PDA

View Full Version : First Time Poster to Paper Forum



Saintpaulia
April 12th, 2014, 05:31 PM
Of course as we all know, without paper all the cool pens and neat inks in the World will be useless. And yet when someone (like me) gets interested in fountain pens, the interest is almost wholly on pens. In fact some f.p. geeks never get past that stage, i.e. of collecting one pen after another. But most do move on to inks eventually. And can get stuck there to collecting one ink after another.

I think that neophytic fountain pens users should always keep in mind that the whole hobby is built around three parts: pens, inks and papers. And yet this third category, papers, usually gets the shortest shrift. There's something not quite sexy about papers, as opposed to pens! or even some inks!

And yet, once all is said and done and you've settled down (hopefully) to a small core rotation of pens, and chosen inks to go into them, pretty much all the time, then you are ready to find some papers that go with your pens and inks. Because not just any paper will work with just any pen. Right? (However, some papers, like all the Clairefontaine's I've ever used, seem to go with no pen of mine!).

Not the case today. I received in the mail an on-line order I made to Nanimi Paper & Supply out of Irvine, Ca. I don't recall how I found them but I know I was on the hunt for a simple thing: a plain white paper, preferably in a pad, with plain white envelopes to go with it. I mean I had looked and looked. And with the exception of some of the aforesaid Clairefontaines, and its congener, Rhodia, and maybe that new kid on the block, the Japanese Tomoe River Paper, and some Carter's I had bought last year, I could find nothing. I even went to Staples, which is where I happily buy my Journal notebook, the 'M' by Staples ruled notebooks.

Then I ran across this outfit, Life Co., Ltd. Made in Japan. Distributed in the U.S. by the above company. And they just happened to have for sale on-line what I needed, plain white paper fountain pen friendly and plain white envelopes...and not at some extravagant price: Life Writing Paper (Bank Paper - 100 in a pad) and Life Bank Paper envelopes (20). Now it isn't a panacea. I don't think that it will work with a very broad medium nibbed Parker Vacumatic I've tried on it. But it accepts most else: Pilot Cavalier, Sheaffer Cartridge, Waterman 92 full-flex, Hero 399, and Parker Arrow. Not bad.

So you might check these out if you are where I was yesterday before this paper order arrived.

Cheers, Breck Breckenridge, Lodi CA

sharmon202
April 12th, 2014, 06:05 PM
Thanks for the post. I like Rhodia and Apica best. My Apica premium note book writes great and lies flat. I checked this store. This is the first time I have seen Pilot disposables with a fine nib. I may try this when I run low on paper.

AndyT
April 13th, 2014, 03:39 AM
Brian Goulet made the perceptive point in this week's Q&A video that the paper sector is very slow moving compared to the constant trickle of new products from pen and ink manufacturers: maybe that's why fewer people are afire with passion on the subject.

Also, the list of unequivocally excellent papers for fountain pen users is rather a short one, so I guess once people find something which fits the bill at a sensible price with good availability many of them breathe a sigh of relief and stick with it. In my case Exaclair, Elco and Conqueror are the easy if not terribly exciting default choices.

Saintpaulia
April 13th, 2014, 02:45 PM
Dear AndyT I don't know those papers. Thanks for mentioning them.

AndyT
April 14th, 2014, 03:50 AM
Dear AndyT I don't know those papers. Thanks for mentioning them.

You do know some of them: Exaclair covers Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Quo Vadis and G. Lalo. :)

Conqueror is available in large quantities in the States, not so sure about sensible ones. If you do get a chance to try the High White Wove or laid papers, they're very nice indeed. Finally, Elco comes from Switzerland, and it's not always easy to find here in the UK let alone in the US. The high quality writing papers have a velvety surface which is distinctive and pleasant to write on, so if on the off chance you find yourself in the Alps ...