4) acosta_maite- Instagram - (19:41)

In Q&A Episode 163 @48:33, regarding TRP, you mentioned that you would have to design a new notebook format for meetings, etc. Is that something you would seriously consider? A Goulet Journal with TRP in A5 Dot Grid with tons of pages would be awesome. Do you think that is something we could hope for anytime soon?

• it is something I would consider, have/am considering
• it's complicated, paper is really tough to do well and at a reasonable price
• in order to offer notebooks at a reasonable price you have to do LARGE quantities, so you have to be pretty darn committed to make it happen
• it's very speculative
• a Goulet journal in A5 with dot Tomoe paper could be possible, but I'd need some feedback about what you'd honestly be willing to pay for it...?

Personal - (26:13)

5) Hope F.- Facebook - (26:15)

Do you have any opinions/preferences that aren't popular in the fountain pen community? I myself love hearing some feedback while I write, and I find something oddly satisfying about a little bit of echo on the page, but I find that not many people agree. Your videos are what got me into fountain pens. Thank-you to you and the Goulet Pen team.

• if there's one thing I've learned about the fountain pen community, it's that if you ask 10 people what they think, you'll get 10 different opinions!
• that said, there are some fairly common things that people agree on
• but for everything that the community leans towards, there's an equally if not greater enthusiastic minority that feels the complete opposite
• Here's a couple of my preferences you may or may not agree with:
• Cartridge converter pens are generally my favorite! They're so easy to clean, if the mechanism acts up it's a couple of dollars to replace it, and they're generally more affordable!
• Broader nibs make my handwriting better- most people feel the opposite, that fine nibs make their writing better, and I still just don't understand that!
• My handwriting looks best at about 70% max speed- generally slowing down helps most people, but I actually write better when I'm pushing my speed just a bit
• You don't have to use fountain pens for EVERYTHING- I'm as much a convert as anyone, but there are times when I just will not even bother (carbon paper, signing receipts)
• I ink and carry all my pens, price be darned- while I definitely am more careful with my particularly rare or meaningful pens, I feel they are meant to be used and will never buy a pen with the intention of storing it away and never using it, mine are all fair game
• Paper can never be too smooth- I can appreciate paper with a little bite, but I have not yet experienced a trifecta that's TOO smooth for my liking

QOTW: What fountain pen opinions/preferences do you have that seem to be against the tide of the rest of the pen community? - (39:42)

Thanks so much for joining us this week! You can catch up on any old Q&A videos you missed here.

Write On,

Brian Goulet

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