Category: Ink

Pen of the Day: Edison Hakumin Urushi Mina

Laura5 Comments

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Edison Hakumin Urushi Mina with extra-fine nib. This is a custom urushi pen from Brian Gray at Edison Pens and Ernest Shin at Hakumin Urushi Kobo.  I am very lucky.

The pen is just gorgeous.  The finish is Ki-tamenuri, which has a brown finishing coat and a yellow under-layer, which is easiest to see on the section threads.

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The wonderful nib was customized as well.  Brian sent it off to Mike Masuyama to be ground extra-fine.  I asked for the equivalent of a Sailor fine.

KWZ Maroon is the ink.  Also wonderful.

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What’s Going On Here

Laura1 Comment

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Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to everyone. It is going to be another inky week here.  I’ve started using two new-to-me KWZ inks, Maroon and Iron Gall Blue #2.  Every time I use Maroon, which is a lot, I’m saying, “wow.”

I do think Dark Brown looks slightly more brown with that 1.5 mm stub up there.

I’m also hoping to do a post about my Montblanc Agatha Christie this week.  A few people have asked, so sure.  I’ll probably just say “wow” a lot.  I think it’s my most excellent pen.  I mean, of course it is: it has a snake clip.

Otherwise, it’s been like eleventy below zero here for a few days.  So I’m saying “brrr” a lot, too.

Ink Snippet: KWZ Dark Brown

Laura1 Comment

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KWZ Dark Brown Ink.  I’m just going to do a quick post on KWZ Dark Brown, with a longer review to come. This ink is really interesting to me because it looks black on most papers but can be a very dark brown on some, as you’d expect from the name.

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Ink Snippet: Graf von Faber-Castell Garnet Red

Laura4 Comments

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Since January is at its coldest and bleakest just now, I am trying to jazz things up with garnet ink, in honor of the January birth stone.  It’s a little like inky jewelry.  Except so much more frugal.

Last week was Pelikan Edelstein Garnet, a red orange that I thought added a little spice to the wintery weather. Alas, it’s a limited edition ink from 2014 and so not easily available.

So this week I’m trying a second garnet ink, Faber-Castell Garnet Red.

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Ink Swabbing

Laura1 Comment

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I was looking at my green inks, and I realized I needed to make some ink swabs.  When I was done I had a small pile.  The color of one caught my eye: it looked like a little bit of spring.

It’s 1 degree Fahrenheit as I write this, so spring is a nice thought.

Also, today is “National Clean Off Your Desk Day,” which, uh, isn’t going to happen here.  But I did clean these off, so … half credit!

Ink Snippet: Pelikan Edelstein Garnet

Laura5 Comments

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Oh January, you are not the easiest month to love, here in the northern hemisphere.  It’s very cold in Chicago in January, and the hours of daylight are short, which makes this month seem extra long.

So how to make January more fun?  How about jewelry?  Because it turns out that January has a nice birth stone, the garnet.  And I happen to have two garnet inks.  The first is Pelikan Edelstein Garnet.

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Pen of the Day: Pelikan M400 White Tortoise

Laura2 Comments

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Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with medium nib. This is pen you’ve seen before, but I couldn’t resist.  A friend of mine just ordered one.  And I was looking for a pen for a green ink.

That ink is KWZ Foggy Green, which is an appealing dark green ink without much shading but in a great color.

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My favorite part of the pen is the binde, but I’ve photographed that a few times before.  So, uh, here’s the cap band.

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