Traveler's Company Table SFO Stamp — Be sure to visit the Traveler’s Company Table at the San Francisco Pen Show to get a stamp in your notebook!

Pen Show Prep: 5 Things Not to Miss at the Upcoming San Francisco Pen Show

August 19, 2023

August is a huge month for pen shows, featuring two of the largest shows in the world spaced just over two weeks apart. The D.C. Pen Show was held over the first weekend of August, and the upcoming San Francisco Pen Show will take place this coming weekend, from Friday August 25 through Sunday August 27. For me, San Francisco is a can’t-miss pen show, and if I were forced to choose between attending San Francisco and attending D.C., it would be an easy decision. If you’re primarily interested in modern pens, and especially if you enjoy imported Japanese stationery, you should consider visiting this show if at all feasible! Today’s post talks about five things to do at the San Francisco Pen Show sure to make it a successful trip.

Troublemaker Inks from San Francisco Pen Show — Need a break from the chaos of the pen show floor? Take a class like this one from last year, where we made our own shimmer inks!

Take a Class. In last year’s recap, I remarked on how I love the San Francisco Pen Show because it’s more “enthusiast-focused” than other pen shows out there. Rather than just shopping, the show offers an extensive array of classes with a focus on calligraphy, sketchnoting, urban sketching, journaling, painting, ink washes, and more. In order for pen shows to keep growing, I personally believe they need to keep moving in this direction, as opposed to solely expanding by bringing in more retailers. At some point, people become saturated with new “stuff”, with many wanting to explore new ways to use their pens, inks, and paper. (Some classes are tuition-based because they include supplies. A number of free seminars are also available.)
Meet Japanese Makers in Person. Given it’s convenient proximity to San Francisco’s International Airport, the San Francisco Pen Show tends to attract a larger number of international vendors - particularly those based in Japan - than other events. This year, vendors include Styloart Karuizawa, Nagasawa Stationery, Toyooka Craft, Bungubox (who typically bring everyone’s favorite special editions!), Yamamoto Paper and more. If you live in the area, this is an excellent opportunity to purchase things such as pen chests and trays from Toyooka Craft, as well as more expensive special edition pens and inks without having to worry about shipping and customs. Nagasawa in particular brings most, if not all, of their extensive selection of special edition Sailor Inks, as well as their store exclusive pens.
Rickshaw Bagworks. Perhaps the most visible San Francisco-based vendor is Rickshaw Bagworks, which not only sponsors the show but brings bins of fun tote bags, pen cases, sleeves, rolls, and more. I did about half of last year’s holiday shopping at the Rickshaw table, and everything I brought home was a huge hit come December!
Peyton Street Pens. I love Peyton Street Pens because their shop contains everything from vintage to modern to custom pens made using vintage components. Personally, I’m looking forward to perusing their newly arrived selection of Ariel Kulloch Fantasy Parker 51 pens, and I will most likely take something back with me.
Visit Us in Person! My personal shopping will be somewhat curtailed at this show, since we have a table! The Gentleman Stationer is a vendor this year, and will be bringing a selection of goods that includes Lochby, iLootPaperie Washi Tapes, and various covers and cases from Midori. Subject to my suitcase weight limits (ALWAYS AN ISSUE!!!), I would like to carry as many A5-sized slim softcover refills as I can to give people the opportunity to build out their notebook cover of choice. I’ll also have a sample at the table of a new line that I’m going to be launching after San Francisco, to give people the opportunity to see it in person.

Toyooka Craft Wood Pen Tray — Toyooka Craft pen trays that I picked up at the 2023 D.C. Pen Show! I might add a couple more in San Francisco. You need displays and all….

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in person and visiting during the show and at the after-hours event. (I’ll try to remember to put a TGS sticker on my name tag to be more visible.) In the meantime, if there is anything you would like me to bring to the show, either for a shop purchase or simply to see in person, feel free to message me with any requests. Online orders will ship until Wednesday, and given that the show occurs over the weekend, most orders placed will still ship within our general 2-3 business day time frame.

DC Pen Show TGS Table — I really hope that our table is this bare on the last day of the SF Pen Show!

When Does "Fine" Become "Too Fine"? Finding the Sweet Spot for Extra-Fine Pens

August 16, 2023

I have relatively small handwriting, though I’m something of a special case since I tend to change my handwriting depending on what exactly it is that I’m working on. For standard writing and journaling, I’ll adopt a larger hand for which a medium nib is more suitable, but as I’ve mentioned before, a large portion of the writing that I do involves marking up and annotating documents that can contain very fine print. For work like this, I’ll typically need at least an extra-fine nib fountain pen, though this is where I tend to incorporate fine tip gel pens and ballpoints into my workflow.

Extra-Fine Writing Lineup: Ballpoints on a Table — My fine writing lineup, from left: Uniball Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pen, Anterique Brass .5mm Ballpoint, Uniball Jetstream “Tokyo Bike” 4+1 limited edition, two Jetstream Edge ballpoints in .38mm and .28mm, Uniball Jetstream 3 Multipen in .38mm tip size, Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pen, and the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with a PO Nib.

How fine can I go? Pretty Fine, But There Are Practical Limits.

On the fountain pen side of things, it’s difficult to get a nib that writes as fine as most .28mm or .38mm gel or ballpoint pens. Even if you’re using the Pilot PO (“Posting”) nib, Platinum’s UEF (Ultra Extra-fine), or a Saibi Togi-style nib, water-based fountain pen ink tends to spread on paper, so unless the pen writes fairly dry or you select a drier ink, you may have trouble obtaining the desired line width. For this reason, most of my annotation work is done with a finer gel pen or, more recently, low-viscosity ballpoint pens. I get a lot of questions about the best pen for “fine writing,” so I thought it might be interesting to talk a bit about the different options I rotate through on a regular basis and what my preferences are:

PIlot PO Nib writing sample — The Pilot PO nib leaves a line that’s roughly equivalent to a .38mm gel or ballpoint, provided you use good paper like the Midori MD pad pictured here.

Fountain Pens. My all-time preferred option for is the Pilot PO (“Posting”) nib, originally intended for addressing mail. It’s a VERY fine, slightly downturned nib that’s relatively dry and, when paired with an ink like standard Pilot Blue-Black, holds a fine line pretty well as long as you are using decent paper. On cheap office paper, however, even this ink tends to spread, which costs you the benefit of the finer point, which is why at the office I always have a gel or ballpoint pen with me.
Gel Pens. I rarely go finer than a .4mm Pilot Hi-Tec-C refill, since below that tip size I tend to run into drying/skipping/clogging issues, plus the writing experience becomes scratchy. My pen of choice is the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto multi pen, which allows me to carry up to four different colors in a single pen body (or three plus a mechanical pencil). Lately, I’ve also added the .4mm Pilot Frixion to the rotation, and have been pleasantly surprised with how well it’s performed. The ink isn’t as dark as other gel pens, but it’s better than it used to be, and I plan to write up a full review of the Frixion once I’ve had more longer-term experience with it.
Ballpoint Pens. Honestly, where I’ve been spending most of my “fine-writing” time these days is in the hybrid/low-viscosity ballpoint category, since I generally find the writing experience smoother and more reliable, even if you go down to the .38mm tip size. I recently posted about my trip to New York City, where I visited Kinokuniya books and picked up a fistful of Uniball Jetstream multi pens, including a .38mm version that I had never seen before. While some claim to have experienced skipping and scratchy writing with the .38mm Jetstream cartridge, I’ve used this pen for years and never had an issue. That said, there’s no denying that a .5mm low-viscosity ballpoint refill is smoother, and unless I need to write really small, my pen of choice is the .5mm Uniball Jetstream (typically loaded into a multi pen) or the one of the .5mm Anterique “Mach Ball” pens.

The Anterique Mach Ball .5mm writes something more akin to a .4mm line - it’s narrower than the Jetstream .5mm despite having the same nominal tip size.

But What's the Absolute Finest I Can Go?

I used to say .38mm, but last month at Kinokuniya I picked up the .28mm Jetstream “Edge”, which features a Rotring-style hexagonal barrel and rounded grip section that some might find more comfortable than your typical technical pen. Check out the difference in tip size from the writing sample below:

Uniball Jetstream Tip Sizes — Comparing the range of Jetstream tip sizes.

The shocking thing to me is that even at .28mm, you don’t lose that much smoothness or visibility compared to the .38mm. That said, I’m not sure that the .28mm gives you meaningfully more versatility than a .38mm refill for actual writing, as opposed to technical drawing or art where the subtle differences between line widths actually make a difference. Even if the .28mm is usable (which it is!), I’m not sure that there’s a benefit beyond novelty for most people. .28mm probably sets the floor for me personally!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid advertising or third-party affiliate links.

New Arrivals: Anderillium Inks Lepidopteran Series!

August 15, 2023

Anderillium is known for their bright - and sometimes offbeat - colors inspired by nature. The first two series of inks included the Avian Series (Birds) and the Cephalopod Series (Squids and Octopuses). Anderillium’s latest line of creations is the “Lepidopteran Series,” inspired by Butterflies and Moths, and it might be my favorite yet, especially for those who enjoy unusual and interesting brown inks with uncommon undertones. Be sure to take a look at “Toltype Moth Warm”, which has subtle pink tones, and “Atlas Moth Brown,” which has blue sheen.

Anderillium Ink Lepidopteran Series Writing Sample

Anderillium Inks are well-priced at $14.50 for a 1.5oz, wide-mouthed “jam jar” bottle, with 8-bottle sample sets also available if you’d like to test the entire range. You can check out our entire selection of Anderillium offerings here.

Sunday Reading for August 13, 2023 (DC Recaps Edition)

August 13, 2023

DC Pen Show 2023 - A Return to Form (via The Looped Square). Joseph is back on the blog for his annual recap of the 2023 D.C. Pen Show, which was, indeed, a return to form.
2023 DC Pen Show - A Really Quick Recap (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). A very thorough recap of Kimberly’s relatively quick trip to the DC Pen Show, and hopefully we’ll see more of her in San Francisco.
2023 DC Pen Show, Part I and Part II (via Rachel’s Reflections). I fully agree with Rachel that aisle design needs to be reworked for future shows.
Can You Have Too Many Refillable Notebooks? (via Notebook Stories). On a certain level - as with anything - the answer is probably “yes,” but refillable notebooks can also be repurposed, and if you’re a simultaneous-multiple-notebook user like me, it also aids in the curation and archiving because certain systems allow you to save individual pages.
Shibui North Copper Pocket Pen (via Dapprman). I had several different people approach me in D.C. asking where the Shibui North table was, and I was also looking forward to checking these pens out in person. Unfortunately I don’t think they made the show.
Pen Shopping at Appelboom Boston (via Line Variation). A great post that provides an exceptionally good narrative of what it’s like shopping in person at a pen store - a quieter, more focused experience compared to the oft-chaotic environment of shows.
Journaling Series: Journaling to Work Out Choices (via Writing at Large). Another excellent installment in the Journaling Series.
Studio Neat Mark One Review (via The Poor Penman). It’s great to see a Mark One review; I’ve been eyeing one of the special editions but haven’t jumped on it (yet).
Help, I’m Writing in Five Notebooks Daily, How Do I Pare Down? (via Analog Office). I see no problem here. Great answer to this question.
Loclen Electa in Raw Brass (via KraftyCats). Loclen has seemingly disappeared from the scene here in the U.S. after popping up pre-Pandemic. I was never able to get my hands on one of these pens for an extended run.
Early Thoughts on the Sheaffer Icon, Lustrous Chrome Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). I’ve not seen this Sheaffer model before - to be honest, I’ve not heard much from the brand at all in recent years.
PenLux Mo Inks (via Well-Appointed Desk). Anytime I see vintage-inspired colors, I can’t help myself. I’m really glad I missed these in D.C.
Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black Returns to North America (via Pelikan’s Perch). BUT WILL IT HAVE THE FORMALDEHYDE SMELL?!?! I sure hope so. Ah, nostalgia.

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, it was all about recapping the D.C. Pen Show, between my post with my thoughts on the show itself and my follow-up post discussing what I bought and why.

Three Remaining TGS x Hinze Collaboration Pens — And then there were three… Don’t miss your chance to get in on the T.G.S. x Hinze Collaboration Project. Will ship to you, or you can reserve and I’ll bring to San Francisco.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

New arrivals keep flooding in while I’m traveling, and between blogging, shows, and fulfilling orders, I’m a bit behind on listing new items but stay tuned today and the rest of this week because there is some fun stuff on the way. Meanwhile, check out a range of new high-end desk accessories, as well as new refills from Traveler’s Company including the return of Sticker Release and Accordion Fold paper, formerly part of the B-Sides and Rarities Collection but now part of the regular lineup!

Traveler's Company

Stamps

Scissors

Clairefontaine

More Ways to Support T.G.S.!

Everything that didn’t sell to Patreon members, including some older limited edition Baron Fig items and notebooks, is now available for general purchase on the “Gently Used” page! If you’re interested in early access and a right of first refusal for the periodic sales, consider T.G.S. Patreon, which features not only access to meetups and the early gently used sales, but more exclusive content. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. In addition to purchases from The Curated Shop, Patreon allows us to continue to grow the site without relying on advertisements and affiliate marketing. If you’re interested in meetups and exclusive content, or simply supporting the site, we greatly appreciate your support!

No More Grail Pens: Hunting Fun Nibs at the 2023 D.C. Pen Show

August 12, 2023

Though not as much anymore, the concept of a “grail pen” was something you once heard discussed a lot in the pen community, particularly at shows. “Grail pen” generally refers to one of two things: (1) the specific pen you are currently looking to add to your collection - i.e., the current subject of “the hunt”; or (2) the pen that you believe will complete your collection - i.e., the prize that you spend most of your time online and at shows searching for. Personally, I don’t really subscribe to the idea that “grail pens” in this second sense exist (because most people’s preferences are always changing), and I don’t really even hunt specific pens at shows anymore. These days, I mostly enjoy allowing pens to “find me”, and my show purchases involve special collaborations and exclusives designed by friends, oddball products and materials, and more adventurous nibs than I’ve tried in the past.

Desiderata Daedalus 3.2 Zebra G — This year I’ve been picking up flex pens left and right, using them mainly for journaling and playing around with inks. Some inks just look exceptionally good in a softer nib, like the new Iroshizuku Sui-Gyoku, a vibrant teal.

Early on in my pen “collecting,” show-attending career, I would visit shows looking to try and acquire specific pens I had never used before: the Montblanc 146, the Pilot Vanishing Point, the Pilot Custom 74, the Sailor Pro Gear, the Pilot 823, etc. Personally, I think this is a critical process for most people who want to get really into pens and develop a deep knowledge of the hobby, because it lets you understand the differences between major brands, models, and styles. But eventually you’ve tried more or less every standard pen out there, and you move on to explore new things like limited and special edition finishes. My next step was the Montblanc 146 Ultra Black, one of the Leonardo Momento Zero “Maestro” sets, and more.

Pen Accessories Purchased 2023 DC Pen Show — In lieu of adding yet more pens, I’ve worked to upgrade my pen displays and accessories, with items like these trays from Japanese woodworkers Toyooka Craft.

This stage of the hobby can be quite fun, and I still make these kinds of purchases regularly if there’s a finish or material I find compelling. But what draws me in these days is creativity and makers who think outside the box. There are so many new independent makers and smaller brands experimenting with different designs and nib grinds that I’ve largely lost interest in what some of the bigger companies are doing. (I can’t tell you the last time I purchased anything from Montblanc, and my 149 is currently “in the shop” getting the Studio Bokumondoh Urushi treatment, so it won’t be a “standard” pen for much longer.)

Desiderata Pens Daedalus 3.2 — It doesn’t get much more vintage looking than red ripple ebonite!

This year’s D.C. Pen Show Haul was no exception. I talked about what I brought home in my main show recap posted earlier this week, but I wanted to add a bit more context to some of these purchases. My first show acquisition was a Daedalus 3.2 from Pierre Miller’s Desiderata Pens, which is a new riff on one of Pierre’s early designs. This pen is a piston-filler that takes either standard JoWo No. 6 nibs or the Zebra G flex nib fitted to a red ebonite feed that allows you to do truly vintage-style flexible writing. I’ve enjoyed Pierre’s work for years, and this special red ripple ebonite version was a must-have.

The second acquisition, which I teased on social media, is the second collaboration between Vanness Pens and The Good Blue Co. in a black Cerakote finish with “Vanness Green” splatter. Only 30 of these pens were made, and since I purchased the last Vanness x Good Blue pen with their titanium flex nib, this time I opted for their new “Zoom” nib, which is a somewhat oddball hybrid between Sailor’s version of a “Zoom” nib and a Naginata/Kodachi style nib. Both allow you to change the line width by modifying your writing angle - I would say the Zoom has more extreme variation between angles and isn’t as “smooth” in the transitions as a Kodachi. It’s a cool nib and I can see myself using it often for daily writing.

I made sure to get one of the pens with lots of green splatter, as I mentioned.

I mean, can you resist that nib? Mine came exceptionally well-tuned.

Finally, I snagged one of Evan at Penquisition’s “Touchstone” collaborations with Ben Walsh of Gravitas. Evan set out to make a pocketable pen that was full-sized when posted. Not only does the Touchstone fit that bill, but the color combinations are excellent. I went with the blue and red version (blue pen, red grip), and the blue is more vibrant in person - almost a cerulean/turquoise - than it appears in photos.

Pensloth Double-Stacked Nib — It’s been a long time coming, but I finally bought a stacked nib. There will be more.

Circling back to how I began this post - I’ve found that once I let go of the idea of searching for a specific pen or hitting the show with a list, I started opening myself up to trying pens and nibs that I never would have thought I’d liked. I’ll close with my last pen/nib purchase of the show: a double-stacked crosspoint-style nib by Jim Crawford (Pensloth on IG and most other socials). I’ve not had this much fun with a nib in quite some time! What can I say, I thought my Tucker pen in Damascus/Purple from Jason Neil Penworks needed a fun nib to match.

My two oddball nibs from the DC Pen Show: the Pensloth stacked nib and the Good Blue Zoom nib.

Even though my bank account is in pain right now, I can’t wait to see what I’ll find in San Francisco! (Assuming I sell some pens between now and then.)

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Also, once pen show season starts, I periodically thin out shop samples and underused items from my personal collection in our “Gently Used” page, which is offered to Patreon Patrons first and then to the general readership. You can check it out here.

Further Reading

How fine can I go? Pretty Fine, But There Are Practical Limits.

But What's the Absolute Finest I Can Go?

Further Reading and Ink Reviews

In Case You Missed It….

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

More Ways to Support T.G.S.!

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