Brian please don’t ever stop being your tangential and superfluous best!! Not only do we learn things from you on a variety of things, not only fountain pen related, but watching Drew’s face is endlessly fascinating!!😊
Picture it: 1965. I’m a 14 year old who hates ballpoint pens and I come across a nice and cheap Schaefer fountain pen for students that was practically indestructible given I had no idea how to care for it. So one thing I did after using the black cartridges which came with it was switch to blue without cleaning. Later they offered Peacock Blue and I cheerfully switched to that with no problem. If anything, I enjoyed watching the color of the ink change. Edited to add the only problem I had with the pen was losing it after a few years.
Sheaffer Skrip is one of my favorite and lowest maintenance inks. Interchangeable with many inks without needing cleaning. Older Sheaffer student pens were bulletproof!
Peacock Blue is still my favorite ink color, use it in all my Sheaffer’s pens since Jr High and buy it whenever I see it. Currently looking for a match as that cache is only getting smaller.
Drew’s faces when Brian confessed to playing fast and loose with cartridge swapping were priceless! I can’t say I’d not clean my pen before switching colors, but if I’m not changing colors then engage lazy mode. 😂
@@kat_koe Funny you mention the Pilot Parallel specifically. I have two of them (the pens), and I use the 6mm one for inkradicating lines of things I've completed on my ToDo list. It has become a receptacle for whatever minuscule amount of ink I pull out of whatever pen I'm temporarily retiring to storage. Right now, it's got a little Noodler's Dragon's Napalm ("Fire" now), some Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and something else red... Diamine Oxblood, I think. Probably a few other brands and colors in there as well. Something designed to put out ink like a 6mm Parallel, I really don't worry about what I have in it.
Omg the debate portion was so entertaining. Pilot Custom 74 vs. Sailor 1911S, and Lamy Safari vs. TWSBI Swipe. You gotta do these more often. So funny!
I totally admit to swapping cartridge colors without cleaning. When you go from pink to blue you usually get a pretty awesome purple during the transition!
Bought my niece a small stuffed black lab for her first birthday so she wouldn't fear my real dog when she sees him. I named her stuffed animal "Baby Gotham" after my dog. For her third birthday, I gave her a huge stuffed lab the size of a kindergartner. She named it "Big Daddy Gotham."
Год назад+15
You forgot to mention Herbin cartridges! They have a neat selection of colours beyond the usual red, blue & black. They're standard international too.
I'm a store manager. Dealing with people on the daily emotionally tires me out. These pencasts reminds me that there are decent and just genuinely nice people out there that like to talk about nothing and everything haha. After a long day, these pencasts just reminds you that life is normal and okay.
I've certainly done the Brian method of cartridge swapping. Fun fact--when you do it with Lamy green and red for a little while, you get a great brown for a while until it returns to your normally scheduled ink. So, it's not a bad habit...it's an adventure!
Watching Brian try to speak ill of the Custom 74 nib in favor of the Sailor was the funniest thing I've seen all week. Pen battle (esp. with you taking the opposite side from your favorites) should definitely be a new segment!
Hey there pen friends! I actually enjoy to mix some colors from time to time, like Lamy turquoise is in the pen, then add Noodler's habanero to the converter/cartridge for example, and you start getting all shades of green in a super cool gradual way, I love it!
I’m the one who said that I’d love to organize Brian’s collection. I really enjoy doing those kinds of things. And it’s pretty cool to be mentioned during the Pencast 😎
Maybe I’m asking for too much here, however can we get a video where Bryan just talks through his whole collection even if it’s just 30 seconds a pen. I would love that video….
Pen battle hysterical. Laughed so hard. Channeling Abbot & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, Martin & Lewis. Take it on the road to pen shows. I would buy a ticket.
There is much special joy in seeing one colour blend in to another over a series of paragraphs/pages upon an ink reload/change. I regard it as a rare treat.
Confession...I have taken ink sample bottle leftovers and mixed them. I have not yet used the ink. It is also from various brands...right now it is a greenish blue. almost an emerald color. It is pretty cool looking.
I just finished cataloging all my pens and swatching all my inks. It was good to do and see the results. Organizing everything so they are easier to find and know what I have (over 100 of each).I can’t imagine what Brian’s collection would take.
Thank you so much! 💓 my son is also turning 13 this year, and it is really unbelievable 😳 we are here already! They grow up so fast 😢. Loved the battle of the pen 🖊 💙 and all the rest! Muchas gracias!
I want to go on the record right now as stating that I one voice among many, the many who would ABSOLUTELY watch four (or however many, really) hours of you going through your pen collection, especially if you were able to share these sorts of small interesting details about them. However, I will say that I'm also enjoying these short snippets inside the Pencasts as well!!
I am a fan of Goulet Pencast ...here is the biggest reason why...it is on you tube and I can have CC on as a hearing impaired person "podcast" are not an option for me. I appreciate this. Love the pens too don't have enough just a few ....just 10 ...ok it is a thing for me. Thanks for being there for the rest of the world often left out.
@@Gouletpens They are mostly pretty good....once Brian said here at Goulet pen...and caption read here a jelly pen.... I laughed thinking I don't think that's in stock...but yes I can follow. I have a program on my computer too. But CC mostly does ok.
Brian, im not sure if it wss lazy mode for me, i think i was just a beginner and did not want to waste any ink, i had one platinum preppy, and different ink colours, i would just change the colour and ut would be from pink to blue, and the transition purple was fun to write with, im my defense platinum said the inks are mixable. So it was fun. I wrote with that pen and ink process for a whole year (in 2021) and the pen is still going :)
OMG!! I straight up laughed out loud at Drew with as he flexed during the pen battle. I had no idea you could make a pen battle so funny!! I keep imagining how much fun your childhood must have been when you guys first met. I really appreciate your long-term friendship. You guys must be amazing dads too. Your families are really lucky to have you both. Thank you for making this hobby so funny and lighthearted. It really makes my day. Big hugs from Canada.
Quick question. I use a Pilot Kakuno with an extra fine nib and Platinum Carbon black ink (in a CON-70 converter). What Pilot Pen would you recommend as an upgrade as I tried eyedroppering a Platinum Preppy (and I cracked the body) and I am worried that this Kakuno might crack as well. I seem to really enjoy the Japanese finer nibs. I have a Lamy Safari in Extra Fine and a TWSBI Eco-T in Mint in Extra Fine, but alas, the European nibs don't really do it for me as I like to draw with a lot of detail. Your pen advice would be sincerely most appreciated.
No shame, Brian! I also mix inks without cleaning out the one before-sometimes you can get some interesting combinations! I love the deep purple that comes from mixing Australian Roses and Heart of Darkness between pen fills :)
@1:03:58 - For those of us with gray hair, we encountered ebonite quite frequently (if we bowled). Before modern urethane bowling balls dominated the market, most bowling bowls were made of ebonite.
I know I am a bit late to this pencast, but listen Drew, just putting in the new cartridge without cleaning the pen out first is how we were told in school to do it. To be fair, we were supposed to use just royal blue anyway, but if we got to use a colored one, we always just popped in the new color cartridge. I remember loving watching the colors slowly mix and change. To be honest I still do it sometimes when syringe filling an empty cartridge. It is just so pretty. But in school we only ever used cartridges, usually just Pelikan or Lamy, depending on the personal pen and never cleaned our pens, unless it got forgotten over summer break and got clogged, which rarely happened.
Brian, you are not alone; I don’t see anything wrong with continual cartridge use. I am an unapologetic serial cartridge user. I have a Lamy Studio that typically has Lamy Blue in it, but I have no qualms sticking another color in-which I have been doing for over 5 years without issue. I just started a teal cartridge last week, and the transition time was beautiful. I also got a variety pack of inks for Christmas, and I currently have no plans to change my ways.
I have definitely put different colored cartridges in the same pen without cleaning. Usually, it's a blue after a black and for a while the pen writes a nice blue-black-gray until the cartridge takes over.
I was at an art fair once and saw a booth selling pens, so I excitedly made my way toward it. Before I got a good look at them, the seller saw my enthusiasm and started proudly showing me how all the fountain pens and rollerball pens were made using bullets and metal pieces that looked like parts of guns. I extricated myself as soon as I could. That's not my jam...😅 Also, seeing you two uncomfortably debate against your favorite pens was pretty hilarious.😂
The Liliput you need to restock is the stainless steel Liliput that is just stainless steel and not the Fireblue. That's the one I want. That's just a basic 2-man crosscut saw.
Drew, Nightwing issue 87 which is also collected in the trade paperback Vol. 2 Get Grayson, is amazing. If you were able to take each page front and back and lay them down side by side, it would create one continuous cityscape that Nightwing flips in and out of and jumps and fights through.
Amazing! Getting back into things, I'm noticing that Nightwing has a FAR bigger following that when I stopped reading (right before New 52). It's awesome to see a longtime favorite getting the spotlight! - Drew
Before I learned anything about fountain pens, I used to change cartridge colors without cleaning out my pen. I really enjoyed the ombre effect I would get as one color changed to the next!!
That's the REASON I use cartridges! In some pens, I like to fill the cartridges but I use my other cartridge pens exactly as Brian describes. I like how Lamy Violet slowly turns into Lamy Turquoise 😊 💜💙
I've purchased cymk, light grey, white and dilution for De Atramentis document inks and I absolutely love it! Initially I was trying to replicate MB Psychedelic Purple, however the Cyan and Fuchsia aren't warm enough to do that, but I love creating all of my own unique colours. In the ink sample vials, a little from each 30ml bottle goes a long way. Highly recommend! ...especially if you create a colour wheel first, to understand the basics of the ratios of colour mixing 1darker colour : 5 lighter colour for secondary. The tertiary colours are more of an art form.
I change cartridges without cleaning my pen in between them all the time. I actually really like the variegated ink colors on a page, where I'm starting with blue and I end up with green and all the shades in between them, or blue to red with lots of shades of purple in the switch. It can be beautiful. 😊
Drew, if you got cut up that badly you may need to get a fresh blade in there. I've been shaving with a straight razor for over 15 years now and irritation and cuts like that are a sure sign that I need to sharpen it. You guys are great and I always enjoy the pencast.
Hi guys! I have seen every episode but always forget to comment. YES ! Im like Brian and do the "other cartridge" thing. Love the ombre effect. Go Brian!
German schoolchildren routinely engage in serial cartridge use behaviour. I would even say cleaning a pen that still writes well enough was more the exception than the rule when I went to school. We routinely changed and exchanged and borrowed cartridges of different brands and/or colors, and the transition from one color to another was always fun and interesting. As long as you're using benign "standard" inks, it's fine. These inks (and the typical school pens) are made for users from the age of 6, so there is a lot of room for sloppiness. (Another shocker: some brands here sell what they call "universal cartridges" with a standard international opening on one end and Lamy on the other. Not a huge variety of colours, but very useful in school.)
I think Brian's idea to clean in-between cartridges is a good one. Filling from a bottle sends turbulence both ways through your fill hole and feed, dislodging any particulates picked up through use, and enhancing the flow. Maybe you could high-light the Kaweco Twist & Out Ink Cartridge Dispenser for those who like to carry spare cartridges on the go. BTW: after the Pen Battle I no longer trust what you recommend! LOL
I am literally laughing out loud at the thought of cat-turd resin blank being turned on a lathe and a gnarly catbox smell (burnt catbox?) wafting forth!
Sometimes when I switch colors and I want to see the “blend” of two- I’ll not clean my pen and see how they work out- like blue to pink (same brand) a fun purple happens in between… 😊
Just a quick thought on industrial compressed air. Many large compressors will condense moisture in the lines and some may have a touch of oil to collect the moisture and keep things lubricated. If the business is involved in the arts the compressor will have driers built in or added on to protect airbrushes, paints or small air driven tools.
I am rapidly approaching 70 years of age and have used fountain pens for probably 60 of those years. Pulling off an empty cartridge and slapping on a full one used to be my way of inking a pen. (As a youth, finding cartridges was easier and less expensive than finding bottled ink.) Color mattered not. I even remember wanting the mixed ink to last longer. Nowadays, converters and bottles are my choice for inking, but I fondly remember the days of cartridges and "what the heck color is that".
In the 80s I used to but myself the Sheaffer Cartridge Calligraphy Set, I was in Junior High at the time and would constantly swap out cartridges since I was in school and had no clue that pens would need to be cleaned out.
I look forward to your podcast every week as I listen on my commute to work! I found your podcast a few months ago (though I had been following Brian years ago and just refound you guys) and have been listening to older podcasts as well! Would love to see you talk about mixing inks together (either same brand inks or different brands)! Also, if you guys could only use 3 fountain pens for a whole year (no nib swapping allowed but no limit on ink colors) which would you choose?!? Love every second of your podcast Brian and Drew!!
1:12:42 bottle caps are made of HDPE, while the bottle body is generally made of PET. Same family of polymers (polyethylene) but with different additives. PET is the variant called Polyethylene Tetraphtalate. With added glycol it becomes PETG, a common plastic used in 3d printing. So, it is "the same sort of plastic", but it's a very versatile family with properties that can be tweaked for different uses
Standing up on behalf of the popping in a new cartridge without cleaning or even using the same color! Have done that since late 80’s when I got my first fountain pen (italic calligraphy nib). I certainty did not know that people clean pens between uses. I thought you only cleaned one when you wanted to see the lighter color ink you wanted to use after having a dark ink. But, in general, I loved watching the ink change color. Given that I would later be a chemist who worked with dyes, I think the fascination stuck. I still regularly mix inks for fun.
Drew, if you haven’t played the dragon age series I would highly recommend! The cool thing about them is as you progress through the games, it imports the world State of the previous games in the series that you have played, so you see the things you have done in previous games influence the story in later games. If you don’t want to play the older games, or if you want to explore different world states, you can go on their website and change the world State and it will give you a brief summary of the plot, then you just import that before you start playing a later game and you will be up to date.
So this is super random, but I have a question that's been just bugging me for a while xD Why do some of the French inks you carry have their French name (Rouge Hématite) but other ones were translated (Gris Orage, that's listed as Stormy Grey on your site, or Émeraude de Chivor, listed as Emerald of Chivor). Was there a reason or did it just happen that way?
I am behind on the physical aspect of my health diary and have 3-4 health related appointments this week, so I am not paying too much attention as I try frantically to write down 2.5 weeks of stuff I have been monitoring in text messages to myself. It's a Brunnen dot grid fabric spine A5, all shiny and new... because I ran out of pages in the other one. This one hasn't been rained on five times yet, so it is still in the honeymoon stage where it doesn't mind if I use wet, broad nibs on both sides of the page. Forgot how nice that could be. Great pencast mood, thanks for keeping me company,
Love the different material discussion. Hope to see more interesting materials in the future. I was thinking of Ultem being a fairly new addition to the ranks (thanks Schon and gravitas). I was always looking for neat materials as a turner myself. I did a rattlesnake skin that my sister-in-law snapped up like a, well, rattlesnake. Also when you see carbon fiber pen blanks, it's usually only a single layer over the central brass tube and the rest is just clear resin so you aren't turning the actual carbon. However, some of the "big" manufacturer carbon fiber is legit tough to work with like the pineider one you said had a big error rate. I'd love to see more interesting materials become more commonplace!
I have been wet shaving for about a year now. At first, I also had lots of nicks and irritation. You are right about using a good soap, make sure it has plenty of water in it, and use a good razor and blade combination. The biggest thing that helped me was to really learn to use almost no pressure on the razor when shaving. Just let the razor rest on your face and hold it lightly with only a couple of fingers and let the razor do all the work. When I finally learned to use no pressure, I started getting nick-free shaves. Good luck and keep up the great pencasts!
Drew, my DH shaves with a brush and fragrance free shave soap. He uses Van Der Hagen Hypo-allergenic soap and has mentioned to me that the lather is really good. Your wife Shannon will appreciate the lack of scent. I recall you saying she has a lot of allergies, like me.
I hear you with the full-price Nintendo games! Although my partner gifted me Kirby Forgotten Land for Christmas and I'm having so much fun playing that game!
I have gone from color inks to blacks and not cleaned pens. I have found great shades of bright colored inks that look better (IMO) in the transition to DocBlack or BlackEel. I now mix them on purpouse.
36:34 I had some very old full size (long) cartridge of Waterman Havana (brown, old name before "Absolute Brown". Old formula full of phenol before that was banned in Europe) that were 2/3rd or half full and super saturated... Had been stored for at least 7 years in a pencil case... And I used them like that, it looked quite good and had no special flow issues with it really
If you leave pens out to dry the kids probably won’t be too interested. Cats however, will casually distribute the parts onto the floor, into their bed or even litter tray!
Brian's most mentioned pen things: #1 - Lamy 2000 #2 - That time he washed a blue fire liliput #3 - That time he did something with a car port with a Traveler's pen in his pocket
If you’re maneuvering for power, you’re not really being vulnerable. Using vulnerability to manipulate is not true vulnerability. Now we know how Brian operates.
I love how Drew came out swinging in that pen battle. He came at the 1911 like it owed him money.
Brian please don’t ever stop being your tangential and superfluous best!! Not only do we learn things from you on a variety of things, not only fountain pen related, but watching Drew’s face is endlessly fascinating!!😊
LOL yaayyyyy. - Drew
This pencast is honestly my favorite thing to watch while I work.
@@Gouletpens unless I'm mistaken, the sarcasm is palpable. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Picture it: 1965. I’m a 14 year old who hates ballpoint pens and I come across a nice and cheap Schaefer fountain pen for students that was practically indestructible given I had no idea how to care for it. So one thing I did after using the black cartridges which came with it was switch to blue without cleaning. Later they offered Peacock Blue and I cheerfully switched to that with no problem. If anything, I enjoyed watching the color of the ink change.
Edited to add the only problem I had with the pen was losing it after a few years.
Makes sense given the circumstances! - Drew
Sheaffer Skrip is one of my favorite and lowest maintenance inks. Interchangeable with many inks without needing cleaning. Older Sheaffer student pens were bulletproof!
Peacock Blue is still my favorite ink color, use it in all my Sheaffer’s pens since Jr High and buy it whenever I see it. Currently looking for a match as that cache is only getting smaller.
I had a Sheaffer student pen in the 60's. Peacock blue was my go to. Never cleaned it.
I absolutely swap cartridges with different colors without flushing.
Drew’s faces when Brian confessed to playing fast and loose with cartridge swapping were priceless! I can’t say I’d not clean my pen before switching colors, but if I’m not changing colors then engage lazy mode. 😂
that really caught me off guard! - Drew
Same, if it's the same colour I let it be, if they're different I'll clean it through and through, let it dry and then change inks.
nah, just cram another color on there ... that said pilot parallel ink is hot swappable by design too
@@kat_koe Funny you mention the Pilot Parallel specifically. I have two of them (the pens), and I use the 6mm one for inkradicating lines of things I've completed on my ToDo list. It has become a receptacle for whatever minuscule amount of ink I pull out of whatever pen I'm temporarily retiring to storage. Right now, it's got a little Noodler's Dragon's Napalm ("Fire" now), some Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and something else red... Diamine Oxblood, I think. Probably a few other brands and colors in there as well. Something designed to put out ink like a 6mm Parallel, I really don't worry about what I have in it.
The battle of the pens was everything. Please continue to add that to your pencasts.
Yes, you guys have plenty of inventory to pair up segments of that! 👍
Seconded!
Omg the debate portion was so entertaining. Pilot Custom 74 vs. Sailor 1911S, and Lamy Safari vs. TWSBI Swipe. You gotta do these more often. So funny!
When Drew tried to praise the CON-70 converter, I laughed so hard I scared my cat!
I totally admit to swapping cartridge colors without cleaning. When you go from pink to blue you usually get a pretty awesome purple during the transition!
Bought my niece a small stuffed black lab for her first birthday so she wouldn't fear my real dog when she sees him. I named her stuffed animal "Baby Gotham" after my dog. For her third birthday, I gave her a huge stuffed lab the size of a kindergartner. She named it "Big Daddy Gotham."
You forgot to mention Herbin cartridges! They have a neat selection of colours beyond the usual red, blue & black. They're standard international too.
I'm a store manager. Dealing with people on the daily emotionally tires me out. These pencasts reminds me that there are decent and just genuinely nice people out there that like to talk about nothing and everything haha. After a long day, these pencasts just reminds you that life is normal and okay.
Literally laughing out of my socks with the battle of the pens!!😅😅😅
Witty responses and jabbing! Love it! More of this please😅
Yes!! The Battle of the Pens was awesome!
I've certainly done the Brian method of cartridge swapping. Fun fact--when you do it with Lamy green and red for a little while, you get a great brown for a while until it returns to your normally scheduled ink. So, it's not a bad habit...it's an adventure!
I genuinely laughed out loud when during the pen battle Drew espoused the benefits of the Con70, and almost hurt himself. 😂
Drew's face when Brian was talking about not cleaning out his pens is the reason why this podcast should always be watched on RUclips lol
We don't carry either of those pens any longer, so as far as I'm concerned, YES! - Drew
Watching Brian try to speak ill of the Custom 74 nib in favor of the Sailor was the funniest thing I've seen all week. Pen battle (esp. with you taking the opposite side from your favorites) should definitely be a new segment!
Coprolite is the word you were looking for with fossilized dino poop.
man the salmon TWSBI swipe can't catch a break. I really like mine! it's a weird, difficult color. love it.
I think it looks great! - Drew
I like it too!
Hey there pen friends! I actually enjoy to mix some colors from time to time, like Lamy turquoise is in the pen, then add Noodler's habanero to the converter/cartridge for example, and you start getting all shades of green in a super cool gradual way, I love it!
Great show! Pen Battle should be a standard segment in every podcast. That was a lot of fun to watch.
I’m the one who said that I’d love to organize Brian’s collection. I really enjoy doing those kinds of things. And it’s pretty cool to be mentioned during the Pencast 😎
LOL Brian's assistant got a kick out of that! It's been a loooooong journey. - Drew
Drew just made me buy a green Liliput and Spearmint cartridges. Yes, I bought them from you. Plus a magnetic case. I needed some retail therapy.
You won't be disappointed! - Drew
Maybe I’m asking for too much here, however can we get a video where Bryan just talks through his whole collection even if it’s just 30 seconds a pen. I would love that video….
Most of the time would be spent trying to remember the names! - Drew
@@Gouletpens still entertaining!
Yes, please!
Pen battle hysterical. Laughed so hard. Channeling Abbot & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, Martin & Lewis. Take it on the road to pen shows. I would buy a ticket.
Love the pen battle! Please bring back the other ones in future pencasts!
There is much special joy in seeing one colour blend in to another over a series of paragraphs/pages upon an ink reload/change. I regard it as a rare treat.
Ooh that actually sounds like a lovely experiment!
Confession...I have taken ink sample bottle leftovers and mixed them. I have not yet used the ink. It is also from various brands...right now it is a greenish blue. almost an emerald color. It is pretty cool looking.
I just finished cataloging all my pens and swatching all my inks. It was good to do and see the results. Organizing everything so they are easier to find and know what I have (over 100 of each).I can’t imagine what Brian’s collection would take.
Thank you so much! 💓 my son is also turning 13 this year, and it is really unbelievable 😳 we are here already! They grow up so fast 😢. Loved the battle of the pen 🖊 💙 and all the rest! Muchas gracias!
The safari does have its pluses and minuses…on the finials 😂
Lol I'm cracking up at the comparison bit. Your pencast helps my depression.... 💓
I want to go on the record right now as stating that I one voice among many, the many who would ABSOLUTELY watch four (or however many, really) hours of you going through your pen collection, especially if you were able to share these sorts of small interesting details about them. However, I will say that I'm also enjoying these short snippets inside the Pencasts as well!!
I am a fan of Goulet Pencast ...here is the biggest reason why...it is on you tube and I can have CC on as a hearing impaired person "podcast" are not an option for me. I appreciate this. Love the pens too don't have enough just a few ....just 10 ...ok it is a thing for me. Thanks for being there for the rest of the world often left out.
I hope the captions are mostly accurate! :) - Drew
@@Gouletpens They are mostly pretty good....once Brian said here at Goulet pen...and caption read here a jelly pen.... I laughed thinking I don't think that's in stock...but yes I can follow. I have a program on my computer too. But CC mostly does ok.
Brian, im not sure if it wss lazy mode for me, i think i was just a beginner and did not want to waste any ink, i had one platinum preppy, and different ink colours, i would just change the colour and ut would be from pink to blue, and the transition purple was fun to write with, im my defense platinum said the inks are mixable. So it was fun. I wrote with that pen and ink process for a whole year (in 2021) and the pen is still going :)
OMG!! I straight up laughed out loud at Drew with as he flexed during the pen battle. I had no idea you could make a pen battle so funny!! I keep imagining how much fun your childhood must have been when you guys first met. I really appreciate your long-term friendship. You guys must be amazing dads too. Your families are really lucky to have you both. Thank you for making this hobby so funny and lighthearted. It really makes my day. Big hugs from Canada.
LOL yes, we have a great time. We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for your support, Elena! Thank you so much for joining us! - Drew
Quick question. I use a Pilot Kakuno with an extra fine nib and Platinum Carbon black ink (in a CON-70 converter). What Pilot Pen would you recommend as an upgrade as I tried eyedroppering a Platinum Preppy (and I cracked the body) and I am worried that this Kakuno might crack as well. I seem to really enjoy the Japanese finer nibs. I have a Lamy Safari in Extra Fine and a TWSBI Eco-T in Mint in Extra Fine, but alas, the European nibs don't really do it for me as I like to draw with a lot of detail. Your pen advice would be sincerely most appreciated.
Hello, I'm Arielle and I too make "custom" mix ink out of laziness.
This is the first step, Arielle. Here's your token. - Drew
I love the ombre effect I get when I fill a pen with a different color of ink without cleaning the previous one out!
Only 1:51:17 this week?! C'mon guys . . . 🤣
No shame, Brian! I also mix inks without cleaning out the one before-sometimes you can get some interesting combinations! I love the deep purple that comes from mixing Australian Roses and Heart of Darkness between pen fills :)
Weird (in the positive sense) materials: Meg at Black Robin Pens has made kitless pens from recycled skateboard decks!
I’ve seen her posts about those, the process of making them is fascinating.
@1:03:58 - For those of us with gray hair, we encountered ebonite quite frequently (if we bowled). Before modern urethane bowling balls dominated the market, most bowling bowls were made of ebonite.
I did know that! :) - Drew
Loved the PEN BATTLE! I own the Safari & the Swipe, learned a great deal about both from your arguments.
I know I am a bit late to this pencast, but listen Drew, just putting in the new cartridge without cleaning the pen out first is how we were told in school to do it. To be fair, we were supposed to use just royal blue anyway, but if we got to use a colored one, we always just popped in the new color cartridge. I remember loving watching the colors slowly mix and change. To be honest I still do it sometimes when syringe filling an empty cartridge. It is just so pretty. But in school we only ever used cartridges, usually just Pelikan or Lamy, depending on the personal pen and never cleaned our pens, unless it got forgotten over summer break and got clogged, which rarely happened.
Brian, you are not alone; I don’t see anything wrong with continual cartridge use. I am an unapologetic serial cartridge user. I have a Lamy Studio that typically has Lamy Blue in it, but I have no qualms sticking another color in-which I have been doing for over 5 years without issue.
I just started a teal cartridge last week, and the transition time was beautiful. I also got a variety pack of inks for Christmas, and I currently have no plans to change my ways.
Very neat pencast!
Informative and fun!
Also, Drew I agree on the physical media 💯
I have definitely put different colored cartridges in the same pen without cleaning. Usually, it's a blue after a black and for a while the pen writes a nice blue-black-gray until the cartridge takes over.
I was at an art fair once and saw a booth selling pens, so I excitedly made my way toward it. Before I got a good look at them, the seller saw my enthusiasm and started proudly showing me how all the fountain pens and rollerball pens were made using bullets and metal pieces that looked like parts of guns. I extricated myself as soon as I could. That's not my jam...😅
Also, seeing you two uncomfortably debate against your favorite pens was pretty hilarious.😂
The Liliput you need to restock is the stainless steel Liliput that is just stainless steel and not the Fireblue. That's the one I want.
That's just a basic 2-man crosscut saw.
Drew, Nightwing issue 87 which is also collected in the trade paperback Vol. 2 Get Grayson, is amazing. If you were able to take each page front and back and lay them down side by side, it would create one continuous cityscape that Nightwing flips in and out of and jumps and fights through.
Amazing! Getting back into things, I'm noticing that Nightwing has a FAR bigger following that when I stopped reading (right before New 52). It's awesome to see a longtime favorite getting the spotlight! - Drew
I’m laughing so hard during the pens wars that I have tears streaming down my face!
I wanted to hear Brian dis his beloved Lamy 2000. I think the facial expressions alone would be priceless
Before I learned anything about fountain pens, I used to change cartridge colors without cleaning out my pen. I really enjoyed the ombre effect I would get as one color changed to the next!!
That's the REASON I use cartridges! In some pens, I like to fill the cartridges but I use my other cartridge pens exactly as Brian describes. I like how Lamy Violet slowly turns into Lamy Turquoise 😊 💜💙
My favorite thing is putting in a different cartridge without cleaning and watching the ink mix and transition.
I've purchased cymk, light grey, white and dilution for De Atramentis document inks and I absolutely love it! Initially I was trying to replicate MB Psychedelic Purple, however the Cyan and Fuchsia aren't warm enough to do that, but I love creating all of my own unique colours. In the ink sample vials, a little from each 30ml bottle goes a long way.
Highly recommend! ...especially if you create a colour wheel first, to understand the basics of the ratios of colour mixing 1darker colour : 5 lighter colour for secondary. The tertiary colours are more of an art form.
I change cartridges without cleaning my pen in between them all the time. I actually really like the variegated ink colors on a page, where I'm starting with blue and I end up with green and all the shades in between them, or blue to red with lots of shades of purple in the switch. It can be beautiful. 😊
Is an ink in a cartridge always the same as its bottled brethren? Since a cartridge is a closed environment does it need biocide?
Great question! I have no idea! - Drew
Drew, if you got cut up that badly you may need to get a fresh blade in there. I've been shaving with a straight razor for over 15 years now and irritation and cuts like that are a sure sign that I need to sharpen it. You guys are great and I always enjoy the pencast.
I think Drew was correct right at the beginning, I think baking soda would alter the performance of an ink. But not in a way anyone wants.
Hi guys! I have seen every episode but always forget to comment. YES ! Im like Brian and do the "other cartridge" thing. Love the ombre effect. Go Brian!
Thanks for commenting! Nice to meet you! :) - Drew
German schoolchildren routinely engage in serial cartridge use behaviour. I would even say cleaning a pen that still writes well enough was more the exception than the rule when I went to school. We routinely changed and exchanged and borrowed cartridges of different brands and/or colors, and the transition from one color to another was always fun and interesting. As long as you're using benign "standard" inks, it's fine. These inks (and the typical school pens) are made for users from the age of 6, so there is a lot of room for sloppiness.
(Another shocker: some brands here sell what they call "universal cartridges" with a standard international opening on one end and Lamy on the other. Not a huge variety of colours, but very useful in school.)
I think Brian's idea to clean in-between cartridges is a good one. Filling from a bottle sends turbulence both ways through your fill hole and feed, dislodging any particulates picked up through use, and enhancing the flow. Maybe you could high-light the Kaweco Twist & Out Ink Cartridge Dispenser for those who like to carry spare cartridges on the go. BTW: after the Pen Battle I no longer trust what you recommend! LOL
“Big Fountain “! That was pretty funny.
I am literally laughing out loud at the thought of cat-turd resin blank being turned on a lathe and a gnarly catbox smell (burnt catbox?) wafting forth!
Sometimes when I switch colors and I want to see the “blend” of two- I’ll not clean my pen and see how they work out- like blue to pink (same brand) a fun purple happens in between… 😊
Brian's not alone! - Drew
Miss you guys. Always nice to see you both.
Thanks for coming back! - Drew
@@Gouletpens always a pleasure :)
Just a quick thought on industrial compressed air. Many large compressors will condense moisture in the lines and some may have a touch of oil to collect the moisture and keep things lubricated. If the business is involved in the arts the compressor will have driers built in or added on to protect airbrushes, paints or small air driven tools.
I am rapidly approaching 70 years of age and have used fountain pens for probably 60 of those years. Pulling off an empty cartridge and slapping on a full one used to be my way of inking a pen. (As a youth, finding cartridges was easier and less expensive than finding bottled ink.) Color mattered not. I even remember wanting the mixed ink to last longer. Nowadays, converters and bottles are my choice for inking, but I fondly remember the days of cartridges and "what the heck color is that".
Staedtler has a ballpoint pen made of concrete, that came to mind immediately.
Brian while grimacing: "if you.. like a.. stiffer nib"
Aurora: "are we a joke to you?"
Questions for Brian: how many pens do you currently have in your personal collection? Have you inked up and written with all your pens?
I too dont always clean my pen before using another ink. Ive created some bomb ass colors that way.
WatermanPhile here and I used their long cartridges in black in a pinch on top of any ink color... I keep one in my pen case for emergencies
In the 80s I used to but myself the Sheaffer Cartridge Calligraphy Set, I was in Junior High at the time and would constantly swap out cartridges since I was in school and had no clue that pens would need to be cleaned out.
I look forward to your podcast every week as I listen on my commute to work! I found your podcast a few months ago (though I had been following Brian years ago and just refound you guys) and have been listening to older podcasts as well! Would love to see you talk about mixing inks together (either same brand inks or different brands)!
Also, if you guys could only use 3 fountain pens for a whole year (no nib swapping allowed but no limit on ink colors) which would you choose?!?
Love every second of your podcast Brian and Drew!!
Thank you so much for joining us! - Drew
1:12:42 bottle caps are made of HDPE, while the bottle body is generally made of PET. Same family of polymers (polyethylene) but with different additives. PET is the variant called Polyethylene Tetraphtalate. With added glycol it becomes PETG, a common plastic used in 3d printing.
So, it is "the same sort of plastic", but it's a very versatile family with properties that can be tweaked for different uses
Standing up on behalf of the popping in a new cartridge without cleaning or even using the same color! Have done that since late 80’s when I got my first fountain pen (italic calligraphy nib). I certainty did not know that people clean pens between uses. I thought you only cleaned one when you wanted to see the lighter color ink you wanted to use after having a dark ink. But, in general, I loved watching the ink change color. Given that I would later be a chemist who worked with dyes, I think the fascination stuck. I still regularly mix inks for fun.
I just came across an unusual pen. This one’s made with concrete! The company is 22 studio.
Just signed up and placed my first Goulet order!
Thank you so much, Jason! I hope you love it! - Drew
For standard international cartridges, don't forget Monteverde has California Teal (and others too I'm sure, but who needs more than that one?)
Drew, if you haven’t played the dragon age series I would highly recommend! The cool thing about them is as you progress through the games, it imports the world State of the previous games in the series that you have played, so you see the things you have done in previous games influence the story in later games. If you don’t want to play the older games, or if you want to explore different world states, you can go on their website and change the world State and it will give you a brief summary of the plot, then you just import that before you start playing a later game and you will be up to date.
Thanks! I love Mass Effect, and I've heard that Dragon Age shares some common gameplay feel. - Drew
So this is super random, but I have a question that's been just bugging me for a while xD Why do some of the French inks you carry have their French name (Rouge Hématite) but other ones were translated (Gris Orage, that's listed as Stormy Grey on your site, or Émeraude de Chivor, listed as Emerald of Chivor). Was there a reason or did it just happen that way?
I am behind on the physical aspect of my health diary and have 3-4 health related appointments this week, so I am not paying too much attention as I try frantically to write down 2.5 weeks of stuff I have been monitoring in text messages to myself. It's a Brunnen dot grid fabric spine A5, all shiny and new... because I ran out of pages in the other one. This one hasn't been rained on five times yet, so it is still in the honeymoon stage where it doesn't mind if I use wet, broad nibs on both sides of the page. Forgot how nice that could be.
Great pencast mood, thanks for keeping me company,
I now wanna see both Brian and Drew take down a tree with the two man saw. THAT would be fascinating!
Love the different material discussion. Hope to see more interesting materials in the future. I was thinking of Ultem being a fairly new addition to the ranks (thanks Schon and gravitas). I was always looking for neat materials as a turner myself. I did a rattlesnake skin that my sister-in-law snapped up like a, well, rattlesnake. Also when you see carbon fiber pen blanks, it's usually only a single layer over the central brass tube and the rest is just clear resin so you aren't turning the actual carbon. However, some of the "big" manufacturer carbon fiber is legit tough to work with like the pineider one you said had a big error rate. I'd love to see more interesting materials become more commonplace!
A tour of Brians collection would be a great live stream! Albeit a long one :)
Yeah!
I have been wet shaving for about a year now. At first, I also had lots of nicks and irritation. You are right about using a good soap, make sure it has plenty of water in it, and use a good razor and blade combination. The biggest thing that helped me was to really learn to use almost no pressure on the razor when shaving. Just let the razor rest on your face and hold it lightly with only a couple of fingers and let the razor do all the work. When I finally learned to use no pressure, I started getting nick-free shaves. Good luck and keep up the great pencasts!
Thank you! I tried more water last time in my lather and that definitely helped! - Drew
Drew, my DH shaves with a brush and fragrance free shave soap. He uses Van Der Hagen Hypo-allergenic soap and has mentioned to me that the lather is really good. Your wife Shannon will appreciate the lack of scent. I recall you saying she has a lot of allergies, like me.
Under weird pen materials, I have a fountain pen that the body is a pine cone. Bought it at an arts fair in Kentucky.
I prefer the 1911S/ProGear more than the custom 74. Both excellent, but Sailor’s nib is just phenomenal
I hear you with the full-price Nintendo games! Although my partner gifted me Kirby Forgotten Land for Christmas and I'm having so much fun playing that game!
Yes, please continue the "Random pens from Brian's" thing when you have the occasion!
It’s fun not cleaning out and changing cartridges. You get random weird effects. It’s so crazy.
The weirdest is the Krone Lincoln DNA fountain pen. With DNA from Lincoln’s hair. Saw it at the FPH in New York.
I have gone from color inks to blacks and not cleaned pens. I have found great shades of bright colored inks that look better (IMO) in the transition to DocBlack or BlackEel. I now mix them on purpouse.
I don't use cartridges all that often but I always keep a box of Diamine Syrah on hand. I enjoy using it in a Retro 51 Stealth.
If I remember correctly Colorverse Jekyll & Hyde is an ink mixing set they're selling.
36:34 I had some very old full size (long) cartridge of Waterman Havana (brown, old name before "Absolute Brown". Old formula full of phenol before that was banned in Europe) that were 2/3rd or half full and super saturated... Had been stored for at least 7 years in a pencil case... And I used them like that, it looked quite good and had no special flow issues with it really
If you leave pens out to dry the kids probably won’t be too interested. Cats however, will casually distribute the parts onto the floor, into their bed or even litter tray!
Brian's most mentioned pen things:
#1 - Lamy 2000
#2 - That time he washed a blue fire liliput
#3 - That time he did something with a car port with a Traveler's pen in his pocket
If you’re maneuvering for power, you’re not really being vulnerable. Using vulnerability to manipulate is not true vulnerability. Now we know how Brian operates.