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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Weekend Reads 1/14/12

First Weekend Reads of 2012! Missed last week, and I almost missed this week. My family has the flu going around! :P

I got sick Thursday, and as a result have done very little blog work, and no pen-repair whatsoever. I'm going to wait another day or two till I begin repairing again, just to make sure every thing is sanitary, and that my strength is back again.

Anyway, on with the picks of the week. :)


1: First up is an excellent review of the Platinum Plaisir fountain pen, by Fountain Pen Geeks. Now this is truly my kind of review. Very detailed, and very fun to read! Even if you're not interested in the pen, the review is still a good one. I really like the style of the review too, with two opinions about the pen instead of the usual "one man's opinion".

2: I have at last found the perfect (yes, I mean it) purple ink! Check out Brian Goulet's review of it here. Needless to say, I am ordering a bottle of this ASAP, and will do my own review of it on the blog when I get the chance. :)

3: This was a question I asked on FPN some time ago, but I find the answer very interesting still. It's about Pilot's Vanishing Point fountain pen, and the way the nib/feed is used to open the trap-door. There's a great diagram in there that you'll love too.



That's all for my top reads of the week. A lot of bloggers have been taking a slight break for the New Years, so not quite as much as normal to read through. Should be enough to keep you entertained though. ;)


 Now for some Q&A!

Q: First up is an image I made for someone who wanted to know what an Esterbrook looked like inside. As an experiment a while ago, I used my rotary tool to cut open an Estie and make a demo-model.

For this person, I decided to take the image in photoshop and color it in, to provide a more "contrasted" view. Hopefully this will helpful to someone who has never opened up a lever-fill or Esterbrook before.


A:
Be sure to click on me for an extra-large zoomed in view. :)


Q: Should I use a latex, or silicone sac in my Esterbrook?

A: Most definitely LATEX! Silicone sacs should be reserved only for those pens that are prone to discoloring. That would commonly include Jade, Lapis, and Black & Pearl pens. Latex is safe to use in Esterbrooks and almost all other vintage pens. I prefer latex because I believe it out-performs silicone in many ways. Silicone is too stiff in my opinion, as well as being more expensive, and "rougher". I think the roughness is not an asset to a smooth functioning lever filler. Of course, your mileage will vary, and you may wish to put silicone in your pen just because. But if it's a matter of what's necessary, I would recommend latex sacs.


Lastly, how about a "forecast"?

I thought this might be a neat idea to try, for at least this week anyways. Here's what's "on the radar" for the next week on the blog:

  • Ink review of either, or both: FPN Tulipe Noire, and Pelikan 4001 Brown.
  • Pen Review: The full Stipula Passporto (FPN-LE) review!



Well, that concludes this "edition" of my Weekend Reads!

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Suggestions, and questions can be directed to my email. I can always use more questions for the Q&A section, so don't be shy about asking. :)

Regards,
Tyler Dahl


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