Goulet Q&A Episode 140, Open Forum

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In this episode, I talk about fountain pens for kids, how brush pens work, and what really gives a fountain pen its soul!

This week:

Goulet 50k giveaway, close to 700 entries! Wow! Big shoutout for Colin
Top 5 Fountain Pens for Newbies, FP 101, Top Shading Inks, Next Level Pens
Winner....Stephanie Griffith! "My favorite youtube video is the Atlanta Pen Show 2016 Recap. I was honored enough to meet the Goulets at the pen show and I make a minor cameo in this video! It was so great to hang out with fellow fountain pen enthusiasts and meet some of the awesome people I have met through social media!"
Slowed down a bit
Katy came back!

New/Upcoming Products: - (7:15)

Pelikan m400 Tortoise Shell- Brown
Slow week for new product launches
Physical inventory
Blog on doing ink washes
new Parker IM and Urban pens coming out! Check out our blog
- Changing nib, slimming body, centerband, finial, new colors and patterns
- Urban $60-88 range
- IM $44-76 range
- we’re gathering interest
- previously only medium, now also in fine!

Pens/Writing - (9:34)

1) Ramananda R.- Facebook - (9:36)

Can nibs be made with anything other than metals?

CAN they? Sure, but not often are they
metal is durable and malleable enough to work with
There are glass pens
There are wood/bamboo/reed pens (that artists use)
feathers (quills)
really any natural material can be a nib, it'll just look really different than metal ones

2) Lisa R.- Facebook - (13:51)

I'm deployed and don't want to have a treasured fountain pen with me, and can't keep bottled ink easily. What is your favorite pen that accepts standard cartridges which isn't too expensive?

thank you for your service!
I'm assuming standard here means Standard International
you can get cartridges for any C/C pen, though a lot are proprietary, so be aware
SI might be easier to get abroad, depending where you are (esp Europe)
Jinhao x450/750 - cheap and durable
Nemosine Singularity - $20, good nib ranges, maybe a bit delicate though
Kaweco Sport
Faber-Castell Loom
Karas Kustoms or Tactile Turn for sure
- not super cheap, but really durable, American made, take SI carts
Schrade Tactical pen (I don't sell it, but I hear good things)

3) otaku.crafts- Instagram - (19:15)

What do you think about fountain pens designed for kids like the Lamy ABC, pelikan happy pen or bruynzeel my grip.

I'm actually a fan of them
my experience with kid pens has been that they actually perform great, very smooth and durable nibs
usually only one nib size though, around a medium
often are pretty bright, colorful, and odd-shaped (look like kid pens)
they don't sell well for us AT ALL, so we don't carry most of them
I think they're worth a look, especially for kids

4) ryanshh- Instagram - (22:21)

What exactly is a fountain pen? By that I mean, If I have a fine, black metropolitan with black ink and a medium, green metropolitan with green ink and switch which body is screwed onto each section...did I just change the ink color in my pens? If I clean the nibs and feeds and only swap converters did I? What if I keep the sections, converters and bodies but swap out nibs and feeds? In short, is there a piece you feel gives each pen its identity?

ahhh...a deep question here!
what makes a fountain pen is a complete pen
the nib (and feed) is definitely the soul of the fountain pen, that's what it's really all built around
the body of the pen really distinguishes it too, especially with SE/LE's
it's really the complete pen that makes it a pen
observing how they're manufactured, it's all just parts until the pen is completely assembled, so if you swap a part out, it's really still that same pen just with a new part (even the nib)
so while the nib is really the working end of the pen, the body of the pen is really more what I would say is the thing that really makes it "that pen"

Ink - (28:03)

5) Kate P.- Facebook - (28:07)

I have a theory that waterproof inks dry out in pens faster than non-waterproof inks. What say you?

that's somewhat of a generalization, true
it really depends, there are plenty of non-waterproof inks that can be dry
there are a couple of categories of waterproof inks:
- iron gall
- cellulose-reactive (Noodler's)
- pigmented inks
it definitely does depend on the ink, ones like the Noodler's Black Eel are lubricated and don't dry out easily
as a general rule, I would say that you should exercise more diligence when using/maintaining pens with waterproof inks in them

6) Jocelyn S.- Facebook - (34:01)

When my hands are stained but dry the ink doesn't seem to rub off on things like white door jams or other things I've touched that would be a shame to stain by accident. Can getting my hands wet by washing or sweating cause old ink spots on my fingers to stain things I touch?

I've found that this can be the case with fresh ink on your hands, that if it's dried but you haven't yet washed your hands, sweat can make it rub off
if you have washed your hands (just with normal soap) you shouldn't have that problem
you might still see ink on your fingers, but it won't be nearly as likely to rub off due to sweat (under normal circumstances)
as a practice, when I get a lot of ink on my fingers, I do a simple hand washing, and then don't even think about it from there

7) SteVen F.- Facebook - (37:41)

Is it only direct sunlight that causes ink to degrade? I have a relatively dim light bulb in my room, and I have my bottled inks displayed on my shelf. The curtains on my windows are dark, thick, and don't really let much sunlight in at all. Is light from a low wattage incandescent bulb safe for my inks? Or should I only keep them in their boxes/in a drawer?

so it's the UV rays in the sunlight that degrade the ink dyes, and direct sunlight affects it the most
to a degree, indirect sunlight can degrade it too, though slower
the amount of UV exposure from a lightbulb is much lower than direct sunlight
fluorescent and halogen lights emit a higher UV exposure
incandescent light emits much less, so little you probably don't even need to worry about it
same goes for LED
So if you keep it out and exposed to direct sunlight or bright fluorescents, that's not ideal for archiving your inks
other light may be okay, but if you want it to really last the longest, keep it in the box

QOTW: What age were you when you used your first fountain pen? - (46:19)

Thanks so much for joining us this week! You can catch up on any old Q&A videos you missed here.

Write On,
Brian Goulet