Brian, this is EXACTLY what I was wanting. Thank you for fielding my question and going through the book. The details about the author make it easily a requirement for the library. I will probably incorporate this into the homeschool curriculum, too.
QOTW - From a customer perspective: I don't need engraving. I would not want to mess up a nice pen with it anyway. From a business perspective: With the volume of requests would it be worth buying the equipment. If you're going to make it look nice you have to get equipment that engraves without looking like dot matrix. Also, if you mess up the engraving, even a little, you can't sell it to the customer, and you can't return it to your supplier, so you might end up eating the cost, and still have to engrave another pen for the customer. You also have to consider what types of messages you are willing to engrave or not engrave. If you refuse some, then you might end up in a lawsuit for some kind of discrimination. These are reasons I didn't offer engraving when I was making and selling pens. If I get back into it at a later date I still won't offer it. I always suggested that they try a trophy shop for engraving, but that it would violate any warranty on my part.
Mike W my pet store has this engraving vending machine. You buy a dog tag, stick it into the machine and then pick your font size name or what ever and it engraves it for you on the spot, I can see this happening
@@inkyfrog98, not for me. Or were you being facetious, maybe? Dog tags aren't expensive pens. Although I have one of those dog tags for my pup, it isn't quality. I can just see putting my expensive ebonite and lacquer pen in that machine and seeing the pen crack and disintegrate on the spot. Nope, I wouldn't do it, even on a Metro. Personally, I think engraving should only be available from the actual manufacturer, so one would not violate a warranty. However, I realize I cannot speak for all.
QOTW: Not a fan of engraving stuff. Really expensive pens with engravings only work in movies, imo. The only reason I've ever seen pen engravings make sense was for European school supplies, where a lot of red and blue Lamy Safaris die a quiet death in the lost and found. Speaking of school, we were told to take care of our fountain pens. Right posture, right grip, not too much pressure, use only blue ink... No mention of cleaning it. If you left a cartridge in a pen over summer break, and it wouldn't write when you put in a new one or soaked it overnight, your pen was considered broken and in need of replacement. Knowing what I do now, I could go to some primary schools, collect all the 'broken' and permanently lost pens and perform some serious witchcraft with a bucket of water and a tablespoon of generic dish soap.
I bought Michael Sulls book a few weeks ago and I like it quite a bit. As a German, some details are lost in translation for me and of course there are no instructions on how to write umlauts and our ligature ß, but I'll manage. What I found really annoying is that there are no downloadable templates for the cross-drill and movement exercises. For writing, you can get templates from Iampeth, but for the exercises they expect you to photocopy the blank sheets. And for some reason, the sample letters in the front have a different slant (65°) than all of the exercises (55°). There maybe a reason behind that, but I didn't find it yet. Apart from the nitpicking, this is a really good guide book.
I accidentally learned about shading with diluted ink. I was at a long meeting and running out of ink in my pen (Yes, Brian a window would have helped). I was using Mont Blanc JFK Navy blue in a Cross Century II Medalist with a fine nib. During a break I added a few drops of water in the converter, shook it and prayed. It got me through and the shading was not noticeable until it dried but it did look surprisingly nice afterwards even using the fine nib.
I'm not a fan of engraving, so it wouldn't do anything for me. As for features, I disagree about hooded nibs -- I don't much care for the aesthetic. I love the idea of more pen windows...well, useful pen windows. Many is the time I unscrew the barrel just to see where my ink supply is at. The feature I wish would be very common are caps that seal. Living in the high desert, we have lower air pressure and often very low humidity. This means that many capped pens will dry in a few days, maybe a week or two if you write every day. Pens with sealed caps (affordable option example: TWSBI Eco) can sit for weeks and still write fine. Sadly, not enough pens give that option.
QOTW: No, please don't get into engraving. There is too much to go wrong, and takes away from the Goulet focal point. I only bought one pen engraved (parker), and it was a regret. I mean, if something goes haywire, the pen is going to remain in a drawer instead of being enjoyed, repaired or sold. I'd like to see Goulet Pens stay the course with pens and stationery, rather than branch out into individualized and personalized territory, which could be more of a sink rather than swim endeavor. Other thought: Maybe try a special edition Premiere - it will be more expensive - with an ink window. I'm not sure it is something you want to do permanently with the Premiere, but it might be fun for a special edition to see how well an ink window goes with your customers.
The American public school system is doing a true disservice to our children. Cursive is wonderful. I remember learning cursive and how much I enjoyed practicing daily - that was in Russia. I didn't get to do that when I moved to America. There have also been studies that have shown children improving their cognitive abilities and grades after they wrote daily in cursive for a couple years. Not only is it beautiful but it also improves one's cognitive thinking. Write on!
We probably won't implement it as a full-time offer (at least not anytime soon), but could pop up as part of a promotional period like it did last week for Fountain Pen Day! - Colin
Just the video i needed, and in perfect timing too, thank you for showing the book 'Art of Cursive Penmanship'! I'd been struggling to get my hands on a copy for some time..
I very much appreciated and enjoyed the Q&A on increasing the shading of an ink and how that is counterbalanced (works in opposition to) Saturation. Would you consider a discussion on each of the frequently sought attributes of an ink and how it relates to some of the other attributes? Sometimes one thing will counter a single attribute, other times it may affect two, three or even four different attributes. (Charts would help! We all enjoy your drawings of nibs, tines, etc and haven’t seen that in a while! Hey, a proper chart might even find a permanent residence amongst your "Resources" pages. :D ) eg: Dilution => Increases the Shading => Decreases the Saturation eg: Increasing the Lubrication => Increases the “wetness” of the writing experience => Increases Feathering and Bleed through => Longer dry times (This is just an example; I’m only assuming/guessing that’s all true and probably displaying some of my ignorance.) Etc. Come on Brian -- team up with Drew and don your lab coats and bow ties for this episode! Permanence Fade resistance Saturation Shading Sheening Sparkling (Glitter) Lubrication Feathering Show through/bleed through Dry time Dry verses wet writing Ultraviolet fluorescence Freeze resistance
I am going to order the Art if Cursive Penmnship as soon as you get it back in stock. I love what your company does. I have fallen in love with fountain pens recently and ordered some bottles of inks and samples from you guys. I'm obsessed, and I greatly appreciate these videos.
Bless Michael Sull for creating that book--what a resource! I taught myself italic handwriting earlier this year from books, and I'll definitely want to get a copy. Thank you, Brian, for the great review! I remember mention in other Q&As that Noodler's inks are highly saturated so that they can be watered down. I tried it with Noodler's Purple, probably about 1/3 water, and taking the saturation down a notch or two makes the ink more clearly purple. I really like it. I'll have to try it with other inks! I would not wish to have my pens engraved. I enjoy the appearance and feel of my pens as they are, and I wouldn't want strangers to know my name from my pen if I were writing in public. Thanks for another great Q&A!
Yes! I love that you verified that diluting inks will increase shading, usually I dilute inks by accident, between cleanings and such, but I recently found a twsbi eco in an old backpack with some concentrated brown ink in it, and just flushed some water into the barrel to dilute it out and it's soo pretty. I do have a pilot prera that has noodler's african violet clogging up the pen into unusable status, I just got some pen flush, hopefully one day it'll write like new again. Oddly, I would only consider engraving for cheaper pens, under $50, personally because I wouldn't think of reselling them for much and they are more likely to be used/forgotten in public, loaned out to a friend, etc. I would probably pay for a scaling system for engraving, like maybe $4 for initials, $7 for monograms/emblems, and scaling up by how many characters/details. I don't think the move would be particularly business friendly, but it would be nice, or you can refer to an engraver that you know does good work on small items like pens, some sort of advanced shipping arrangement where you can ship to the engraver and the engraver will ship to the recipient. =)
Regarding pen cleaning: I have a pen that started skipping and hard starting. I flushed it with a bulb syringe until the water ran clear and then removed the nib unit. To my surprise there was still some ink between the nib and feed (just behind the breather hole). I soaked everything to get the last bit of ink out and reassembled the pen. It wrote much better after that. My other pens have not had this issue so it could be an anomaly with this specific pen. When I use it again I'll try a different ink and see if there is any difference.
Regarding the TWSBI 580, Fountain Pen Revolution recently started selling #5 (which they call #5.5) and #6 gold nibs, but I have no idea if they fit a TWSBI. The only experience I have was trying to fit a steel #5.5 nib on a Vac Mini; it does physically fit in the pen but it kind of ran dry and skipped.
When it comes to cap turns, vintage Pelikans has the best cap threads I've ever seen - it takes 3/4 of a turn to take off the cap and I have three of them on my desk constantly inked and they have never dried out on me.
OH MY GOSH, I am sooo glad I picked up another Nemosine singularity on fountain pen day! It's my favorite every day carry, I had no idea it might not be available long term!
QOTW - I would like engraving, I would be willing to pay 5-10 additionally for it. I would not use it on all pens. I plan on obtaining pens commemorating certain achievements, the bigger the achievement, the more expensive the pen: a Visconti Homo Sapiens for obtaining a master's or doctorate degree, a Lamy 2000 or Vanishing Point for a bachelor's. Engraving a name, date, year, acronym of achievement would serve as a reminder. ie: Brian, BSN 2019, Todd, DNP 2021. It would also make it much easier to get back if it were to be left behind.
I am not sure but I think the person asking about engraving might be interested in having designs engraved on their metal pens rather than names. There have been examples of this posted on the Facebook group for Kaweco collectors: it was done on Kaweco brass pens and was very intricate and beautiful. You could see examples there.I imagine it would take a lot of skill and need to be very expensive if you had someone who could do it. I might possibly have initials put on a metal pen or two if the service were available, perhaps in a fancy flowing script. $5 -$10 per letter maybe?
Thank you for the info on Nemosine. I have other pens I prefer in that cost bracket- but I have yet to see a sparkle ink I love more than the Coalsack Nebula. I have a mad passionate love for that ink, and would be unhappy if it were discontinued. I did buy an extra bottle, just in case. Cheers, Brian and Co.
When you showed that the Art of Cursive Penmanship has a section on flourishing lowercase letters you sold me on the book. Ha ha. I'll have to get one for myself and a female friend for Christmas. I also definitely value helping keep penmanship going in this emoji messed up society. Thanks for selling the books and introducing it to me.
1) Melissa H you can swap the nib unit with a faber castell (ie loom) I wonder if you can swan with a graf von faber castell gold nib unit. If you like the vac 700R you may have more options. Sure of anything in these respects. so please use these as options to investigate
QOTW: engraving...Jake Weidmann came to mind and that is probably the only engraving I'd be interested in then it is a piece of art I probably couldn't afford. 🤑. Great Q&A. Thanks.
I actually only clean my pens when I have problems lol Why? I like the gradient in the page of the changing ink process as you write where the old ink mixes with the new one and eventually you get the new one. I even try to be purposeful about my ink changes to make sure I will do it when I have enough to write a full page
Glad I jumped on the penmanship book. I ordered it just a bit before this went live and would have gotten it as soon as I got the in-stock notification if I hadn't needed to wait for payday. Also the pineider ink well is great! I am a little concerned about the durability of the cap, but I will definitely be getting a couple more.
So is Michael Sull's book different than the one he has been selling at conferences? I heard he updated the book, but I don't know if this is the book that I purchased earlier this year in person.
I believe this has been around since this summer through the publisher, so it probably is the same version. There was an older version that wasn't bound, but this is the only version in print that we know of. - Colin
You sold me, Brian. I just ordered the book. As for the engraving, i would only maybe have it done on a custom pen or a made to order pen like a CONID. Money leaves my wallet a lot when I watch you, Brian. You're Dangerous. Write On!
One of our ideas for a video is on different unique grinds you can find on fountain pens. Fude would be one of those, just not sure when that video will come out! - Colin
QOTW - I wouldn't engrave a pen unless it was for a very sentimental purpose - however I do have a laser engraved girologio pen case and I think the engraving really adds to my love of it. As for how much I would pay, I probably wouldn't ask for anything to be engraved if it were an extra charge. One of your competitors, Vanness pens, offers laser engraving for free.
Regarding engraving, any pen that has more exotic materials (abalone, titanium etc) I think would be the best kind of pen to engrave. Depending on the method of engraving any price from $25-$40 would be reasonable.
Regarding first question. This is a quote from fpnibs.com: "We can offer a TWSBI fountain pen with a JOWO steel or 18K nib. For this option, please contact us. We do offer a tip regrinding service for your selected nib. To know more about hem click HERE."
QOTW: No to engraving - but if you did offer it, I might ask for it on a rare occasion. So, I don't think (for me) it would be cost effective for you to offer the service. Heck, if I really wanted something engraved, I could just take it to an engraver. Also, it's not something I'd pay much for...less than $20. Thank you for the Q&A Brian - I look forward to it every week and watch on Friday's while I have dinner. It's been a "thing" for a couple of years now. Btw, thank you for my first Visconti - a perfect splurge on National Fountain Pen Day...I ordered and it arrived here in Texas in seven days...Excellent. :-)
QOTW: I agree with most other comments, I like my pens as they are and likely would not get one engraved. It seems unnecessary and who needs to have their name or whatever engraved in all their pens? Maybe if it’s given as a wedding, graduation or anniversary gift or something, but really, IMO, engraving seems unnecessary for a company like Goulet to get into.
I’ve purchased multiple pens from Mr. Pen in the UK and had each on engraved. It is pretty inexpensive and a nice touch. But it is not why I have bought their Italix pens but rather the quality of the pen and the reasonable price along with great service. So no I wouldn’t have many engraved.
The Pelikan M805 was available as a demonstrator until recently, you may be able to find one left in stock somewhere. It's not 3-4 times the price of the TWSBI tho, it's more like 8-9 times the price :|
I personally would not offer it. There’s a lot of engraving companies, but if you want to sell your pens later on, you’ll have a name on it which could be a bit less in terms of worth for the buyer. The engraving would be good but I would only do this to a gifted pen that I want them to keep, or as something of an heirloom... yeah.
Has it ever happened that the Goulet team has bought or attempted to buy an entire allocation of stock? For example, you get 50 new twsbi pens and all employees want one, and a few buy 2 or 3... What then? Do you have a system? A process?
It's never happened. If we're getting such limited-stock, it's kind of understood to not buy them all up. Also, not all of the employees are into fountain pens, or collecting fountain pens. Even the most popular pens we've carried (Duragraph Merlot), I'd say only 10 employees out of 40+ have ordered them. - Colin
Personally, I don't see the need for a snorkel, especially at $15 ea. Most people already have an ink syringe (or two), which can fill any converter, or a reuse cartridge just as easy. Because of the design of the syringe I believe it can extract more ink at the bottom, and in a shorter period of time.
I mean, the ink syringe is like the ultimate fountain pen accessory if you ask me, so you're not wrong. I do think the snorkel filler is a good option on-the-go if you might not have ink syringes with you. Snorkel Filler is very travel-friendly. - Colin
I think you just hit the proverbial nail on the head Colin. The snorkel will fit in an elastic loop with a sample vial of ink for on the go refills without taking up a whole other loop like a syringe would.
Although engraving is neat for gifts, I have no great desire to request it. If I had any request, it would be like an Amazon Prime sort of sub thing with Goulet, where I pay X amount for the year and get free shipping on orders over $25 and maybe a chance at some prime only deals or sales every once in a while.
I made the mistake of having a pen engraved from Levenger - I'll just say that if you want to do it, the engraving should be ornate, initials only, and filled in with enamel so it doesn't look like color on the surface and white underneath.
QOTW: personally I've never considered getting a pen engraved because usually it's very simple, plain text. With current technology, I might change my mind if it's using a laser engraver to do complex designs. One of my favorite pen makers, Yoshi of 18111com on Instagram, uses laser etching as part of his designs. This is not an inexpensive process but I do see it adding to the pen. On a side note, I will say I do not hate getting a vintage pen that has a name engraved on it. I can't help but wonder who that person was and its an interesting connection to the past. Regarding the engraving on the Conklin matching up, that is very important to me as a design element. Whenever things don't line up nicely and do it every time, it's sloppy design in my eyes. I don't mind the extra rotation as its not a fast pen like a snap cap or a clicker. The writing experience is the most important but if it looks ugly to me, I won't want to use it unless the experience is unique. One of the appeals of fountain pens is the overall experience. Utility is high but not as much as a rollerball or even *sigh* a ball point. Performance and aesthetics should both be high in a niche market as this unless you're dealing with disposable pens like a varsity Keep up the great work. Love my Goulet exclusive Conklin!
can you advice any pen for everyday writing that would also have a flex (or soft) nib? The idea is to have a pen which would give line variation but would not be too soft. I haven't tried Noodlers, because I kinda want something nicer.
i can understand if you wanted a visconte homo sapiens that would be nice but on a 10 dollar monteverde monza i dont think so engraving is something for high class and if it were to be offered i would understand perhaps if it was lazer engraved a higher price but for cnc i mean my friend got his cnc for a grand and hes been making stuff with it every day hand ingraving would be the cheapest way but then again it wouldnt be the prettiest but most valuable
@@Gouletpens but what about the ink in the bottle it won't be contaminated and become something else? I'm more worried about my light colors. And sometimes I hear people saying that their colors lost their properties with the time because it mix with the residual ink in the pen. I change colors a lot and have anything from super sheen and shimmer to the well behaved traditional ones.
Hello, and thanks for answering my question. As for having my pens engraved, I don;t think I would. It does not add any value to the pen, in my opinion, and actually will reduce its value in case I wanted to sell it. Maybe if it was a unique pen that was probably custom made for me, or such a rarity that nobody else can have or afford, I would maybe (a big maybe) have my name engraved on that pen.
I've only written with a few of them, but really enjoyed the writing experience each time. You're definitely paying a premium for the brand, but it's still a great writer in my experience. We would carry them, but we don't have a brick & mortar storefront. - Colin
QOTW: Nah, probably not. I might if I gave a fountain pen as a gift. But I doubt it even then. I can't imagine paying more for the engraving than the pen...for example a Jin Hao. Engraving on a $500.00 pen...heck yeah! But on the other hand if I had five C notes I'd probably spend it on something other than a high dollar fountain pen. I hate to admit it....but that's a fact.
QotW - I've only had one item engraved - a Tiffany bracelet charm w/ my initial. For fountain pens, I don't think I'd want to receive personalization, even for those I'm 100% certain I'd never give or sell. Limited edition stamping/engraving is sufficient from the manufacturer. I do not want it Not today or any day Don't engrave Goulet
QOTW: engraving - Not a fan of non personalized engraving, I would appreciate the option to engrave a name or date on a pen as a gift, for a wedding or business gift. anniversary even. however I do not want a pen name or a season or year my pen was made on my pen. I would have bought a unicorn if they hadn't ruined it with text that does not appeal to me.
Melissa: im not sure but ithink www.fpnibs.com/ makes goldnibs for twsbi .They touch up every nib they sell. I never ordered from them personally but have heard great things about them.
I feel like I just need to say this the 75t ink refers to the engine used in the KSLV-II the KRE-075 which is a 75 ton class engine, it produces 75,000 kgf of thrust, it has nothing to do with 75th anniversary. The development of the KSLV-II is quit cool and vary interesting story. I know that you are not science people so that is why I am pointing it out for other people who want to know more. www.kari.re.kr/eng/sub03_03_01.do en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSLV-II
I tend to enjoy the design elements of the pen as is and any pen I'm buying as a gift has been carefully selected for that very reason. So I personally would not use and engraving service.
Why don't you guys create a Patreon page? Should help creating a healthy fountain pen community...Giving out gifts or maybe free shipping for those who contribute?
I associate Patreon with providing content that isn't available to the general population. Not sure we're interested in that angle. But a 'membership' program of some sort with shipping discounts and the like could be something to consider. - Colin
@@Gouletpens Nice to see you guys having shipping discounts in mind! Yes, Patreon is more for a smaller group inside the general audience of any channels, but you do have the option to release any content you wish to the public after a period of time (in this case the Patrons (subscribers) have early access to whatever you want to do...e.g. pens coming up, events that might be interesting to book early...). Besides, it never hurt to know the people who are willing to support you guys in a monthly subscription way, what they are thinking about-- what new pens they want to recommend, what channels of business communications they could have-- and also bring them a feeling of actually contributing to the promotion of the fountain pen culture.
Patreon is for subscribers to support creators who don't have many alternatives financially. Since Goulet is a business, it's easy to support them by buying from them.
QOTW: No i would not be interested in engraving in my mind it ruins a pen , also affects the resale value .From a business point of view on GPC's side this would i think have to be quite expensive relatively to cover the cost of either employing someone to do this or investment in equipment.
Micheal Jecks has a video of a special custom Visconti Homo Sapiens, that has 3 ink windows (1 near the section as a clear ring, and 2 on either side of the center of the barrel). Here is his uploaded review, and I think it would be awesome if Goulet could ask or push Visconti to possibly make this a production model [ ruclips.net/video/6b4C6-TTurA/видео.html ]
I'm not interested in engraving. Even when companies have offered it for free or at low price, I haven't chosen to do it. I know Vanness does engraving, so I can get it if there is some reason down the line, but offering engraving would not add to my consideration in ordering pens.
I personally would not want my pen to be engraved. I would want to be able to return a defective pen and can't if engraved and so much can happen to a pen while trying to engrave it. I would hate to have Goulet have to pay to replace a pen if the engraving went wrong. Theses days I don't know if I want someone in the public to be able to see my name on my pen. Who knows if they could use my info in an illegal way.
Na no engraving for me. I would only do an engraving or customization if it was a lot purchase for buisness promotion. Then I would be buying roller balls or ball points.
Brian, this is EXACTLY what I was wanting. Thank you for fielding my question and going through the book. The details about the author make it easily a requirement for the library. I will probably incorporate this into the homeschool curriculum, too.
QOTW - From a customer perspective: I don't need engraving. I would not want to mess up a nice pen with it anyway. From a business perspective: With the volume of requests would it be worth buying the equipment. If you're going to make it look nice you have to get equipment that engraves without looking like dot matrix. Also, if you mess up the engraving, even a little, you can't sell it to the customer, and you can't return it to your supplier, so you might end up eating the cost, and still have to engrave another pen for the customer. You also have to consider what types of messages you are willing to engrave or not engrave. If you refuse some, then you might end up in a lawsuit for some kind of discrimination. These are reasons I didn't offer engraving when I was making and selling pens. If I get back into it at a later date I still won't offer it. I always suggested that they try a trophy shop for engraving, but that it would violate any warranty on my part.
Mike W my pet store has this engraving vending machine. You buy a dog tag, stick it into the machine and then pick your font size name or what ever and it engraves it for you on the spot, I can see this happening
@@inkyfrog98, not for me. Or were you being facetious, maybe? Dog tags aren't expensive pens. Although I have one of those dog tags for my pup, it isn't quality. I can just see putting my expensive ebonite and lacquer pen in that machine and seeing the pen crack and disintegrate on the spot. Nope, I wouldn't do it, even on a Metro. Personally, I think engraving should only be available from the actual manufacturer, so one would not violate a warranty. However, I realize I cannot speak for all.
excellent points. I agree.
QOTW: Not a fan of engraving stuff. Really expensive pens with engravings only work in movies, imo. The only reason I've ever seen pen engravings make sense was for European school supplies, where a lot of red and blue Lamy Safaris die a quiet death in the lost and found.
Speaking of school, we were told to take care of our fountain pens. Right posture, right grip, not too much pressure, use only blue ink... No mention of cleaning it. If you left a cartridge in a pen over summer break, and it wouldn't write when you put in a new one or soaked it overnight, your pen was considered broken and in need of replacement.
Knowing what I do now, I could go to some primary schools, collect all the 'broken' and permanently lost pens and perform some serious witchcraft with a bucket of water and a tablespoon of generic dish soap.
I bought Michael Sulls book a few weeks ago and I like it quite a bit. As a German, some details are lost in translation for me and of course there are no instructions on how to write umlauts and our ligature ß, but I'll manage. What I found really annoying is that there are no downloadable templates for the cross-drill and movement exercises. For writing, you can get templates from Iampeth, but for the exercises they expect you to photocopy the blank sheets. And for some reason, the sample letters in the front have a different slant (65°) than all of the exercises (55°). There maybe a reason behind that, but I didn't find it yet. Apart from the nitpicking, this is a really good guide book.
I accidentally learned about shading with diluted ink. I was at a long meeting and running out of ink in my pen (Yes, Brian a window would have helped). I was using Mont Blanc JFK Navy blue in a Cross Century II Medalist with a fine nib. During a break I added a few drops of water in the converter, shook it and prayed. It got me through and the shading was not noticeable until it dried but it did look surprisingly nice afterwards even using the fine nib.
I'm not a fan of engraving, so it wouldn't do anything for me. As for features, I disagree about hooded nibs -- I don't much care for the aesthetic. I love the idea of more pen windows...well, useful pen windows. Many is the time I unscrew the barrel just to see where my ink supply is at. The feature I wish would be very common are caps that seal. Living in the high desert, we have lower air pressure and often very low humidity. This means that many capped pens will dry in a few days, maybe a week or two if you write every day. Pens with sealed caps (affordable option example: TWSBI Eco) can sit for weeks and still write fine. Sadly, not enough pens give that option.
Karas Kustoms Fountain K Titanium NIb will fit a 580. I did it a year ago. I've had 0 issues with it.
Karas Customs (Bock) #5 gold nibs will also work to convert the 580 to a gold nib pen. They also work in the Van Gogh and Rembrandt.
QOTW: No, please don't get into engraving. There is too much to go wrong, and takes away from the Goulet focal point. I only bought one pen engraved (parker), and it was a regret. I mean, if something goes haywire, the pen is going to remain in a drawer instead of being enjoyed, repaired or sold. I'd like to see Goulet Pens stay the course with pens and stationery, rather than branch out into individualized and personalized territory, which could be more of a sink rather than swim endeavor.
Other thought: Maybe try a special edition Premiere - it will be more expensive - with an ink window. I'm not sure it is something you want to do permanently with the Premiere, but it might be fun for a special edition to see how well an ink window goes with your customers.
The American public school system is doing a true disservice to our children. Cursive is wonderful. I remember learning cursive and how much I enjoyed practicing daily - that was in Russia. I didn't get to do that when I moved to America. There have also been studies that have shown children improving their cognitive abilities and grades after they wrote daily in cursive for a couple years. Not only is it beautiful but it also improves one's cognitive thinking. Write on!
Any chance "free shipping" on orders over $X could happen at Goulet?
We probably won't implement it as a full-time offer (at least not anytime soon), but could pop up as part of a promotional period like it did last week for Fountain Pen Day! - Colin
Would love to see a detailed video on the Mirage, incl. comparison of the old and new Visconti nibs.
Just the video i needed, and in perfect timing too, thank you for showing the book 'Art of Cursive Penmanship'! I'd been struggling to get my hands on a copy for some time..
I very much appreciated and enjoyed the Q&A on increasing the shading of an ink and how that is counterbalanced (works in opposition to) Saturation.
Would you consider a discussion on each of the frequently sought attributes of an ink and how it relates to some of the other attributes? Sometimes one thing will counter a single attribute, other times it may affect two, three or even four different attributes. (Charts would help! We all enjoy your drawings of nibs, tines, etc and haven’t seen that in a while! Hey, a proper chart might even find a permanent residence amongst your "Resources" pages. :D )
eg: Dilution => Increases the Shading => Decreases the Saturation
eg: Increasing the Lubrication => Increases the “wetness” of the writing experience => Increases Feathering and Bleed through => Longer dry times (This is just an example; I’m only assuming/guessing that’s all true and probably displaying some of my ignorance.)
Etc.
Come on Brian -- team up with Drew and don your lab coats and bow ties for this episode!
Permanence
Fade resistance
Saturation
Shading
Sheening
Sparkling (Glitter)
Lubrication
Feathering
Show through/bleed through
Dry time
Dry verses wet writing
Ultraviolet fluorescence
Freeze resistance
Glad to see you’re passionate about Michael’s work. I’m advocate for cursive and glad he brought the book out at a (very) reasonable price.
I am going to order the Art if Cursive Penmnship as soon as you get it back in stock. I love what your company does. I have fallen in love with fountain pens recently and ordered some bottles of inks and samples from you guys. I'm obsessed, and I greatly appreciate these videos.
Bless Michael Sull for creating that book--what a resource! I taught myself italic handwriting earlier this year from books, and I'll definitely want to get a copy. Thank you, Brian, for the great review!
I remember mention in other Q&As that Noodler's inks are highly saturated so that they can be watered down. I tried it with Noodler's Purple, probably about 1/3 water, and taking the saturation down a notch or two makes the ink more clearly purple. I really like it. I'll have to try it with other inks!
I would not wish to have my pens engraved. I enjoy the appearance and feel of my pens as they are, and I wouldn't want strangers to know my name from my pen if I were writing in public.
Thanks for another great Q&A!
I love fountain pens.
Inks are so magnificient
to keep my memories.
I have swapped a Visconti nib in my TWSBI 580 and it works fine! They have also a Palladium no5 nib. That one is nice and soft!
Yes! I love that you verified that diluting inks will increase shading, usually I dilute inks by accident, between cleanings and such, but I recently found a twsbi eco in an old backpack with some concentrated brown ink in it, and just flushed some water into the barrel to dilute it out and it's soo pretty.
I do have a pilot prera that has noodler's african violet clogging up the pen into unusable status, I just got some pen flush, hopefully one day it'll write like new again.
Oddly, I would only consider engraving for cheaper pens, under $50, personally because I wouldn't think of reselling them for much and they are more likely to be used/forgotten in public, loaned out to a friend, etc. I would probably pay for a scaling system for engraving, like maybe $4 for initials, $7 for monograms/emblems, and scaling up by how many characters/details. I don't think the move would be particularly business friendly, but it would be nice, or you can refer to an engraver that you know does good work on small items like pens, some sort of advanced shipping arrangement where you can ship to the engraver and the engraver will ship to the recipient. =)
I have no interest in engraving my pens. Kinda weird example but, it would be kind of like cattle branding a dog I love. Really enjoy your vids
Regarding pen cleaning: I have a pen that started skipping and hard starting. I flushed it with a bulb syringe until the water ran clear and then removed the nib unit. To my surprise there was still some ink between the nib and feed (just behind the breather hole). I soaked everything to get the last bit of ink out and reassembled the pen. It wrote much better after that. My other pens have not had this issue so it could be an anomaly with this specific pen. When I use it again I'll try a different ink and see if there is any difference.
Regarding the TWSBI 580, Fountain Pen Revolution recently started selling #5 (which they call #5.5) and #6 gold nibs, but I have no idea if they fit a TWSBI. The only experience I have was trying to fit a steel #5.5 nib on a Vac Mini; it does physically fit in the pen but it kind of ran dry and skipped.
When it comes to cap turns, vintage Pelikans has the best cap threads I've ever seen - it takes 3/4 of a turn to take off the cap and I have three of them on my desk constantly inked and they have never dried out on me.
My Sheaffer cadet's are all between 1/2 and 3/4 turn to cap/uncap
OH MY GOSH, I am sooo glad I picked up another Nemosine singularity on fountain pen day! It's my favorite every day carry, I had no idea it might not be available long term!
Definitely one of my favorite pens (have 4 of them!) and under $10 was a great price. - Colin
QOTW - I would like engraving, I would be willing to pay 5-10 additionally for it. I would not use it on all pens. I plan on obtaining pens commemorating certain achievements, the bigger the achievement, the more expensive the pen: a Visconti Homo Sapiens for obtaining a master's or doctorate degree, a Lamy 2000 or Vanishing Point for a bachelor's. Engraving a name, date, year, acronym of achievement would serve as a reminder. ie: Brian, BSN 2019, Todd, DNP 2021. It would also make it much easier to get back if it were to be left behind.
I am not sure but I think the person asking about engraving might be interested in having designs engraved on their metal pens rather than names. There have been examples of this posted on the Facebook group for Kaweco collectors: it was done on Kaweco brass pens and was very intricate and beautiful. You could see examples there.I imagine it would take a lot of skill and need to be very expensive if you had someone who could do it. I might possibly have initials put on a metal pen or two if the service were available, perhaps in a fancy flowing script. $5 -$10 per letter maybe?
Thank you for the info on Nemosine. I have other pens I prefer in that cost bracket- but I have yet to see a sparkle ink I love more than the Coalsack Nebula. I have a mad passionate love for that ink, and would be unhappy if it were discontinued. I did buy an extra bottle, just in case. Cheers, Brian and Co.
When you showed that the Art of Cursive Penmanship has a section on flourishing lowercase letters you sold me on the book. Ha ha. I'll have to get one for myself and a female friend for Christmas. I also definitely value helping keep penmanship going in this emoji messed up society. Thanks for selling the books and introducing it to me.
1) Melissa H you can swap the nib unit with a faber castell (ie loom) I wonder if you can swan with a graf von faber castell gold nib unit. If you like the vac 700R you may have more options. Sure of anything in these respects. so please use these as options to investigate
QOTW: engraving...Jake Weidmann came to mind and that is probably the only engraving I'd be interested in then it is a piece of art I probably couldn't afford. 🤑. Great Q&A. Thanks.
I actually only clean my pens when I have problems lol Why? I like the gradient in the page of the changing ink process as you write where the old ink mixes with the new one and eventually you get the new one. I even try to be purposeful about my ink changes to make sure I will do it when I have enough to write a full page
Glad I jumped on the penmanship book. I ordered it just a bit before this went live and would have gotten it as soon as I got the in-stock notification if I hadn't needed to wait for payday. Also the pineider ink well is great! I am a little concerned about the durability of the cap, but I will definitely be getting a couple more.
So is Michael Sull's book different than the one he has been selling at conferences? I heard he updated the book, but I don't know if this is the book that I purchased earlier this year in person.
I believe this has been around since this summer through the publisher, so it probably is the same version. There was an older version that wasn't bound, but this is the only version in print that we know of. - Colin
You sold me, Brian. I just ordered the book.
As for the engraving, i would only maybe have it done on a custom pen or a made to order pen like a CONID.
Money leaves my wallet a lot when I watch you, Brian. You're Dangerous.
Write On!
I have Michael book. I love it, got to meet Michael at the Arkansas Pen Show a great man for sure!!!
Any chance of a video on fude tips?
One of our ideas for a video is on different unique grinds you can find on fountain pens. Fude would be one of those, just not sure when that video will come out! - Colin
QOTW - I wouldn't engrave a pen unless it was for a very sentimental purpose - however I do have a laser engraved girologio pen case and I think the engraving really adds to my love of it. As for how much I would pay, I probably wouldn't ask for anything to be engraved if it were an extra charge. One of your competitors, Vanness pens, offers laser engraving for free.
For that fantastic book on penmanship what fountain pens and nibs do you recommend?
How about a pen with Brian’s favorite features, maybe for the 10th anniversary? A pen with a hooded nib, ink window and single rotation cap.
Can’t wait to get my copy of the art of cursive penmanship !
Regarding engraving, any pen that has more exotic materials (abalone, titanium etc) I think would be the best kind of pen to engrave. Depending on the method of engraving any price from $25-$40 would be reasonable.
Regarding first question. This is a quote from fpnibs.com:
"We can offer a TWSBI fountain pen with a JOWO steel or 18K nib. For this option, please contact us.
We do offer a tip regrinding service for your selected nib. To know more about hem click HERE."
QOTW: No to engraving - but if you did offer it, I might ask for it on a rare occasion. So, I don't think (for me) it would be cost effective for you to offer the service. Heck, if I really wanted something engraved, I could just take it to an engraver. Also, it's not something I'd pay much for...less than $20. Thank you for the Q&A Brian - I look forward to it every week and watch on Friday's while I have dinner. It's been a "thing" for a couple of years now. Btw, thank you for my first Visconti - a perfect splurge on National Fountain Pen Day...I ordered and it arrived here in Texas in seven days...Excellent. :-)
QOTW: I agree with most other comments, I like my pens as they are and likely would not get one engraved. It seems unnecessary and who needs to have their name or whatever engraved in all their pens? Maybe if it’s given as a wedding, graduation or anniversary gift or something, but really, IMO, engraving seems unnecessary for a company like Goulet to get into.
I’ve purchased multiple pens from Mr. Pen in the UK and had each on engraved. It is pretty inexpensive and a nice touch. But it is not why I have bought their Italix pens but rather the quality of the pen and the reasonable price along with great service. So no I wouldn’t have many engraved.
The Pelikan M805 was available as a demonstrator until recently, you may be able to find one left in stock somewhere.
It's not 3-4 times the price of the TWSBI tho, it's more like 8-9 times the price :|
Thanks for the great advice! 💕
I personally would not offer it. There’s a lot of engraving companies, but if you want to sell your pens later on, you’ll have a name on it which could be a bit less in terms of worth for the buyer. The engraving would be good but I would only do this to a gifted pen that I want them to keep, or as something of an heirloom... yeah.
Your company is Awesome.
Re: Q2: The LAMY Accent caps with just 1/3 of a rotation--one of several great features about it that I think tend to get overlooked.
Sorry, typo, 1/2 of a rotation.
Has it ever happened that the Goulet team has bought or attempted to buy an entire allocation of stock? For example, you get 50 new twsbi pens and all employees want one, and a few buy 2 or 3... What then? Do you have a system? A process?
It's never happened. If we're getting such limited-stock, it's kind of understood to not buy them all up. Also, not all of the employees are into fountain pens, or collecting fountain pens. Even the most popular pens we've carried (Duragraph Merlot), I'd say only 10 employees out of 40+ have ordered them. - Colin
Personally, I don't see the need for a snorkel, especially at $15 ea. Most people already have an ink syringe (or two), which can fill any converter, or a reuse cartridge just as easy. Because of the design of the syringe I believe it can extract more ink at the bottom, and in a shorter period of time.
I mean, the ink syringe is like the ultimate fountain pen accessory if you ask me, so you're not wrong. I do think the snorkel filler is a good option on-the-go if you might not have ink syringes with you. Snorkel Filler is very travel-friendly. - Colin
I think you just hit the proverbial nail on the head Colin. The snorkel will fit in an elastic loop with a sample vial of ink for on the go refills without taking up a whole other loop like a syringe would.
Although engraving is neat for gifts, I have no great desire to request it. If I had any request, it would be like an Amazon Prime sort of sub thing with Goulet, where I pay X amount for the year and get free shipping on orders over $25 and maybe a chance at some prime only deals or sales every once in a while.
I made the mistake of having a pen engraved from Levenger - I'll just say that if you want to do it, the engraving should be ornate, initials only, and filled in with enamel so it doesn't look like color on the surface and white underneath.
notconvincedgranny I had a L-Tech engraved by Levenger that did not look too bad, but I completely agree with initials only.
QOTW: personally I've never considered getting a pen engraved because usually it's very simple, plain text. With current technology, I might change my mind if it's using a laser engraver to do complex designs. One of my favorite pen makers, Yoshi of 18111com on Instagram, uses laser etching as part of his designs. This is not an inexpensive process but I do see it adding to the pen. On a side note, I will say I do not hate getting a vintage pen that has a name engraved on it. I can't help but wonder who that person was and its an interesting connection to the past.
Regarding the engraving on the Conklin matching up, that is very important to me as a design element. Whenever things don't line up nicely and do it every time, it's sloppy design in my eyes. I don't mind the extra rotation as its not a fast pen like a snap cap or a clicker. The writing experience is the most important but if it looks ugly to me, I won't want to use it unless the experience is unique. One of the appeals of fountain pens is the overall experience. Utility is high but not as much as a rollerball or even *sigh* a ball point. Performance and aesthetics should both be high in a niche market as this unless you're dealing with disposable pens like a varsity
Keep up the great work. Love my Goulet exclusive Conklin!
can you advice any pen for everyday writing that would also have a flex (or soft) nib? The idea is to have a pen which would give line variation but would not be too soft. I haven't tried Noodlers, because I kinda want something nicer.
Conklin with an Omniflex nib is probably your best bet for something beyond a Noodler's flex pen: www.gouletpens.com/collections/conklin - Colin
i can understand if you wanted a visconte homo sapiens that would be nice but on a 10 dollar monteverde monza i dont think so engraving is something for high class and if it were to be offered i would understand perhaps if it was lazer engraved a higher price but for cnc i mean my friend got his cnc for a grand and hes been making stuff with it every day hand ingraving would be the cheapest way but then again it wouldnt be the prettiest but most valuable
..Happy as a pig in slop. That's a suitable substitute for the other word. lolololol.
I was literally counting the rotations on my Duragraph turquoise when you pulled yours out... thinking that it was alot.
It seems that engraving could be something you could subcontract . . . at least until you see what the demand is for it.
I'm afraid of contaminates the new ink, should I clean till it is 100% clean (disassemble and all) or it's safe to do it only flushing with water?
Just flushing with water should be fine! Only inks with real unique properties might cause issues if they mix. - Colin
@@Gouletpens but what about the ink in the bottle it won't be contaminated and become something else? I'm more worried about my light colors. And sometimes I hear people saying that their colors lost their properties with the time because it mix with the residual ink in the pen. I change colors a lot and have anything from super sheen and shimmer to the well behaved traditional ones.
hell yes, in japan they offer free engraving and it's v meaningful especially for gold pens.
I feel so blessed for starting a new, and fair paying job, just so my wallet can cry because of pens
To Melissa's question, I'm not sure if the JoWo nibs fit on the TWSBI's, but there are 18kt #5 nibs available online. Do JoWo nibs fit on the TWSBI's?
Specifically, iirc fpnibs.com sells gold jowo #5 nibs. No idea if they fit the 580, but it seems like they ought to..
Hello, and thanks for answering my question. As for having my pens engraved, I don;t think I would. It does not add any value to the pen, in my opinion, and actually will reduce its value in case I wanted to sell it. Maybe if it was a unique pen that was probably custom made for me, or such a rarity that nobody else can have or afford, I would maybe (a big maybe) have my name engraved on that pen.
I need to get that book by Michael Sull ASAP
Whats your opinion on a montblanc fountain pen?
I've only written with a few of them, but really enjoyed the writing experience each time. You're definitely paying a premium for the brand, but it's still a great writer in my experience. We would carry them, but we don't have a brick & mortar storefront. - Colin
QOTW: Nah, probably not. I might if I gave a fountain pen as a gift. But I doubt it even then. I can't imagine paying more for the engraving than the pen...for example a Jin Hao. Engraving on a $500.00 pen...heck yeah! But on the other hand if I had five C notes I'd probably spend it on something other than a high dollar fountain pen. I hate to admit it....but that's a fact.
QotW - I've only had one item engraved - a Tiffany bracelet charm w/ my initial. For fountain pens, I don't think I'd want to receive personalization, even for those I'm 100% certain I'd never give or sell. Limited edition stamping/engraving is sufficient from the manufacturer.
I do not want it
Not today or any day
Don't engrave Goulet
QOTW: engraving - Not a fan of non personalized engraving, I would appreciate the option to engrave a name or date on a pen as a gift, for a wedding or business gift. anniversary even. however I do not want a pen name or a season or year my pen was made on my pen. I would have bought a unicorn if they hadn't ruined it with text that does not appeal to me.
Melissa: im not sure but ithink www.fpnibs.com/ makes goldnibs for twsbi .They touch up every nib they sell. I never ordered from them personally but have heard great things about them.
I feel like I just need to say this the 75t ink refers to the engine used in the KSLV-II the KRE-075 which is a 75 ton class engine, it produces 75,000 kgf of thrust, it has nothing to do with 75th anniversary. The development of the KSLV-II is quit cool and vary interesting story. I know that you are not science people so that is why I am pointing it out for other people who want to know more.
www.kari.re.kr/eng/sub03_03_01.do
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSLV-II
Brian, you forgot to zoom in again when showing the results of the shading experiment.
Dainty fountain pen,
Rushing with colours of life,
Flood my weary soul.
I tend to enjoy the design elements of the pen as is and any pen I'm buying as a gift has been carefully selected for that very reason. So I personally would not use and engraving service.
I couldn't see the book!
Ok, my 2 cent haiku:
Began as a fad,
Made writing my life,
Penmanship is art!
For some reason, "writing instrument" sounds so much better than "pen." hahaha
Why don't you guys create a Patreon page? Should help creating a healthy fountain pen community...Giving out gifts or maybe free shipping for those who contribute?
I associate Patreon with providing content that isn't available to the general population. Not sure we're interested in that angle. But a 'membership' program of some sort with shipping discounts and the like could be something to consider. - Colin
@@Gouletpens Nice to see you guys having shipping discounts in mind! Yes, Patreon is more for a smaller group inside the general audience of any channels, but you do have the option to release any content you wish to the public after a period of time (in this case the Patrons (subscribers) have early access to whatever you want to do...e.g. pens coming up, events that might be interesting to book early...). Besides, it never hurt to know the people who are willing to support you guys in a monthly subscription way, what they are thinking about-- what new pens they want to recommend, what channels of business communications they could have-- and also bring them a feeling of actually contributing to the promotion of the fountain pen culture.
Patreon is for subscribers to support creators who don't have many alternatives financially. Since Goulet is a business, it's easy to support them by buying from them.
$20 for that book?!? That's a steal!
QOTW: No i would not be interested in engraving in my mind it ruins a pen , also affects the resale value .From a business point of view on GPC's side this would i think have to be quite expensive relatively to cover the cost of either employing someone to do this or investment in equipment.
Micheal Jecks has a video of a special custom Visconti Homo Sapiens, that has 3 ink windows (1 near the section as a clear ring, and 2 on either side of the center of the barrel). Here is his uploaded review, and I think it would be awesome if Goulet could ask or push Visconti to possibly make this a production model [ ruclips.net/video/6b4C6-TTurA/видео.html ]
Can't say I'm interested in engraving.
Nib: Boch no5 18kt type 180 does that fit? See www.beaufortink.co.uk I have bought from them and found them sound
My wallets run dry, don’t worry about them crying
I'm not interested in engraving. Even when companies have offered it for free or at low price, I haven't chosen to do it.
I know Vanness does engraving, so I can get it if there is some reason down the line, but offering engraving would not add to my consideration in ordering pens.
What happened to the Ryder Carroll interview?
It was flagged for something, we're working with YT to get it back up here soon! - Colin
@@Gouletpens Thanks Colin!!
I personally would not want my pen to be engraved. I would want to be able to return a defective pen and can't if engraved and so much can happen to a pen while trying to engrave it. I would hate to have Goulet have to pay to replace a pen if the engraving went wrong. Theses days I don't know if I want someone in the public to be able to see my name on my pen. Who knows if they could use my info in an illegal way.
No, I wouldn't need engraving. If I needed it engraved it would be better for me to go to a store in person and have it engraved there.
Na no engraving for me. I would only do an engraving or customization if it was a lot purchase for buisness promotion. Then I would be buying roller balls or ball points.
Definitely no engraving, for me it feels like defacing the pen.
I would not engrave my pens.
No engraving!!!
not a fan of engraving my pens.
No thank you. I am not interested in having engraving on my pen.
engaging? No, not at all!
QOTW: No to engraving.