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kg4giy
40
Aug 10, 2018
Interesting question. With literally hundreds of pens to choose from, my grail pen tends to be the one I am working with at the time, and that can vary from an inexpensive Knox nib with a brass barrel, to my GvFC (which currently is my high-end). To me, the issue is what is the best writing nib. I have hoisted multithousand dollar pens that did not write well, while I have dozens of Knox nibs that are workhorses. Never a nick, nip, skip, or ooze. I have a Parker that needs regular encouragement and Levenger's that flow from full to empty with almost the same amount of coverage throughout.
In many cases, I have found that, more and more, I am becoming more of a paper snob than I am a pen snob. I like good pens, don't get me wrong, but good paper makes a marginal pen great in most cases.
Across the top is the Vanishing Point (Stormtrooper), bottom right, Knox (from Birmingham Pens), In the middle my Graf von Faber-Castell, and on the end a new one called Penlux (an aluminum body) that I just acquired.
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Saturated_in_ink
6
Aug 18, 2018
kg4giyYay - fellow paper snob! I couldnt agree with you more that paper is the oft overlooked variable that makes both pen and ink perform to their very best. On that note, what’s your grail paper?
kg4giy
40
Aug 18, 2018
Saturated_in_inkTomoe River, by a wide margin. I have it in both loose leaf and bound (paperforfountainpens.com). A close second is the French papers - either Excompta or Rhodia, they work equally well. Levenger's was doing a Rhodia line for a while with their Circa papers. I believe they have stopped, but I have a small stash. I use the FAF pad as my primary note pad at my desk.
Saturated_in_ink
6
Aug 18, 2018
kg4giyI do love all of those papers but at one point I got my hands on some heavier weight Tomoe (and don’t know how/where I got it) and that was like the ultimate paper for me! I also had some notebooks from constellation88 that were pretty fun to write on but over time some inks degraded - so I’m thinking the paper wasn’t pH neutral or something. Anyhow - thanks for your post and reply !
monocline
31
Aug 20, 2018
Saturated_in_inkI also like TR paper, especially Taroko's 68gsm paper, which is thick enough to easily write on both sides. I believe Taroko also supplies the 68gsm on Goulet, too. Clairfontaine triumphe and rhodaia papers get a decent amount of use.
I have some Rhodia notebooks that I've used and Midori MD notebooks are quite nice to write on but currently behind Franklin Chrisoph firmaflex notebooks. They are sugarcane paper, have a hard cover, and hold up exceptionally well to FP use. They are more absorbent than TR paper so the don't tend to show as much shading but most of the inks I use are very permanent ones that don't tend to show much shading, anyways. (blacks, iron gall blue-blacks, or various noodler's bulletproof inks).
monocline
31
Aug 21, 2018
monoclineFollow-up on the Franklin Christoph paper: shading inks like Diamine Ochre show tons of shading on this paper, too.
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