Ask TGS: When Should I Upgrade from My Inexpensive Fountain Pen?

This is a common question I often get from customers in the shop and pen show attendees who approach me at the table. Unfortunately, there’s a perception out there that eventually, everyone will necessarily want to upgrade/graduate/progress from your “starter” fountain pen to a “nicer” (meaning more expensive) one. I don’t buy into this mindset for several reasons:

• In today’s market, you can get an excellent writing experience without spending a lot of money. Over a certain price point, you are paying for style and design, not functionality. If you use your pens primarily for writing and journaling, you don’t need to spend $100+ to have an excellent writing experience. In addition to the Kakuno, the Platinum Plaisir, Pilot Explorer, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Prefounte, and even the $3 Preppy are all exceptionally good options, at what I’d consider an extremely cheap price point for the quality you get.

• Even a $15 fountain pen is already an expensive pen. In today’s world flooded with disposable junk, the fact that you spent $15, or $10, or even $5 on a pen puts you in the rarified 1% of people who will ever spend that much on a pen in their entire life. Keep things in perspective and enjoy the fact that you already are writing with a “nice” pen.

• The best pen is the one that meets your needs. For some, that might be a pricey piece of art that not only writes extremely well but features a hand-lacquered urushi finish that they love to look at every day. For others, it’s a Pilot Kakuno. If you like your Kakuno and don’t find the writing experience lacking in any way, then stick with what works for you.

Check out the video featuring some additional thoughts on this topic over on the YouTube Channel.

I talk a bit more about this question in a YouTube Video I posted this afternoon, which I tongue-in-cheek titled “Cheap Pens: We All Love Them!” Honestly, I do love (relatively) inexpensive pens, and in the video I pull out the three pens/pencils I’ve been carrying at work all week, none of which costs more than $30. The main theme is that if you have a pen you love - even if it’s an inexpensive “beginner” pen - you shouldn’t feel obligated to upgrade for the sake of upgrading. If you want something different, like a clip or a larger ink capacity or a different nib, sure, but above all go with what you enjoy!

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I mean, how could this NOT work for anyone? :)

For pen recommendations at a range of price points, check out our “Best Pens” resource. For more Q&A-style discussions such as this one, I’ve pulled together a FAQ page featuring some common questions. Finally, if you’re in the Nashville area, you can now come pick my brain in person! You can view directions and up-to-date hours for our brick-and-mortar shop here.

Ask TGS: Do You Journal? And If So, How?

The “Ask TGS” series collects frequently asked questions submitted to the website, and answers those that I feel would be most helpful to the readership at large. You can check out an archive of sorts here, which is periodically updated.

Today’s “Ask TGS” question involves journaling, and it’s one that I frequently get from readers who think they would benefit from a regular journaling practice, and don’t necessarily know where to begin. So do I journal? The simple answer is, “Yes,” but probably not in the idealized way that many people think about Capital J “Journaling”: an hours-long, deep, introspective writing session that involves your finest notebook, your fanciest fountain pen, and the perfect ink. Framing journaling in this way can even be counterproductive, because it keeps some from ever getting started.

I Journal To Get Stuff Out of My Head So That I Can Focus and Think Clearly

90% of my “journaling” takes place during a 20-30 minute stream-of-consciousness writing session, in which I simply jot down in a notebook everything that’s going through my head at the time. Sometimes this takes the form of coherent thoughts, but not necessarily. Sometimes it’s lists of things I have to do that I’m worried I will forget if I don’t write it out. Sometimes it’s random stuff drawn haphazardly across a blank page, with items circled and lines connecting thoughts. Other times it’s true nonsense. This is a variation on the popular “morning pages” technique, though I’ve never read the Julia Cameron book that popularized it, and how I journal is simply something I personally came up with over the years and which I feel helps me settle my mind. Typically I journal in the morning, while I’m having my first cup of coffee, but if I’ve had a particularly chaotic day, I’ll sometimes add a second session before I leave the office or before I go to bed, just to assure myself that I’m not forgetting anything.

The other 10% of my journaling practice is more introspective, and more traditional in the sense that at least once a week I’ll sit down and try to work through a problem or issue at greater length. These are your classic long-form writing sessions, and last as long as it takes for me to resolve something or get to a point where I can’t go any further for the time being. Again, this writing doesn’t take on a specific format, I hardly ever use prompts, and sometimes I won’t even do these sessions in a proper notebook since I may want to shred or destroy the pages after I’m finished.

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I don’t need to buy any more journals.

5 Tips For a Journaling Practice That I’ve Found Valuable

Over the years, these five thoughts have helped me keep things in perspective, especially as journaling has become trendier and I’m seeing it more prominently featured on the social media algorithms. The common theme running through all of these tips is “just get started and do what feels helpful/natural to you.” Journaling is not about following rules or impressing anyone else - it’s supposed to be personal.

1. Journaling Doesn’t Require a Specific Technique or Format. Just get started writing. Don’t ever feel that you “don’t really journal because you don’t do ______.” There’s no set format or rules that you have to follow, and your journal doesn’t have to look pretty. (Honestly, you don’t even have to “keep” a journal. If you want to write out all your innermost thoughts on a legal pad to get them out of your head and then shred or burn it so that you can be sure nobody will ever see it, do that! I do it all the time.)

2. Use Whatever Materials You have On Hand. While many people who write regularly do gravitate to a favorite brand of notebook, you can journal with anything. All you really need are a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. One of my own personal resolutions this year is to use up as much of my current notebook stockpile as I can rather than committing to a specific system for my journaling.

3. Less Fancy Materials Are Less Distracting. For the past week I’ve been journaling with a wood pencil and a ballpoint pen. Yes, they’re nice pencils and the pen is the excellent Pilot S20, but I’ve found that when I really need to focus on what I’m writing, I want the tools to disappear and prefer non-fountain pens. If I do use a fountain pen, I use plain blue or black ink.

4. For Me, More Frequent Journaling Is More Helpful, But I Definitely Skip Days. Like meditation or physical exercise, I find that I get more benefit from a journaling practice if I do at least a little something every day, but stuff happens and sometimes you definitely benefit from a day off. Heck, I’ll miss entire weeks on occasion. Don’t worry about it. Just pick up the pen/pencil and get back at it.

5. You Don’t Have To Post Your Journals on Social Media. Obviously you can do whatever you want, but if your goal is to journal for personal growth/mental health, make your journal truly personal. Avoid the temptation to make it look pretty for Instagram or YouTube. Not only will it help you to focus on the actual practice of journaling, but you’ll also avoid comparing yourself to professional social media accounts that often do little more than make you feel bad that your journal doesn’t look as nice as a professionally designed product. I’ve actually had multiple conversations with people who stopped journaling or never took the practice up in the first place because “It’s never going to look as good as [X-Influencer].” That’s not what it’s about.

If you feel stuck and want ideas on journaling techniques/including prompts, there are some excellent websites out there that go deep on journaling techniques. Two that I’ve found helpful are Writing at Large and Comfortable Shoes Studio, which I occasionally link to in my Sunday Reading links. Both have extensive journaling guides and resources and discuss many different types of journaling practices.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

Ask T.G.S.: Three Tips for Enjoying "High Maintenance" Fountain Pen Inks

I spent this past weekend at the Chicago Planner Conference, and during the course on ink and paper that I helped teach, a key concern among new fountain pen users was how to know whether an ink is “safe” to use in a fountain pen. I previously wrote an “ask T.G.S.” piece about best practices for using shimmer inks, but what about super sheeners, iron gall inks, permanent inks, and others that aren’t considered your standard “water-based” fountain pen inks? Such inks are often labeled “high maintenance” because they do require a bit of extra attention, though the concern is generally overblown. I thought it might be helpful to recap my thoughts here.

Tip 1: As a General Matter, KNow that If An Ink Is Sold by a Fountain Pen Specialty Retailer or manufacturer, and Labeled “For Fountain Pens,” It most likely Will Not Hurt Your Pens.

While there are a handful of fountain pen inks that have been known to damage certain materials due to their chemical content, you mostly only have to worry about inks staining or damaging white or light-colored acrylics, or absorbent materials like certain vintage celluloids. For these specific materials, avoid permanent inks, and colors such as purples and reds, which I’ve found particularly prone to staining.

Otherwise, modern fountain pen inks will not permanently clog or damage most pens in any way that a normal cleaning (i.e., flushing with water or running through an ultrasonic cleaner) cannot fix. Even inks that contain particles suspended in solution - such as pigmented inks and shimmer inks - will flush out of most pens with plain water. That said, as Lisa, Ana, and I emphasized during the course, under no circumstances should you use India ink or dip pen/calligraphy ink in a fountain pen. Certain of these inks contain shellac and other glue/paint-like substances that, once they dry, can permanently damage a fountain pen and render it unusable.

At the planner conference, there was a surprising level of interest in Platinum’s ultra black pigmented inks such as Chou Kouro (shown here) and the not-quite-as-black-hole-black Carbon Black.

Tip 2: If You Have Any Doubt or Concern, Test the ink with an Inexpensive Pen FIRST, and Clean, Clean, Clean!

This week, I spent several days testing Platinum’s recently released Chou Kuro Black ink, which is supposed to be the “blackest-of-the-black” inks, and so saturated with special pigment that Platinum recommends that your pen be flushed only with purified or distilled water. (I would consider this to be the quintessential “high maintenance” ink, at least per Platinum’s recommendations.) To test the ink, I chose an inexpensive piston filler (a Majohn), and wrote with the pen for a week. While I’m still experimenting with this ink and plan to test it in more pens before publishing a conclusive review, I’ve so far found it no more difficult to clean than your ordinary pigmented ink like Platinum Carbon Black or Sailor Kiwa Guro. I plan to start using this ink regularly - it’s incredibly dark and one of the best “cheap paper inks” I’ve ever used - but to be safe I’ll probably limit it to cartridge-converter pens, if for no other reason than to save time cleaning. Importantly, I will plan to clean any pen containing this ink at least once a month, to avoid any buildup of pigment in the feed and to ensure good performance.

Unlike Chou-Kouro, which dries to a flat matte shade of black that reflects no light, Platinum’s Carbon Black has a slight sheen to it. Shown here on Col-o-ring ink testing paper.

Tip 3: Don’t Overly Concern Yourself With Harming Your Pens and spoil Your Enjoyment of the Hobby.

I’ve been collecting fountain pens seriously for well over 10 years, and using them for far longer. I can count on one hand the number of pens I’ve permanently stained with fountain pen inks, and all of them have been white or clear acrylics. Guess what? All of these pens continued to work just fine as writing instruments. Sure, if you have a particularly delicate celluloid or light-colored pen, and you don’t want to alter the appearance of it with a highly saturated super-sheener, choose a different ink for that specific pen. Probably Waterman Blue. But otherwise, I can guarantee you’re going to have a lot more fun with your inks and paper if you put these sort of concerns to the back of your mind, take reasonable steps to clean your pens every month or so, and just use what you like and what makes you happy.

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Iron gall inks are another category of so-called “high maintenance” inks that, in my opinion, requires no more care than most other inks, especially in modern formulations. Just be sure to clean every month or so and you’ll be fine.

For more fountain pen tips, tricks, and general Q&A, check out our resource page here. As always, feel free to write in or leave a comment if you have another specific pen-related question! We’re always happy to answer.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We also have a brick-and-mortar store, which you can visit! See here for hours.

Ask TGS: Five Tips for Success with Refillable Fineliners

I’ve read a few posts and reviews recently discussing refillable fineliners and fibre-tipped pens such as those made by Tom’s Studio, Kuretake, and Kakimori, which have raised a number of questions about how to use these pens correctly, and what you can expect with respect to the performance of fountain pen inks in non-fountain pens. Personally, I’ve had success using these pens to the point where they might currently be near the top of my everyday user/workhorse pen rotation. Here are a few tips and tricks to get the most out of your refillable fineliners. The suggestions are mostly brand-agnostic and apply across the product category.

1. Choose a Saturated Ink for Maximum Legibility. Most refillable fineliners use a cotton or fabric “wick”-style cartridge to hold the ink. You fill the pen by placing the end of the wick into your ink bottle or sample vial, and part of the fun is watching the ink work its way up the refill. After inserting the wick into the section, the “feed” part of the fibre tip should extend into the saturated cotton, and once you see the tip change color, the pen is ready to write. While this is a very straightforward way to fill a pen, the mechanics of writing work differently than with a fountain pen. A fountain pen nib and feed operate essentially as a controlled leak, with a relatively large amount of ink applied to the page compared to something like a fineliner, which works more like a brush. As a result, inks that are lighter in tone and/or designed to shade may appear extremely light in a fineliner, compared to more saturated inks, due to less ink being applied to the page. Use darker, more saturated colors to maximize legibility for writing with a fineliner, unless you are expressly looking for the lighter tone.

2. Don’t Expect Shimmer Inks or Inks with Special Properties to Behave the Same as in a Fountain Pen. This one should be self-explanatory, but the large particles that give “shimmer ink” the shimmering effect cannot be absorbed by a wick reservoir and can’t flow through the fineliner tip. While a shimmer ink might technically “work” in the fineliner, the color you see will almost certainly be the base color in the ink, minus the shimmer particles. Similarly, I’ve found that some pigmented inks don’t work as well in fineliners, while others (presumably with smaller particles of solid pigment) work better. I would still say that the best performers have been regular water-based fountain pen inks.

3. Don’t Leave the Cap Off Your Fineliner for an Extended Period of Time. If the ink dries out in a fineliner nib, it will need to be flushed with water to get the pen writing again. Sometimes you can fix the issue by simply wiping the tip with a wet paper towel to remove dried ink, but the easiest fix is to not let the pen dry out in the first place.

4. When Changing Colors, Let the Wick and Tip Dry Completely Before Refilling. Where a refillable reservoir is included (as with the Tom’s Studio Lumos or Wren), it is absolutely intended to be rinsed and reused several times before being replaced. I’ve had the best luck completely submerging the refill in a bowl of water and squeezing the ink out multiple times until the refill is white again. The tips can typically be rinsed under a faucet, though you may need to soak them with certain inks. Place the tips and reservoir on a paper towel and allow to fully dry (24+ hours, preferably) before attempting to refill.

5. Think Carefully About How You Plan to Use the Pen Before Filling It. Given that it can be a bit of a chore to change ink colors, you should give a bit of extra thought to ink choice and tip size on the front end. (It’s especially important for single-use pens like the Kakimori Colour Liners.) As I mentioned above, if you’re going to use fineliners for writing or sketching, and it’s important for you to write a dark line, you should choose a very dark, saturated ink.

So what inks have I had the most success using in my refillable fineliners? More saturated solid colors by Tom’s Studio and Diamine have worked extremely well. The darker purples, blues, and greens have given me no trouble, and I’ve recently enjoyed the new Midnight Blue Fibre Tip ink, specifically designed by Tom’s Studio for saturation and flow in the fibre-tipped pens. I mentioned in my recent rollerball writeup that I’ve struggled to find a blue-black rollerball or fineliner refill, and low-and-behold, this new ink appeared literally the next week.

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I’ve also run some of the Laban Greek Mythology Inks through my Kakimori Colour Liners, and the more saturated colors such as Ares Red and Artemis Navy Blue work exceptionally well. More nuanced colors like Aphrodite Pink are legible, yet appear lighter than they would in a fountain pen and you therefore lose some of the brown/grey/pink nuance to the color. While there’s no substitute for your own experimentation, I’m playing around with as many inks as possible so you don’t have to!

We carry a fairly wide selection of refillable fineliners and fibre-tipped pens in our shop, from the Tom’s Studio Lumos and Wren pens to the Kakimori Colour Liners, with Kuretake pens on the way. If you have additional questions regarding these pens and how they work, feel free to reach out using our contact link.

New Resource: Introducing the "Ask TGS" Page!

I receive a lot of different questions from readers and customers, and because I can’t always respond in a timely manner due to the volume of correspondence and time constraints, I wanted to put together a site resource compiling answers to and links discussing some of the more common inquiries. I currently have these organized by topic (General, Pens and Ink, Paper, and Shop-related), but I may add to this over time. Please check out the new resource here!

While we are neck-deep in our move to a new shop location this week, we are still shipping orders within our typical 2-3 business day time frame. Many thanks to everyone who has continued to support us during this exciting, yet very scary, time! I look forward to sharing pictures of the new space as it comes together and hopefully seeing many of you in person.