Let's face it, fountain pens can be incredibly intimidating to our Bic-loving friends. Sure, we know in our hearts that it's totally reasonable to drop $150 for a Lamy 2000 and that filling a fountain pen with bottled ink is actually pretty easy. To outsiders we may sound crazy, and that's why we should celebrate products that make fountain pens accessible and affordable to those who may never have considered them. The Platinum Preppy is one of the most affordable refillable fountain pens on the market. The Preppy can be had at the price of a fancy cup of coffee and comes in a wide range of colors.
The Platinum Preppy is made from sturdy plastic and has a thin steel nib. Unlike some cheap pens, the Preppy's plastic doesn't creak under pressure. The grip section screws off, like a traditional fountain pen, to expose the ink chamber. The Preppy comes with one ink cartridge and replacement cartridges are available; however, they are oddly expensive. If you want to save a few dollars, it's pretty easy to refill the Preppy's included ink cartridge, once it's empty. The barrel of the pen is completely sealed, so it's a great candidate for conversion to an eyedropper filler. I'm not fiddly enough to want to do this, but it seems straightforward.
The cap of the Platinum Preppy has a snap fit mechanism that emits a satisfying click when the pen is capped. There's also a spring-loaded cap insert that sits against the base of the nib and covers it completely. I can only assume that this serves to keep the nib from drying out or leaking ink into the cap. It seems a bit unnecessary, but Platinum has been working with pens far longer than I have, so I'll assume that they know what they're doing.
The steel nib of the Platinum Preppy is coated with the same color as the pen's included ink and body flourishes. It does feel slightly thinner than the nibs on more expensive pens, but it is incredibly stiff. Those looking for a silky smooth writing experience may be disappointed, since the nib feels scratchier than most of the starter fountain pens, such as the Metropolitan, Safari, or Kakuno. The nib tends to skip every now and then and is on the dry side, but overall the Platinum Preppy's nib performs very reliably. The consistent nib is complemented by the solid construction of the pen, which results in a very pleasing writing experience for a $5 pen. The Preppy's grip does become slippery during longer writing sessions, but this is common for pens with plastic grips.
The Platinum Preppy certainly can't compete with pricier pens, but it is an excellent pen for those looking to try a fountain pen for the first time. It's cheap enough to use without fear of bending the nib and is easily replaceable. The solid performance is a true credit to Platinums's design and manufacturing capabilities. Given the pen's performance for the price, the Platinum Preppy would be a wonderful gift for the fountain pen beginner in your life and falls just below the Pilot Kakuno, which I consider to be the best fountain pen for beginners.
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Casual Sunday is back baby! It's Sunday, which means it's time to pour a cup of coffee, snuggle up next to the pooch, and catch up on the latest and greatest reads.
Interesting Finds:
Purchases: NockCo Edition
- NockCo Sinclair - Finally in stock long enough for me to nab one. I went with Mandarin/Bluejay, and boy is it orange!
- NockCo DotDash Pocket Notebooks - While I love the concept of Field Notes, the standard paper does not mesh well with fountain pens. NockCo paper is "fountain friend friendly," so perhaps this is a solution to my pocket notebook dilemma.
- NockCo DotDash 3 x 5 Note Cards - Probably sensing a theme by now. I've been dying to try some NockCo products for a while, and the orange notecards were all that I needed to qualify for free shipping.
Thanks for checking out this week's issue of Casual Sunday. Check back in on Tuesday morning for a brand new blog post or follow A Better Desk on Twitter or via RSS feed so that you don't have to. Thanks for your support!
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Most of us lead our daily inky lives in black or blue. These colors are the safe choices for everyday use, but I find them less and less appealing as my pen and ink collection grows. A week with Iroshizuku Tsukushi in my Lamy 2000 has opened my eyes to the world of non-traditional ink colors. Why use blue or black when you can use a lovely shade of brown or green? The trick to using these colors in everyday writers is to find inks that are dark enough to read easily but have just enough shading ability to make things interesting. While Tsukushi lives on as my daily ink for now, there's room for more than one in my growing Penventory. This week, I'm taking a look at another vivid beauty, Caran d'Ache Vibrant Green.
Vibrant Green is the most vivid of the green inks that I own. The color varies greatly, depending on the amount of ink that the nib lays on the paper. My J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen lays a deep forest green line on the page after a fresh dip, but the color lightens dramatically as the nib's ink channels empty of ink. The ink dries very quickly, which makes it a viable everyday ink.
Caran d' Ache Vibrant Green offers a significant amount of shade variation for such a dark ink. Shading is subtle in fine-nib pens, but the ink really shines in my Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen. The ink's fast dry time, vivid color, and significant shading ability make it an easy recommendation.
Stats
- Dry Time: Less than 20 seconds
- Wetness: Medium
- Shading: Medium
- Feathering: Low
- Saturation: High
Tools
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I can't help but smile when I come across a well-made Japanese product. I have flashbacks of subway rides and midnight karaoke sessions that are woven through memories of a friendly culture obsessed with quality and presentation. I open my Midori Traveler's Notebook or uncap a Pilot pen, and I'm reminded of this love for quality and subtle delights. This week I had the pleasure of testing Namiki Iroshizuku Tsukushi ink, a part of the Namiki Iroshizuku sampler pack. I found myself face to face with not only another example of a truly stellar Japanese product, but perhaps the best ink that I have ever used.
Tsukushi, or 土筆 is a Japanese Horsetail plant that's reddish brown in color. Since my experience with Japanese Horsetail is limited to a brief Google search, I would say that the ink reminds me of light-medium roasted coffee beans. Namiki Iroshizuku Tsukushi ink works well in nibs from fine to flex alike, and its shading properties further the coffee bean comparison, showing several layers of colors with subtle shades of red, similar to coffee beans in various stages of the roasting process.
Namiki Iroshizuku Tsukushi ink has a moderate dry time. It's worth noting that I test my inks with a J. Herbin Dip Pen, which tends to leave a line that is slightly thicker than that of a traditional fine nib. The ink dried in approximately 45 seconds with the dip pen, but performed somewhat better in my Lamy 2000, with a dry time of approximately 35 seconds. It's not the fastest drying ink around, but it shines in other areas. The ink shows a nice level of shading for such a dark color and performs extremely well with a flex nib. I just can't get over how wonderful this ink pops on the Rhodia DotPad, but I find that its appearance on Tomoe River paper, my daily writing paper, is even more dramatic.
The Namiki Iroshizuku Tsukushi's shading properties make it a great ink for a flex nib, but the ink really shines in my Lamy 2000. The ink lays down a dark brown line with shades of red, but the color mellows as it dries, leaving a lighter brown behind. There's just enough flex in my fine-nibbed Lamy 2000 to leave hints of shading in each letter. The result is lettering with colors that are dark and consistent enough to read but shaded just enough to catch the eye. The faint shades of red call to be inspected more closely.
I have a sample or two of other Iroshizuku inks that I have yet to try, so the Namiki Iroshizuku Tsukushi is my first real step into the world of premium Namiki inks. If the Tsukushi is any indication of the performance of the other inks in this line, I'll be purchasing a few bottles in the near future. The ink has a wonderful balance between shading performance and readability for thinner nibs. I've tested this ink in my Lamy 2000 for a day or two now, and it has proven worthy of replacing the Aurora Blue that I have been using for the last month or two. While black and blue may be safe choices for everyday writers, the Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi ink performs beautifully and is worthy of consideration for one of your edc pens. I'm surprised by just how well this ink performs across a wide range of nib sizes, and it's hard to find fault with such a consistently excellent ink. While Iroshizuku inks may be slightly more expensive, the difference in quality is leaps and bounds above the difference in price. If you haven't tried Iroshizuku inks before and want to see what they're all about, check out a sampler pack. If you're ready to take the Tsukushi dive, there are also full-sized bottles available.
Disclaimer: I received this ink free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily and all opinions posted here are my own.
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My fountain pen collection has quickly grown from one plain black Lamy Safari to a handful of colorful writers that deserve equally colorful inks. I love to try new inks, but gambling $10-$30 on an ink that I may or may not like doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. I discovered Goulet Pen's Ink Drop service that ships five inks to my door every month for only $10. This lets me test a ton of different colors and brands of inks and purchase my favorites, which are usually available at a discount at the Goulet shop. I love this service, but testing multiple inks at a time can be cumbersome. Traditional fountain pens can easily be inked, but they require a water flush and 24 hours of dry time after each test. I turned to the J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen as a potential solution to my inky problems.
The J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen is a stunning hand-made glass dip pen. I chose the orange pen, since orange is my favorite color, and the shades of orange and yellow remind me of a blazing sunset. The pen comes in multiple colors, but they are all equally stunning.
It's clear from the name that dip pens require the user to dip the tip of the pen into ink in order to write. The J. Herbin pen's tip looks like a paint brush, and the recessed channels use capillary action to hold additional ink. Instead of drying up after a few letters, this dip pen can write several lines with the help of these ink channels. The tip is rather scratchy, compared to traditional fountain pens; however, it is possible to sand the tip with very fine sandpaper (see this video for details). I don't mind the rough tip, since I only use this pen to write a few lines with each ink. The pen lays down a juicy line that shows off all of the color properties of the ink.
The best part about glass dip pens is that they are incredibly easy to clean. Simply run the pen under a tap and dry with a paper towel. There are no complicated feeds to flush or day-long dry times. The ease of cleaning makes it possible to test several inks in a very short period of time, which is perfect for my Ink Drop subscription.
The J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen is an excellent solution for those looking for an easier way to test inks. The pen leaves a consistently fine line that shows off the best properties of each ink, and it can be cleaned with a simple pass under a faucet. At $30 or so, this pen is a bargain, especially when considering the time saved amidst countless ink swatching and labelling. For those who haven't discovered the wonderful world of inks, it really is half of the fun of owning fountain pens. The best part is that products like the The J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen and Ink Drop make it incredibly cheap and easy to find your perfect color.
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