Line Width Comparison

Zuzu had an interesting question about the Uni-Ball Super Ink 0.7mm pen reviewed below, whether the line seemed thinner--more like a 0.5mm. So I grabbed a few different pens, some gel ink, some ballpoint, and one of my fountain pens, and ran some lines to take a look.

The 8 pens are:

1. Rotring Surf medium nib fountain pen

2. Tombow 0.5mm rollerball

3. Pilot G-Knock 0.7mm

4. Uni-Ball Super Ink 0.7mm

5. Pilot Hit-Tec 0.5mm needle point

6. Muji ballpoint 0.5mm

7. Muji gel ink 0.5mm

8. Muji gel ink 0.38mm

On the paper (with my nose pressed up to the pad of Doane grid + lines), the thinnest lines look like 5 and 8, the Hi-Tec needle point and Muji gel ink 0.38mm respectively. The two widest seem to be 1 and 2, the Rotring medium nib and the Tombow 0.5mm rollerball. The Uni-Ball Super Ink (4) looks similar to 5, 6, 7, 8. Now I'm thinking I need to pull out a few 1.0mm pens to really get a look at them. But from what I can see in the pic, line width is definitely varied among different manufacturers even when they are all supposedly the same size point. Comments are definitely welcome.

East Village Estates

At 14th Street just east of Third Avenue is an empty lot that extends all the way to 13th Street. In the summer it's filled with wild strawberry plants, and ususally you just pass by on the way to the Dunkin Donuts or KFC down the block. But some wag decided to comment on the sub-prime/housing/financial crisis that we've all been living through the past 2-3 years by "building" the East Village Estates, a series of housing units for the neighborhood's furry friends. Who, when you think about it, have as much income as some past NINJA (no income, no job, no assets) home buyers. And no, the economic mess we're seeing wasn't necessarily (all) their fault.

Raspberry Lamy Al-Star Founatin Pen

One of my favorite fountain pens is this Lamy Al-Star, which has two things that make it special to me: the Raspberry color that makes it distinctive, and the Extra Fine nib. I'm also a fan of the aluminum body and the lightweight feel of the pen.

This Raspberry Al-Star was purchased at last October's NYC Pen Show from Swisher Pens (which may be why I've never seen this particular color in NYC, either at Art Brown or any of the other stores that handle Lamy pens). I had a great time trying out all the different nibs. Extra Fine was my favorite--I'm just not a fan of broad nibs, although I'll be the first to admit I've never given then a fair chance.

Coupled with the Rhodia dotPad this makes a fantastic #dailyaresenal.

Uni-Ball Super Ink 0.7mm

Let's face it, unless a ballpoint or gel pen leaks ink all over my hand I tend to like writing with it. I'm not as fastidious as I am with a fountain pen (Japanese fine point preferred except with Lamy, where I like an XF point, slim style, no or very little frou-frou). So the Uni-Ball Super Ink gel ink pen is just a very nice pen that writes well. That I got it as a freebie during Uni-Ball's Twitter giveaway week(s) was icing on the cake.

The Super Ink has a thinner line than I would have expected from a 0.7mm; the rubberized barrel makes gripping the pen less stressful on the fingers. And according to the literature, the large pigment particles in the ink form an unbreakable bond with paper fibers, so this prevents check and document fraud. That alone makes it an interesting pen--there is something about the way the ink looks on the paper that is different to me, a shine that I haven't noticed in other inks. Could be the pigment particles, could be my needing new glasses. But if you get a chance to try it, do by all means.

Pilot Iroshizuku Ink at Art Brown

Just saw that Art Brown is selling Pilot Iroshizuku ink at $28 a bottle. The Tsuyu-kusa (Day Flower Deep Blue) above looks like it's worth a trip uptown to take a look

Rhodia dotPads are Here!

Many thanks to Karen Doherty, Vice President of Marketing at Exaclair, Inc. for sending me this Rhodia dotPad as soon as they landed in the US. It's my favorite size, No. 16 (5.8 x 8.3), and the dotted writing pad is fast on its way to becoming my mainstay Rhodia pad. The pale violet dots give just the right amount of visual cues for straight-line writing, but aren't busy or obstructive like lines or grids (pace Doane Paper which I love but can find a tad overwhelming).

The pages are the wonderful Rhodia 80gsm white stock, with dots on each side for double-sided users. I tried my new dotPad out using my Pilot Decimo fine point fountain pen, which left a shadow on the other side of the paper but didn't bleed through. Writing using the dots as a guide is great, I like the free flow of pen on paper.

The dotPad has a new color scheme as well, it's definitely not your father's Rhodia pad. The white pine trees and white "mod" lettering give this pad a more serious look. I love orange and black (especially at Halloween), but there are times I'm in the mood for something different. The dotPad is definitely different, and a fantastic addition to the Rhodia lineup. I'm looking forward to seeing this in a larger size and can't wait for the rest of the lineup to get here.

Taking a Short Break

Decided to take a short break and enjoy the weather and some knitting. April is here, time to come out of hibernation.

The above photo is by Uwe Hermann and can be found here