Sunday Reading for July 7, 2024

1. Haven’t Seen a Pen Like This Before…Endless Captiva (via Figboot on Pens). An interesting new twist on the classic Schmidt converter fountain pen.

2. Montblanc Origin Coral and Montblanc Origin Green (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I confess that I’ve not been closely following Montblanc ink releases, but these look really nice!

3. What’s What 7/1/24 (via Line Variation). I’m glad to see the Zebra Sarasa Grand Vintage getting some appreciation, and many thanks for the shout out!

4. The Timeless Benefits of Using a Filofax (via Philofaxy). I couldn’t agree more…don’t miss the twist at the end!

5. Plottermore: How I Plotter (via Weirdoforest Pens). One more for team Plotter! I also love the new pen cases.

6. 2024 Pilot Shareholder Gift Pen (via Rachel’s Reflections). I’ve always thought that Pilot’s annual “Shareholder Gift” release was a cool thing for the company to do. I really like this Custom 74!

7. Gravitas Ultem Quark (via Dapprman). The Quark is a small, yet quite usable, pocket pen from the Gravitas lineup.

8. M. Lovewell - A Quick Visit (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I love reading recaps of visits to other small stationery stores! M. Lovewell has two locations in Santa Ana and Orange, CA.

9. The Montblanc 100 Day Writing Challenge (via Pete Denison). I completely missed this one. There are some great writing prompts here that might make this challenge worth printing out.

10. Sun-Star Metacil Pocket Pencil Review (via Pen Addict - Sarah). While they’re certainly special-purpose tools, I keep one of these pencils in several different places for making quick notes without having to worry about sharpening.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog I did my first ink review in a while, looking at Caran d’Ache Magnetic Blue from the “Chromatics” ink line. I also wrote a piece on desktop pencil sharpeners, looking at several options that I have in my own office and which span a wide range of price points. I actually spent a fair bit of time sharpening pencils this week, which I haven’t done in a while.

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You can probably guess why I like the latest Blackwing Volumes release.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - Last Day for Fourth of July Sale!

We had two big releases this week: the launch of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto multi pen (plus all the refills!), and new arrivals from Blackwing: the Volume 746 “Golden Gate Bridge” pencil and a full restock of the single-stage long-point sharpeners. Don’t miss the last day of our annual 4th of July Weekend Sale! Use the coupon code “FIREWORKS” at checkout to snag 10% off many brands. Full details are in Thursday’s post. Promotion ends today at 11:59pm CT. Your purchases will also help us reduce inventory prior to our move into a new brick-and-mortar space later this month. Stay tuned for more news!

Pencil Sharpeners

Coleto Multi Pens

TWSBI Eggplant

Zebra Sarasa Grand

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives!

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Chasing the Perfect Point: Considerations in Choosing a Desktop Pencil Sharpener

Though fountain pens have received the most attention in the "analog revolution" that's taken place during the past decade, the humble woodcase pencil has also seen a resurgence in popularity. Wooden pencils require their own set of "gear", ranging from pencil cases that can accommodate longer pencils like Blackwings, to portable handheld sharpeners, to what I plan to talk about today: the desktop pencil sharpener.

In addition to the satisfying, tactile sensation of writing with a freshly sharpened pencil, many people love the inherent customizability. Depending on whether you are writing, drawing, or even highlighting, you can change the point on your pencil to suit your purpose and/or preference, and a versatile desktop pencil sharpener can make this process a lot easier. That said, there's a wide range of excellent desktop sharpeners available on the market, priced from as little as $20 all the way up to $500+ for a handmade El Casco sharpener from Spain. Here are a few things to consider when looking at desktop sharpeners.

Note: I’m only considering manual sharpeners in this review. Electric sharpeners, in my experience, do not last as long, and I’ve not found one that I’m happy with.

My El Casco sharpener has four different pre-set point style options. I generally leave it set to “as long as possible.”

How do you use your pencils?

Specifically, do you want a longer point for writing, or do you need some versatility for softer graphite or colored pencils used for art or highlighting? Some sharpeners are primarily intended for basic school or office use, and therefore offer just a single point style (typically a long, sharp point). Others have more options, such as shorter blunt tips that many artists prefer for sketching and coloring.

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Even within the “long point” style, there’s a lot of variation. Here, you can see four long-points, from left: El Casco, Caran d’Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine (Mini), Caran d’Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine (Standard), and Uni Mitsubish KH-20. The long El Casco tip allows you to write for a very long time, and the point is very durable, but at the same time it’s blunt and won’t give you an ultra fine line unless you file the point down further. (El Casco incorporates a file into the shavings drawer.)

Do you like curved or needle tips, and do you care whether the sharpener leaves marks on your pencil?

Even if you know that a single-length, long-point sharpener works for you, there's a lot of variation within that category. Certain sharpeners, such as the Caran d'Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine (mini version) and the El Casco, create a curved, almost concave point similar to handheld sharpeners like the M+R Pollux and Blackwing One-Step. Others will sharpen to an equally long "straight" point that ends in a needle tip. Personal preference determines what works best for you, and factors such as handwriting size and style, writing pressure, and aesthetic preferences all come in to play. For example, many people feel that a slightly curved point is stronger, and therefore reduces breakage for those who write with a heavy hand.

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Baring their teeth and waiting to chew up your pencils.

And, yes, certain desktop sharpeners leave "teeth marks". While the Carl Angel 5/Classroom friendly sharpener is the most notorious in this regard, the Caran d'Ache sharpeners will also mark the barrel of your pencils. This isn't something I really care about - pencils are a consumable product and the marks will get sharpened away eventually with the rest of the pencil - but it really bothers some people. Sharpeners like the Carl CC-2000, the Uni-Mitsubishi KH-20, and, yes, the El Casco all feature a "toothless" chuck with a rubber grip instead.

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The standard Caran d’Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine makes what I would consider a “classic” conical long point.

How much desk space do you have? Are you looking for a design piece or heirloom that you can pass along to your children?

An El Casco or a larger Caran d'Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine is intended to serve as a design centerpiece for your desk as much as a sharpener. These things are very large, heavy, and plainly intended to serve as an office focal point. (Trust me, a bright yellow El Casco is a conversation starter.) On the other hand, the "mini" version of the Caran d'Ache sharpener is lightweight, portable, and can easily be tucked into a desk drawer. The Carl Angel 5 and Uni-Mitsubish UH-20 sit somewhere in between.

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From left, the El Casco, the Uni Mitsubishi KH-20, the Classroom Friendly/Angel-5, and the Caran d’Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine (Mini).

The more expensive desktop sharpeners are handcrafted and built to last for many years. The primary example here is the El Casco sharpener, which is handmade in Spain and can command prices of up to $600. As I noted above, they're incredibly versatile, capable of the longest concave points possible, but not everyone needs this level of customization or quality. That said, if you're a pencil enthusiast or a serious artist who wants to invest in a quality tool that your kids can use, you may view it as a worthy investment. Another sharpener reminiscent of the El Casco but at a lower price point is the metal version of the Caran d'Ache pencil sharpening machine. You get a similarly substantial metal construction at a lower price point, but you don't get the point variation options of the El Casco.

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No, I’m not selling my yellow El Casco.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

You don't need to spend a lot of money to get a consistently good experience with a desktop sharpener. It all depends on what you need the sharpener to do functionality-wise, and whether you want to pay extra for things like history, handcrafted construction, and iconic design. On the lower end of the price spectrum, I've had excellent experiences with the Carl Angel 5 / Classroom Friendly Sharpener, as well as the Uni Mitsubishi KH-20. These sharpeners fall in the $20-30 range (with some more expensive specialty colors), and are extremely serviceable. The Uni sharpener even offers a basic point adjustment function. Slightly more expensive ($50) is the mini Caran d'Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine. Finally, as noted above, you have the top end of the pricing scale, with the Caran d'Ache Pencil Sharpening Machine at $150-200 and the El Casco as high as $600.

There are many different manual desktop sharpeners available on the market, and I can only write about the 4-5 I have in my possession. (I can't really justify buying more as they take up a fair bit of space.) Once we take possession of our new brick-and-mortar space later this month, I hope to be able to make more sharpeners available for in person testing and purchase!

UPDATE: For those of you who can’t visit in person, check out this demonstration video I did for YouTube, featuring the sharpeners discussed here.

Don’t miss our current 4th of July Weekend Sale, which can net you an extra 10% off pencils and a sharpener of your choice (some exclusions apply) with the coupon code FIREWORKS at checkout. See the full details here.

Thursday Drops: Fourth of July Sale, New Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coletos, New Blackwings, and More!

Our annual Fourth of July Sale starts today and will run through Sunday evening at 11:59pm U.S. Central Time. Use the coupon code “FIREWORKS” at check out to take 10% off most shop orders. Some exclusions apply, including Pilot, TWSBI, Blackwing, and Roterfaden. Many of you know that we are planning a move to our physical location in the next month or so, and would love to not have to move inventory with us!

Several new arrivals also hit the shop this week, including the latest Blackwing Volumes Release: Volume 746, the Golden Gate Bridge pencil. This deep red (“International Orange”) pencil features a multi-layered matte barrel with a matching eraser, matte black ferrule and firm graphite. Between this pencil and Volume 2 (Let the Light In), with the extra-extra firm graphite, these are two of the better releases from the entire Volumes series. Single-step sharpeners, legal pads, and handheld erasers are all in stock.

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All the Coleto Gel Refills!

As we announced Tuesday, we recently received a massive shipment of Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pens, and all of the refills! The Coleto is one of my favorite multi pen systems, due in part to its low price of entry (barrels start at $3) and customizability (nearly three dozen gel, pencil, and eraser refills). Be sure to check these out and more!

Remember that all domestic U.S. orders over $75 ship free! No coupon code necessary, and this is in addition to any applicable discount.

1. Blackwing Volume 746 “Golden Gate Bridge” Pencils. Featuring the same firm graphite found in the Blackwing 602, this could be my favorite color scheme of all time in a Blackwing Volumes pencil. We also have fresh stock of the Volume 2, which features the XX-firm graphite.

2. Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pens. One of my favorite multi pens of all time, the Hi-Tec-C Coleto features Pilot’s excellent Hi-Tec-C needle-tip gel refill in a multi pen format, and it comes in dozens of different colors. Mechanical pencil and eraser inserts are also available.

3. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Organizers. While we can’t include Roterfaden organizers in our sale, now is a great time to pick one up and stock up on A4, A5, and A6 notebooks (all of which are compatible and included in today’s promotion). There are several “soft” A5 covers available, which in my opinion are the best option for those who want to use thicker Hobonichi Cousin-style notebooks with their Roterfaden, as they’re cut slightly bigger.

4. Traveler’s Notebook Systems. This weekend is a great time to build out a Traveler’s Notebook with all of the refills and accessories! We received a fresh shipment of refills a couple of weeks ago and are fully stocked.

5. Stálogy Notebook Systems. Stálogy released a limited edition white half-year notebook this year, which pairs well with the new Stálogy notebook stitched covers, made from a high-quality Japanese paper designed to be durable and long-lasting.

6. Midori MD Notebook Refills. We have a wide variety of different Midori MD Paper notebooks in stock, including the recently expanded MD Cotton line which now includes standard A5 and Square A5 notebooks. The MD “Light” Notebooks are a great option for Roterfaden.

7. TWSBI ECO-T “Eggplant Purple”. This particular TWSBI ECO-T features a translucent purple color that apparently will be in short supply. TWSBI keeps emphasizing how this one will be a limited run, so we’re not expecting much additional stock.

8. TWSBI Diamond 580 AL “Iceberg Blue” Fountain Pen. Those who prefer the non-textured metal section on the Diamond 580 fountain pens will appreciate this release - it’s been a while since the last one. Ice Blue/Glacier Blue/Iceberg - whatever you want to call it - is always a popular color choice.

9. Kaweco Piston Filler Sport and Art Sport Fountain Pens. We carry most Kaweco Sport fountain pens, and still have some limited stock of the Piston Sport and Art Sport releases from this year. The Art Sports feature some of my favorite materials from 2023 or 2024.

10. Zebra Sarasa Grand Vintage Gel Pens and Refills. We’ve been looking to add some higher-end “professional” gel pens to the shop, and the Zebra Sarasa Grand Vintage features a wide range of work-friendly colors in .3mm and .5mm formats. Many of the “Vintage” series gel inks are black-infused, and

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The TWSBI Diamond 580 AL Iceberg Blue next to the Lamy Studio Glacier Blue.

Ink Review: Caran d'Ache Magnetic Blue as a Classic Blue-Black

I flushed all of my inked fountain pens at the end of June. After six months worth of pen shows, testing out store product samples, and a generally chaotic schedule that often left me with little time to regroup, I once again ended up with around two dozen inked pens. Some were 3/4 empty, some had dried out, and others just needed to be cleaned because the whole scene was making me twitch.

For this fresh rotation, I went back to a variation on an experiment I'd tried in the past: inking up six pens, with two old favorites, two pens for review, and two randomly chosen pens, one custom and one vintage. For inks, I decided to work with a tried-and-true ink line that I absolutely love but don't use as much as I should: Caran d'Ache Chromatics.

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The nib holder is from our collaboration with Nic Pasquale (PensByPasquale), which is now sold out. Stay tuned for more exclusive releases!

If forced to pick, my favorite of all the Caran d'Ache Chromatics inks would likely be Magnetic Blue, which is an old-school blue-black shade. A dark navy with a hint of grey, Magnetic Blue sits somewhere between traditional iron gall blue-blacks and "midnight blue" inks. I find that it generally flows quite well. On some papers, it will have a hint of red sheen, but it’s subtle. I was looking for a "classy" dark ink for my Waterman Exception I acquired in Chicago, and this ended up as an excellent pairing.

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In a finer nib the ink will appear quite dark, which I love for work. It dries fairly quickly, even on non-absorbent paper.

While to my knowledge this particular blue-black ink does not contain iron gall, it does have a moderate degree of water resistance. I've included a picture below of the writing sample (on Cosmo Air Light paper) after being held under a running faucet for approximately one minute. The writing remains highly legible, and this ink would easily survive a water or coffee spill onto a notebook.

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Caran d'Ache ink used to have a reputation as being overpriced (at one point I believe it rang in at $50 per bottle), but the price has since come down to the $35 range - not inexpensive but in line with other premium inks sold in 50ml glass bottles. Personally, I love the design of the Caran d'Ache glass bottle. It's a deeper inkwell that's slightly angled to make it easier to fill larger nib pens, and the hexagonal inkwell design looks great on a desk.

We've been Caran d'Ache retailers for nearly four years now, and stock all of the various Chromatics inks in both bottle and cartridge form, as well as Caran d'Ache pens and pencils. If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting us directly!

New Arrivals: The Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pens!

My favorite gel multi pen of all time is the Hi-Tec-C Coleto, and I still have a long-discontinued matte-black Coleto Lumio (since replaced by the Coleto 1000 series) that remains always at the ready in my pen case. The Hi-Tec-C gel pen series is famous for its needle-tip in .3mm, .4mm, and .5mm sizes, and people love the Coletos because they come in a wide range of colors and the refills tend to be less finicky than the standard Hi-Tec-C Cartridge. I can regularly use a Coleto refill all the way to the end of its life without the pen drying or clogging up, probably because they hold less ink (with less opportunities to develop problems over time).

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The end cap of the Coleto flips up, allowing you to slide in 3 or 4 refills, depending on which pen you choose.

As of this morning, we’re happy to offer Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pens in three different variations, priced from $3 to $15. Note that the pens are sold without refills - you can customize this pen by selecting from the nearly three dozen different refill possibilities, including mechanical pencils and eraser units, and we’ve spent a considerable amount of time assembling some assortment packs so that you can test all the different refill colors before deciding how and whether to stock up. Options include standard colors, fluorescent colors, pastels, and metallic gels. Happy shopping!

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I’ve personally always found the .4mm size the sweet spot of the Coleto line (and Hi-Tec-C Gel pens in general), but the others write just as well, with the .3mm slightly narrower and .5mm slightly wider.