From left to right:  Koh-I-Noor Triograph (this super-jumbo triangular pencil is the only one I've found that won't fit); Caran d'Ache Blackwood; Musgrave Cub; and Ticonderoga Laddie. — From left to right: Koh-I-Noor Triograph (this super-jumbo triangular pencil is the only one I've found that won't fit); Caran d'Ache Blackwood; Musgrave Cub; and Ticonderoga Laddie.

Classroom Friendly Supplies: Jumbo Sharpener Review

February 21, 2015

Not much needs to be said about this beauty. I'm an unabashed fan of jumbo and mini-jumbo pencils, especially round ones, because I find that they can be much more comfortable to hold for long stretches of time than the standard No. 2. The drawback is that it's extremely difficult to find a sharpener that fits a larger pencil, and the ones that do put a short, stubby point on the pencil that lasts for about 10 minutes. I'm here to tell you that Classroom-Friendly Supplies has solved that problem.

Classroom Friendly Supplies is a company operated by teachers, formed with the purpose of selling high quality, relatively quiet pencil sharpeners at a reasonable price. Sick of those wall-mounted and/or electric sharpeners that don't sharpen properly and eat your pencils? I hated those things when I was in school. (And, apparently, teachers hate them because they are extremely loud.) Classroom Friendly Supplies offers two models: a sharpener for standard-girth pencils (reviewed here at Pencil Revolution), and the version that I'm reviewing here, which is the jumbo sharpener (technically called the "Large Hole Sharpener"). The standard version is made out of metal, the jumbo out of plastic, and both operate via the same slide-out-the-faceplate, insert-pencil-into-grip, and crank method that does a great job of not only forming very sharp points but preserves your pencils by doing only as much sharpening as is necessary.

While you can use the Classroom Friendly Jumbo Sharpener to sharpen regular pencils, it does not produce the satisfyingly long point that the regular Classroom Friendly Sharpener does.  Here you can see the Jumbo Sharpener loaded with a pencil,… — While you can use the Classroom Friendly Jumbo Sharpener to sharpen regular pencils, it does not produce the satisfyingly long point that the regular Classroom Friendly Sharpener does. Here you can see the Jumbo Sharpener loaded with a pencil, ready to go. Just crank!

Takeaways

Classroom Friendly sharpeners are great products. I have two of them, and love them. The standard model that I have was purchased with my own funds, and I've been using it for a couple years. In the interest of full disclosure, this jumbo model was provided to me free of charge for review purposes by Classroom Friendly Supplies. All of their sharpeners can be purchased directly through their website for the very reasonable price of $24.99 each, and I believe there are also educator and volume discounts available. If you wear out your sharpener (which I imagine would take quite a while), you can also purchase replacement parts. Classroom Friendly Supplies has generously allowed me to use an affiliate link here, so if you want to purchase a high-quality sharpener, and do so through this blog, I will receive a small commission.

Ink Review: Aurora Blue

February 17, 2015

If I have a pen loaded up with "basic" blue ink for work, there's a good chance it's Aurora Blue. I prefer the Aurora ink to Waterman's Serenity (formerly "Florida") Blue; the Aurora has a depth and richness of color that the Waterman does not, without sacrificing any of the properties that make Waterman ink the “go-to” ink for vintage pen users and restorers.
By the way, if you’re a fountain pen user and have not heard others sing the virtues of Waterman “Florida Blue” (as it was formerly known), it’s generally considered one of, if not the, safest inks out there, in that it does not stain pens or clothes, behaves well on the vast majority of papers, and won’t melt your fountain pen. While I’m no chemist, and make no representation as to whether or not Aurora Blue has a similar chemical composition, in my experience Aurora ink (black or blue) is low-maintenance and safe. I’ve never had a problem with it in any pen.

Takeaways If You Are Considering This Ink

If you need a solid, well performing blue ink for professional use, you can’t go wrong here.
Aurora Blue does not feather, bleed, smear, or ghost on most papers. It dries quickly, even on the slick Clairefontain paper and Exacompta index card stock that I use to write my reviews.
The one “con” I can come up with is price, and I know I’m being nitpicky here. Aurora ink is generally priced at $15–18 for a 45ml bottle. That’s more expensive than Waterman ink (approximately $11 for a 50ml bottle). I do like the Aurora bottle very much, in that it is tall and makes it easy to fill a pen with a large nib.
NOTE: Aurora Blue is a very deep violet blue, with noticeable purple undertones, especially when the ink is wet. If you don't like purple inks, you may not like Aurora Blue. (In the interest of full disclosure, I would write with purple ink on a regular basis if I could get away with it, but many of the documents that I have to sign daily must be signed in blue ink, so this is my best option.)

While this bottle of Aurora Blue is from my personal collection and was purchased with my own funds long ago, our sponsor PenChalet has a good price ($15) on this ink.

The Lamy Safari comes packaged in a simple, yet well designed, cardboard sleeve. — The Lamy Safari comes packaged in a simple, yet well designed, cardboard sleeve.

Basic Black: One Week with the Lamy Safari

February 13, 2015

Lamy's Safari line is a go-to recommendation for a "first fountain pen." Many people, like me, come to Safaris later, after they have been using (much more expensive) fountain pens for a while, only to realize that the Safari is a flat-out good pen, irrespective of its price range. If you don't have one in your rotation, you should reconsider, provided the design works for you.

Design and Build

Like the Lamy 2000 (perhaps my favorite fountain pen of all time), the Safari sports an iconic design. Also like the Lamy 2000, the Safari has remained largely unchanged since its debut in 1980. The pen is relatively rugged, made of injection-molded plastic, and will hold up to pretty robust pocket carry and daily use. It's earned a reputation as a good daily user; a "knockabout" fountain pen for those who are hesitant to tote their more expensive pens around town with them. The Safari also comes in numerous colors, including matte charcoal (pictured), shiny black, red, blue, white, and yellow, along with various "limited edition" colors that change annually. This year's L.E. Safari is neon coral; last year's was neon yellow.

Profile shot of the Safari. You can see how the sides of the triangular section are flat, forming a ridge along the top.

The Safari sports a characteristic triangular grip section, which is either loved or hated by users. Frankly speaking, your opinion of the grip section will either make or break this pen for you. I don't mind, because I apparently grip my pen in a manner that is "Lamy-compatible," but I know several people who simply can't use this pen because the section hurts their fingers. At the $30 price point, the Safari is not going to break the bank if the purchase doesn't work out, but this may be a "try-before-you-buy" purchase if you have never held a Safari or an Al-Star (the slightly larger, more expensive aluminum version of the Safari). Fortunately, Safaris are relatively easy to find. For example, in my area, a local luggage store that carries a very limited pen selection stocks Safaris.

How I hold the pen, which is fairly comfortable.  Yes, the nib on the Charcoal Safari is black! — How I hold the pen, which is fairly comfortable. Yes, the nib on the Charcoal Safari is black!

Finally, the Safari is a cartridge/converter pen. The pen comes with a single cartridge of Lamy blue ink, but a converter must be purchased separately for a few dollars more.

Nibs

The Safari uses Lamy's interchangeable nibs that also fit other Lamy pens, including the Al-Star, the Vista (basically, a clear Safari demonstrator), and the Studio. All Safaris come with stainless steel nibs, but if you're inspired to trick out this pen I imagine that the gold nibs featured on some of the more expensive Studio models would also fit the Safari.

There's no need to spend that extra money, however, because for the most part, Lamy's Steel nibs are perfectly satisfactory. I've had the best luck with the medium nibs, which write a traditional "western medium" line. The fine and extra-fine nibs can be scratchy, and sometimes I can barely tell a difference between them. If you are interested in trying italic nibs, Lamy offers 1.1 and 1.5 mm options, and they are very good for the price point.

Takeaways

So is a Safari right for you? If you are considering one, here are the main questions to ask yourself:

Is the triangular grip section going to bother you? If you think that it might, and "grip guides" on pens and pencils haven't worked for you in the past, I would try to find a Safari to test out before you place an order.
Do you mind having a "funky looking" pen? With it's grip section and oversized cap and clip, the Safari is "unique" looking, to say the least. You will get questions about this pen, and people will want to use it.
Are you worried you will be tempted to buy more than one? Here's what I find to be the main issue--because Safaris (and AL-Stars as well) are not very expensive, the siren song of the "limited edition" becomes very hard to resist. This year's limited edition AL-Star in Copper Orange is already on its way to me.

But once these issue are resolved, get a Safari. It's a great pen. It's also one that I have owned once before, sold to finance another purchase, and immediately regretted letting go. I'm glad this one's back in my pen case.

Ink Used in this Review

Lamy's iconic ink bottle with the blotter paper holder in the base.

The ink that I used to review this pen was Lamy black. Lamy black gets very little "press" on the pen blog circuit, probably because it's one of the most utilitarian inks out there. It does, however, flow extremely well and shades to some degree. While many people don't find shading desirable in a black ink, Lamy black has some additional character, meaning that it has some deeper green/purple undertones. I've also enjoyed the bottle, which comes with a roll of blotter paper that you tear off and use to wipe the nib after you fill the pen. The ink has worked well on most paper that I've used over the past week, and especially in my Baron Fig notebook that has become my daily companion.

This pen and bottle of ink was provided to me for review purposes at no charge by Ron at PenChalet. PenChalet carries a wide variety of Lamy prducts, including the 2000, the Safari, the AL Star, and others. Their prices are always extremely competitive, and they stand behind the quality of what they sell.

From left to right: Caran d'Ache Technograph, Grafik, Swiss Wood, and Black Wood pencils.

Pencils of Caran d'Ache

February 10, 2015

The purpose of this review is to convince you to spend $40 on four pencils made from exotic wood.

Just kidding (well, mostly), because I’m not quite at that point myself, but I’m beginning to get why Caran d’Ache seems to be so successful with their luxury line. For the past couple of weeks I’ve had the pleasure of using a selection of Caran d’Ache pencils, each of which is relatively expensive as far as pencils go (in the $1.00-3.50 per pencil range), and I’ve enjoyed spending some time with them. [2020 Update: Five years later, I’m well past that point. Not only do I own multiple sets of their limited edition pencils, but I’ve now chosen to sell them. Apparently I’m not the only one willing to shell out for these!]

Caran d’Ache is a Swiss company that manufactures fine writing and art supplies. Founded in 1915, the company takes its name from the pen name of the 19th Century French satirist and cartoonist, Emmanuel Poiré, who it turn took his pseudonym from the Russian word for pencil, karandash. In the U.S. (where I'm located), Caran d’Ache is best known for its drawing pencils (both graphite and color), and in fountain pen circles the company is highly regarded for its fountain pens and writing inks.

I have had very little experience with Caran d’Ache products until recently. I’ve used fountain pens since I was in college, but I’ve never been tempted by the Caran d’Ache line of inks, finding them too pricey for what I’d consider the wrong reason. They run $32 for a 50ml bottle of ink, with most of the premium price apparently going towards the design and construction of the bottle itself. The prices of their pens also run high, with most exceeding the $220 market for a pen with a steel nib. On the pencil side, Caran d’Ache has received a lot of attention for their special edition “Crayons de la Maison Caran d’Ache” series, which is a pack of four pencils made from exotic woods that retails for $30.

Given my limited blog budget as of late, I decided to try some of their standard pencils instead. I picked four: (1) the Black Wood, which is a matte-black “mini-jumbo” sized pencil in which the wood itself is also dyed black with ink; (2) the Swiss Wood, which is made from Swiss beech taken from the Jura forest (per information released by the company); (3) the Grafik, a textured pencil which appears to be Caran d’Ache’s answer to the Faber Castell Grip 9000; and (4) the Technograph, best described as a high quality standard yellow pencil (with no eraser).

Here are my thoughts after spending a week or so with these pencils:

Pros:

Caran d’Ache makes very high quality pencils. The pencils all sharpen well to a good point. The finish is also nice, and the end cap on the Swiss Wood pencil is dipped in red and marked with the white cross of the Swiss flag. I would characterize the Black Wood, Swiss Wood, and Technograph as “luxury” pencils on par with the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni and Palomino lines, in terms of finish and smoothness of the graphite.
The Black Wood and the Swiss Wood pencils have excellent weight and balance. I typically have an issue with using pencils that do not have erasers, since I find them too light and uncomfortable to write with. The Black Wood and the Swiss Wood are so heavy that I don’t notice they are eraserless. The Grafik and Technograph are both standard weight, and therefore a touch too light for me.
Point retention on all of these pencils is excellent, and you can go a long time between sharpenings. I’ve been journalling with a Black Wood in a Baron Fig Confidant (which has textured paper), and I can go a full 2-3 pages without having to sharpen that pencil. Using the Swiss Wood at work, I’ve made it almost half a day on a single sharpening. The other side of point retention, however, is lighter graphite, which many will find to be a drawback (see below).

Cons:

Price. These pencils aren’t cheap. The Swiss Wood costs $5.45 for a single pencil. That’s not outrageous: the pencil costs approximately the same as two special edition Palomino Blackwings, and due to the relative hardness of the lead, it will probably take me twice as long to use up as a Blackwing. In the end, I think I’ll come out even. The Black Wood also runs at $3.50; the Technograph at $3.00, and the Grafik at $1.40.
Darkness. When evaluating a pencil, many people value darkness of the graphite above all else. Caran D’Ache pencils contain a lighter grade of graphite than most Americans are probably used to. The difference in graphite is particularly noticeable in the Swiss Wood pencil, which is marked HB, but I would peg at the equivalent of a No. 2.5 or No. 3 pencil. I’m tempted to describe the grade as “German HB,” but I think it’s even lighter than a Staedtler Noris or Wopex. Part of me wonders whether Caran d’Ache did this intentionally, knowing that purchasers of their “luxury wood” pencils would want them to last longer.

A comparison of the Caran d'Ache pencils against some others in my collection. I would compare the Swiss Wood to the classic Faber Castell American #2 pencil (a personal favorite), though perhaps a shade lighter and much smoother. The others are pro… — A comparison of the Caran d'Ache pencils against some others in my collection. I would compare the Swiss Wood to the classic Faber Castell American #2 pencil (a personal favorite), though perhaps a shade lighter and much smoother. The others are probably most comparable to the Field Notes pencil, though again, the graphite on the CdA pencils is much smoother and less scratchy, as one would expect from a pencil in this price range.

Takeaways.

Of the four pencils I have reviewed, the Swiss Wood and the Black Wood pencils are my favorites, and I will probably add a few more of each to my stash. Of the other two, the Technograph wins out over the Grafik, but I’m not sure either differentiates itself enough from the less expensive pencils I have in my collection to warrant stocking up.

Disclaimer: As of August 2020, I am an authorized retailer of Caran d’Ache, with the Swiss Wood pencils available for purchase as single pencils or as part of a three-pencil Gift Set.

The standard Baron Fig Confidant.  No, the slightly frayed ribbon does not bother me. — The standard Baron Fig Confidant. No, the slightly frayed ribbon does not bother me.

Perfect Paper for Pencils? Agreed.

February 6, 2015

I've had a Baron Fig Confidant notebook for a while, ever since backing their Kickstarter campaign, but I only started using the notebook a couple of weeks ago. In December, I bought a second: the limited edition "Three-Legged Juggler" Special Edition, which arrived just before Christmas. And I will buy more. The Baron Fig Confidant is everything I look for in a notebook, and I see this becoming my go-to "larger-size" notebook of choice.

A notebook that actually lies flat without having to hold it open with your hand!

There was something about this project that I liked, from the tastefully designed, understated cloth cover, to the very reasonable price (about $16--take that, Moleskine), to the fact that the notebook opens and lies completely flat. The latter is something you would think stationery companies would have mastered by now, but they haven't. I give up on, or simply don't purchase, many notebooks because you have to hold them open to actually write on the entire page, and when you do this to a cheap or poorly made notebook it breaks the spine and causes the entire thing to fall apart. I've intentionally abused the heck out of the Confidant to see how this thing will hold up, and it's an attractive, well-made notebook.

But what about the paper? It's handled everything that I've thrown at it flawlessly. On the fountain pen side of things, I don't use extremely wide or wet stub or music nibs for daily writing, and I don't use high-maintenance ink, so I've never had a problem with the paper in the Confidant. If you use broad, wet nibs (especially flex nibs), and write with highly saturated ink such as Noodler's or Private Reserve, you will probably seen some bleed-through and feathering on the paper. But as many have realized, this paper truly shines with pencils. The paper is slightly textured, which makes it extremely nice for writing with all types of pencils, especially lighter grades of graphite that don't show up as well on smoother papers. I would go so far as to call it the perfect pencil notebook, of all the books I've used to date.

A writing sample with both very dark and very light pencils.  I have small handwriting, so the dot grid doesn't get in my way.  I've also noticed that there is next to no ghosting (i.e., graphite transfer) when you write on both sides of a… — A writing sample with both very dark and very light pencils. I have small handwriting, so the dot grid doesn't get in my way. I've also noticed that there is next to no ghosting (i.e., graphite transfer) when you write on both sides of a page, even with extremely dark pencils like the Musgrave News Pencil.

I'm currently using my Confidant (the standard gray) as my Morning Pages/free writing notebook. (In other words, the stream of consciousness, nonsensical-to-everyone-other-than-me stuff they could use to lock me up if anyone ever found it and read it; sort of like this blog.) I haven't started to use the Three-Legged Juggler book yet, but I like the color and will grab one or two more before they sell out.

Other well-made, bound notebooks that I've found include:

Papier Plus: These very nice, high-end books are made in a small shop in Paris, which is probably one of the nicest stationery stores I have ever visited. Seriously, I was within 8 oz. or so of having to pay the overweight bag fee coming home. They are filled with blank laid paper that also handles ink and pencil well (though they primarily sell pencils in the shop, so I expect the notebook is designed with graphite in mind). The downside to these notebooks is the price (35 Euros for the size I have, plus shipping), but again, they are a luxury product, and for those of us in the states we have an improving exchange rate and no VAT.
TWSBI: On the slightly more economical end of the spectrum, if you're looking for a nice soft-cover notebook, check out the TWSBI notebooks. I've been using one of their large notebooks at work notes for the past year or so. The version I have uses a fairly narrow ruling, and there's a good number of pages, so it lasts forever. This notebook also has been subjected to significant abuse (i.e., air travel, coffee spills while working in rental cars, etc.) and it's remarkably still in one piece. It looks....distinguished.
Emilo Braga: I vaguely remember using one of these years ago when I was living in Europe, and really enjoying it. Emilio Braga is a family owned Portuguese company that makes very nice looking "cloud" patterned notebooks that apparently haven't changed much since 1918. They have that classic "composition book" look. These are next on my list. The large size is available from CW Pencil Enterprise, and there is also a smaller size that comes with an elastic closure.

Notebook size comparison, from the top down:  Field Notes County Fair (Tennessee, y'all!); Baron Fig Confidant; Vintage Cavallini & Co. notebook; Zequenz; Papier Plus  ("L'epais" size); Twsbi Large-sized notebook; Staples bagasse compo… — Notebook size comparison, from the top down: Field Notes County Fair (Tennessee, y'all!); Baron Fig Confidant; Vintage Cavallini & Co. notebook; Zequenz; Papier Plus ("L'epais" size); Twsbi Large-sized notebook; Staples bagasse composition book.

Papier Plus and TWSBI Notebooks.  The Papier Plus Notebooks are so nice I haven't been able to bring myself to use them yet, but their day is coming. — Papier Plus and TWSBI Notebooks. The Papier Plus Notebooks are so nice I haven't been able to bring myself to use them yet, but their day is coming.

They say that the last stage is "acceptance". . . . I'm gradually coming around to the fact that I will never burn my way through my notebook backlog. (But that's the point of having a "stash," isn't it?)