Same. When I wake up on Fridays, I immediately go to YT to see if they have uploaded yet. I’m currently making coffee while watching on my phone, and will switch to the tv when it’s ready, but the Pencast is going the whole time.
I also make my grocery list in order of the location in the store! Nothing makes me more upset in the moment than getting to the grocery store and discovering they rearranged it since the last time I was there, thus wrecking my brilliantly curated list. Something tells me you can both relate. 🤣 Love you guys!
Nope, not watching in several chunks, nor are we ever doing anything else while watching. Friday nights are for my husband and I to sit and stare at you two on my laptop for 2 hours and not think about anything else from our crazy week! (Except right now, I'm watching for a few minutes at lunch. I got a head start on him!) 😜
Q: What do you call a two and a half hour Goulet Pencast? A: A good start! Thanks so much for another interesting and informative episode. You'll never know how much I look forward to this weekly visit with old friends. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it TWICE! (Take that, TH-cam algorithm!) Seriously, I think the "What's Happening" segment is my favorite. I really care about Brian's projects and Drew's Nerf battles with Archer. The camaraderie between the two of you is absolutely heartwarming. You always make me smile.
34:13 To travel with the Kakimori nib I can recommend getting a Tachikawa T-25 Nib holder and use a sharpie cap to protect the nib, It fits perfectly, keeps the nib protected and can be carried in any pencase.
Congratulations to the team in charge of the website. I received a gift card (already used it 😁😂) and the buyer mentioned how good the website was, all the questions he had were answered on the website, he found it very easy to navigate and beautiful, etc. Thank you very much for making it easy for him, he will consider it for future gifts as well (yay!😊🎉)
Good for you Drew, the stuff that you do because your son wants to (even though you aren’t that interested) will be something he remembers as an adult. Those are the family gathering stories that get told with fondness and often hilarity. Just FYI I watch the entire Pencast in one go every week on Sunday while I food prep lunches for the week and then either knit or paint or swap out inks in my fountain pens. Love you guys and the Pencast! Thank you!
@@Gouletpens can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you guys do, Drew. It’s the “human contact” I feel like I’ve been missing in this stressful, almost robotic life. You guys slow things down. Talk about life. You find the hood and the exciting (waffles!) and you make me smile and feel less alone in all of this. Thank you a million times. Thank you to you and Brian.
Special thank to Brian and Drew! The last couple of years have been pretty grim and then got even grimmer in October. I quickly realized I needed to find a new interest or I’d be doom scrolling for way too long. I soon discovered Goulet Pencast. I’d enjoyed and used fountain pens since the early 2000’s but never really collected them until I found you guys. I’ve enjoyed your knowledge and greatly appreciated your humor and candor. But I realized that I needed to start from the beginning! I confess it took me a few episodes to understand Turkey Hammocks. I loved them all. Now after three months, an embarrassingly large purchases of pens (three from Goulet!).”, and an exponential increase in ink bottles and samples I’ve finally caught up! Thanks to you and look forward for another year of delight and interest.
That's awesome. Hopefully you can write about all the good things in this broken world to think on them and keep from the gloom. So glad you found the channel! It's a kind place here. 💖
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast is a mantra I picked up in stick fighting that one of my instructors took from a background in sports psychology. It's something I remind myself regularly.
Dude! Dude! I LOVE your deep dives! I love how technical you go BUT what I love the most is how well you explain things, you break it in pieces that anybody can understand and you draw me into want to know more! Dude you nailed it!
So guys: when you pass, would you want to have a particular pen with you in the coffin? If so, which pen would it be? I really enjoy my E95s, but I am planning to be cremated, so, not sure if I want it to burn. This might sound much too somber, I apologize for that, but for some weird reason I have been in more wakes in the last month (about two a week), than in the previous five years at least. So, end of life has been in my mind lately. All those have been from elders on my family or the family of some people I care about.
The wooden-spoon-on-the-brush exercise used to be a training exercise for learning fine brush control. Both as a way to back-weight the brush when you "choke up" with the grip and learn control when you "lay back" the grip. Some brushes I used were designed (weighted) to be held by the middle of the bush handle. Lengthening the handle this way forces you to use your whole arm to control the pen/brush/pencil vs just your wrist.
That was great! Drew, I am winnowing myself down to 5 inked pens, which fit in a Rickshaw Sinclair and a two pen sleeve that slides inside it. I have been extremely happy with this pen set-up! However, I am also prostrate for color. So I give myself an exception and also ink as many Preppies as I want, to have a greater variety of inks available. The way that Preppies stay ready to write over time is a fantastic bonus. Plus, I've dedicated Preppies to Baystate Blue and Noodler's Tsvetsayeva for those days I want something water-resistant. This system is working well! And, since you talked about both storage and pens that don't dry out today, it seemed relevant!
Hi Guys!: Another fun and entertaining pencast to start off the new year! I don't know if anyone has mentioned it. but Falcon in Japanese is Hayabusa. Here's an idea for carrying those handled pens. Look for a zippered case that is designed to hold artist brushes. Those should be long enough to contain one of those dip pens. Furthermore, they have different sized loops so that you can hold fat brushes, so you may be able to put some ink sample bottles in there, maybe even an inkshot. Being able to go to an art store and check out the different ones would probably be a good idea. Now, to add to the hammer discussion, just think how interesting the next THIRTY FIVE pencasts could be with a segment called Hammer Spotlight! You could either have that after the Pen Spotlight, or at another time in the pencast!! Brian could present a hammer and tell all of the uses and any other ephemera about that particular hammer! Just a suggestion!!
Hearing question about deceptive sealing, it brought me to the experience I had this morning. I didn't touch 2 of my inked pens the whole December. Not due to any particular reason, they were the cheap pens that I inked with a cartridge and just left them home when I went away. I thought they weren't sturdy enough for travel. I tried to write with them yesterday and they just seemed like I never left them hanging. The pens in question were Pilot Pluminix and Pilot Petit 1. At this point my cheapest pens. Didn't expect them to seal so well at all.
51:31 Another huge factor is if you are left or right handed. Being left-handed, I have spoken to right-handed people and compared the same exact pen and nib and they don’t seem to have the same issues with scratchiness or feedback as I do. Unless you write in a language that goes from right to left, of course. Love the deep dives btw. And Drew, you did great!!
I made a video comparing the Pilot Custom 74 series. The nib sizes are a #5 on the 74, #10 on the 742 and #15 on the 743. The 91 and 92 models also have #5 size nibs, the 912 model also has a #10 size nib, and the 823 model also has a #15 size nib. Pilot’s numbering gets convoluted, but basically if it’s a 2 digit model it has a #5 nib. If it’s a 3 digit model that ends in a 2, it has a #10 size nib. And if it’s a 3 digit model that ends with a 3 it has a #15 size nib.
I was making some notes with my SEF Falcon when you started explaining the Pilot nibs. As the question was read I realized I wanted an answer as well. I have fallen in love with this pen. Thanks. A short video on refilling the Varsity would be welcome. I should point out that being able to refill a disposable pen would limit the need to buy more higher end pens ...but would not limit the desire for more pens.
The Pilot Falcon SEF nib is my favorite in my entire collection. I got the FA nib last year and it’s definitely special but for me in every day writing there are actually more opportunities to appreciate a pen can both offer line variation AND be be able to write like a stiff pilot-EF, than to have a more flexible nib. Maybe because I tend to write small!
Thanks for showing removing the nib of a Varsity! I have an empty one I’ve been thinking about trying to refill, but actually seeing it done helps me work up the courage to try it myself. I think Pilot could make a lot of money expanding the line. More nib sizes. Maybe an (intentionally) refillable model. There was the Petit1, but it had a lot of quirks. It was fun but pretty niche.
Drew, a gentle leader is so helpful to getting a dog to walk nicely with you. It goes around the head/nose area so they can't put their weight into pulling you around. It kinda looks like a anti-bite headgear but actually they can eat with it on. They are so worth the cost. Even your son could walk the dog with it and have better control.
You can also take the back finial/cap of the varsity off and fill it from the back. There is also a hack you can do where you take some clear tubing roughly the size of the section and wedge the nib into the tubing and secure it over the end of the section an essentially pressure fill through the nib and feed with a syringe or bulb syringe and basically shotgun ink into it.
Happy New Year! Drew's advice to attach a soup ladle to Tricia's pen reminded me of a story that may best be titled, "Why Robert Schumann is known today as a composer and not as a pianist." According to classical music station WQXR, "The conventional story is that Schumann, either impatient with his progress or just that committed to being the absolute best, devised a finger strengthening mechanism out of a cigar box. The machine would bend back one finger and keep it in place, while allowing the user to exercise the other digits. There may be some credence to this -- finger strengthening devices weren’t uncommon in the 1830s, and several of them were available for home use. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Schumann wound up partially paralyzing his right index and middle fingers in the hope of making them stronger." Later research suggests there was more to this story, but I present it here as a potential cautionary tale. A ladle may well be fine for back-weighting a pen to "slow the roll." Just don't use -- oh, I don't know -- a hammer?
Catching up on missed episodes! I used to work at target in security. I definitely had a few paths that I would take. Still use those paths when shopping now that I've been promoted to "guest."
Loved the deep dive! Thank you for answering my question. I really enjoyed the information and felt like I knew/assumed a lot of that but it was great to hear it all laid out. My guess is that Drew it correct in the primary sense that the smoothness of the tipping material is the primary factor but all other factors then have a secondary effect on the feel.
OMG yes, Drew! The Kaweco Sports have good caps, and I’m quite surprised by this. I’ve 4 Sports and 1 AL-Sport inked since September, and I’ve only ever used them a couple of times last year. Just last night, I decided to bust them out for a paper test, and they still wrote like a dream. No muss, no fuss. Commenting now before I forget! 😂
Hi Brian and Drew. I love spending Saturday and Sunday breakfast with you both. Yes I watch the show in chunks. I was just going to say I would really appreciate a full video on the FA vs Falcon nibs. I would love to see live writing samples for the nibs. I do realise you have the comparisons on your website, watching you write with these nibs would be really helpful. Thanks in advance if you decide to go in this direction 😊
41:29 I agree with Drew about team sports! My issue with board games is not the waiting for a turn, it’s with playing a game that takes an hour to set up, forever to play, and equally long to score and figure out who won. My time limit for games is 30 minutes from opening the box to closing it.
Loved the sneakily good sealing caps question. I think the Kaweco Sports are better than you’d think based on the design but still don’t compare to “fancy” sealing caps, imo. The BENU Euohoria has surprised me, and I wonder why. It lasts pretty long, I don’t know about as long as Platinum, Pilot, TWSBI. To be fair though, when I have mine inked I don’t leave them sitting around as long. (I’m looking forward to using my newly arrived Earl Grey!)
Hey guys! I'll put in my suggestion for Brian doing a Falcon vid...take us through up close writing with each nib, and which pen(s) the come on. I, for one, am a big fan of flex nibs and line variation but don't have the budget to just buy one without having seen it in action. Plus, there's a great ASMR benefit to watching a flex nib writing. (and we'd have the bonus of Brian narrating it)
I was going to post a similar comment. The bugs in those trees are good food for a variety critters and birds, especially when birds are feeding nestlings. Birds can also use holes in dead trees for nesting. So those dead trees are not completely useless to everyone.
The FA nib can be had, at only one store in Tokyo, on a Custom 823. The store is the Tokyo Quill Pen shop. I have purchased a Custom 823 from them with an FA nib and it is glorious.
I thought I’d forgotten about Crossfire but the second it was mentioned I remembered the commercial. Core memory unlocked. What those Nerf pistols lack in capacity, Drew, they certainly make up for in range. The ones that are about the size of my hand have sent darts flying at least fifty feet when I’ve shot them!
That thing about being less likely to achieve/maintain a resolution if you talk about it is known in the writing trade as "talking out the story." Once you've told it to someone, NOW you have to put it on paper, and that's just SO much harder. I got my second Lamy Vista Black in the past couple of weeks because I'm going to run ONE cartridge of Lamy Black ink through it and then just store it as part of my Lamy Safari/Vista collection. My older one looks WELL worn because the silver-colored pain in the LAMY on the barrel has almost disappeared, and I just decided I needed a more-pristine looking one for the collection. I hope everyone at Goulet Pens and all their families have a happy and prosperous New Year!
Happy new year!!! Love it! I look forward to this every Friday. First yes to the Varsity video. Also...my dirty mind!!!!! This episode had so many key words that proved to me that my mind is warped hahahaha Mind you I was listening on my way home in traffic, so I was laughing to myself. So fun 2024 seems pretty awesome. 😊
Hey! Happy Weekend! This is my friday afterwork priority. Watching the pencast, cleaning pens and optimizing pens.Concerning the Kakimori Penholder... its wood. Brian should have a solution there. Just cut it down.
So the guy who can't wait his turn has some measure of self control? I am confused! Keep up the great work you guys, love the snorkeling - I learn so much listening to you! About pens and yellow pine!!😂😂
Happy New Year! So glad to see you guys back. I got a question: my husband is supporting my pen addiction and gifted me the Diplomat Aero Flame (Fine Nib) . I wanted it so bad, he listened and I love it, but was I was not prepared for, was the fact that this pen is so heavy but it feels nice when writing with it. So i am wondering, do you already have a video on the heaviest pens? Just out of curiosity and my constant excitement for new videos from you guys. Greetings from Germany. Fran
I would like a dedicated Varsity eyedropper video so I can find it when I need it. While you were showing it, I logged on and bought a 7 pack, the washi tapes (I've been watching for them to be restocked,) a bottle of ink, and the Montegrappa Elmo Beach. So this was an expensive pencast for me! I have a Target path--unless I need something at the back of the store, I usually go through the ladies clothes to the middle aisle and then cut through the home goods to get over to the groceries, and then back across through pet supplies/cleaning products/toiletries to the cash registers.
Just wondering, for no particular reason, does the Goulet team make The Pencast all at one Swell Foop or otherwise in sections, like I often listen/watch it? It does seem like a considerable amount of diligence and effort to keep that level of consistency going for what is often two hours or more virtually every week. Not many Super Heroes I know could do it.
Often wish that the Kakimori nibs would come with protectors similar to those which come with the Iro-utsushi. Thanks, guys. Looking forward to the Pilot deep-dive.
One of my most reliably ready to write pens is my Monteverde Ritma. I was really skeptical about a magnetized cap, but it has never given me a hard start.
@@Gouletpensyeah I’m genuinely surprised! It’s been a great find for me and I’ve made it one of my EDC pens alongside my Benu Earl Grey Tea and my twsbi eco
I suspect this question will never be answered, but I’d like to know what Brian’s thoughts and experience was when Howard stern called him to ask about fountain pens?
@@Gouletpens I just figured since Howard told his side of the story on his show Brian could recap his experience at least how he felt getting the call not necessarily the details of the conversation.
Last year I bought a custom ebonite desk pen from Ranga and it never dries out - it too has fine threads, and no clip on the cap (to Brian's point about clip holes). My Opus 88 Jazz is also a champ.
I have a Falcon SF on a pen with a totally different clip (slim and no ball on the end but not the same as the 912). The pen is marked Namiki on the center band, which, as you know, is the name for Pilot's upper grade pens. When I got this, back in the '90s I think, they were using the Namiki brand more. I believe they introduced the Falcon this way, with its own pen. It was a bit later when they started making the nib available on other pens. I doubt you will find a hard Falcon nib because the whole point for this nib is that it is soft, so it can flex a bit.
Settlers is a great game. My kids are 15 & 19. We’ve been playing with them since they were really young. We made a few modifications early on. 2:16:46
The Falcon and its nib are really fun to write with. The body of the pen is light, as is more common with Japanese pens I'm told (correct me if that is incorrect).
This is Eric Ortega here. Yes, that was a board game reference. Drew, there are modern board games that you are engaging for the majority of the game. Look into cooperative games!
No pen clip=better sealing. This is such a revelation for me!!! I also use sailor fude de mannen which is always inked up platinum carbon black and ill neglect it for MONTHS and it doesnt dry out! I never made the connection that perhaps it's because it's clipless. Thanks brian!
I have looked at my sailor nibs under microscope and looked at jowo nib tipping under microscope and it looks to my eye that the sailor tipping material is imperfect. there are divots in the tipping material that can not be smoothed completely because for whatever its made out of is imperfect and the jowo tipping is more even in its composition
1:01:00 My Liliput doesn't dry out even if I leave it untouched for months. I usually bring it with me, inside the coins' pocket of my wallet. It happily stays there, getting some scratches in the process but I know that it will write perfectly when I need a pen in a pinch. I got an Extra Fine also, which in theory should make it dry out faster but nope!
just wanted to share; the first pen I eye dropper converted was a pilot petite, and it has a similar nib-feed-wick thing as the varsity! I had to look up how to thoroughly clean the petite so I could also clean out the wick (it stains, but it'll be uh... clean enuf) because i wanted to use a different ink color in it. I have 2 petites filled right now with 1 in reserve haha
Hey speaking of Opus 88...Where did they get their name? What does the name mean? I love mine and they hold SO much ink! I bet their nibs would make for good special grinds.
About the Pilot 742 nib: as Drew said, it’s the same nib as the 912, which is the no.10 nib. The 823 and 743 have the larger no.15 nibs. So the 742 (also priced the same as the 912 in Europe) is essentially a 912 but with rounded ends. Edit: Oops, Drew clarified it 2 minutes later haha
I know I'm about 2 months late, but aging isn't the only reason you might not be able to reach your toes. I'm naturally flexible and had been all through high school and college. Working desk jobs changed all of that. Eventually, getting chiropractic treatment has me able to touch my toes again after 8 years. I know it is not for everyone, but it's an option that you might also have coverage for through your insurance.
Speaking of wacky tools, y'all should have a look at the Cole Bar hammer > The Cole-Bar is a multi-function hammer with a full crow bar built in. It combines many tools into one. It is the hammer...reinvented! I think the kickstarter is dead now, but they were trying to get it built for a looonngg time. I think people got cancer and other people died which probably didn't help their progress.
Out of the box, the Custom 743's FA nib is able to keep up because the feed just works better with it. The 912's feed isn't able to keep up with a Western form of writing and will skip if you're not going slow and have the proper positioning. There are custom ebonite feeds for the Custom 912 (and others) that feature 2 and 3 slits which make the FA nib on that pen flow so much better. In terms of the Pilot Varsity being ready to go all the time, the wick feed really does the heavy lifting with that core of fibrous material. In terms of refilling, I recommend only using a similar color of ink. Trying to clean the wick is difficult at best and frustrating at worst. Needlenose pliers do well alone if you don't have a grip piece.
Drew, if you don't have an annual pen budget, you need to renegotiate your contract! Brian, do we ever get to see your (I imagine) multi-thousand pen collection? Would you need a van or moving truck to move your collection? Oh, and I know it'll never happen, but if you open a brick and mortar in RVA, I'll be the first one in the door. Wish there were a place locals could get hands-on experience with the pens!
Last week when you were talking about TH-cam statistics, and you said the average view on these pencasts only 30 minutes. I thought, "That's really sad. With all these loyal followers, on average we're only listening to a quarter of the information you're providing?!" But today when you explained that each pause and restart counts as a separate view, now I'm surprised the average is as high as 30 minutes! I mostly listen in the car as I'm running errands, so I probably break a typical pencast into 10 or more views myself. I'd be interested to know per viewer the average time we turkey-hammocks hang in there 😅
Watching the Goulet Pencast is my priority for every Friday (I am retired). I have withdrawal symptoms when you don't post a pencast.
Same. When I wake up on Fridays, I immediately go to YT to see if they have uploaded yet. I’m currently making coffee while watching on my phone, and will switch to the tv when it’s ready, but the Pencast is going the whole time.
And the same here also. Friday morning is the Pencast,I don't schedule anything during this time, and I get very upset when you don't post a pencast.
@johnbaker5191 Is this a comment or a confession? 😊 Right there with you. LOL! 😁
"in our longest pencast to date"
I admire the dedication to continuous improvement 😂❤
That's one way to look at it! Haha! - Drew
Quoting Brian Goulet, "Quantity IS quality!"
@@IAimTo-Misbehave hear hear!
@jess53nz I believe that title still belongs to Pencast 69, 2:43:39, still the champ 🙌
Came for the info, stayed for the banter. “…and possesses some manner of self-control…” - classic. Thanks guys!
A 2.5 hour Pencast on my birthday?! Best. Gift. Ever! ❤
Happy Birthday!
@@blktauna Thank you!
Happy birthday Pen Friend!
Happy happy birthday! - Drew
Aww thank you everyone! 🥰🥰🥰
I also make my grocery list in order of the location in the store! Nothing makes me more upset in the moment than getting to the grocery store and discovering they rearranged it since the last time I was there, thus wrecking my brilliantly curated list. Something tells me you can both relate. 🤣 Love you guys!
Nope, not watching in several chunks, nor are we ever doing anything else while watching. Friday nights are for my husband and I to sit and stare at you two on my laptop for 2 hours and not think about anything else from our crazy week! (Except right now, I'm watching for a few minutes at lunch. I got a head start on him!) 😜
Wow! It's our sincere pleasure! - Drew
“If youre really accurate, you could save your parking spot!” KILLED ME!! The kakimori javelin needs to be a sticker..🎉😂
And the Corgi-corn!
Q: What do you call a two and a half hour Goulet Pencast? A: A good start! Thanks so much for another interesting and informative episode. You'll never know how much I look forward to this weekly visit with old friends. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it TWICE! (Take that, TH-cam algorithm!) Seriously, I think the "What's Happening" segment is my favorite. I really care about Brian's projects and Drew's Nerf battles with Archer. The camaraderie between the two of you is absolutely heartwarming. You always make me smile.
Thank you so very much for joining us each week! - Drew
34:13 To travel with the Kakimori nib I can recommend getting a Tachikawa T-25 Nib holder and use a sharpie cap to protect the nib, It fits perfectly, keeps the nib protected and can be carried in any pencase.
doesn't one of the Tachikawa nib holder has a plastic cap with it? I have one, dunno about Kakimori nib's size, but the cap's pretty big
@@Shiruvan yes it does, I think it's the T-40. I don't own it, so I haven't been able to test if the cap works with the kakimori nib.
@@Kari-SF I have it, and it does work with the kakimori nib.
@@Shiruvan Yes, that's what I use.
Yaaaaay, 2 hours 35 of pencast 🥳🎉 I couldn't resist commenting even before watching it!
We appreciate you! - Drew
Congratulations to the team in charge of the website.
I received a gift card (already used it 😁😂) and the buyer mentioned how good the website was, all the questions he had were answered on the website, he found it very easy to navigate and beautiful, etc.
Thank you very much for making it easy for him, he will consider it for future gifts as well (yay!😊🎉)
Good for you Drew, the stuff that you do because your son wants to (even though you aren’t that interested) will be something he remembers as an adult. Those are the family gathering stories that get told with fondness and often hilarity.
Just FYI I watch the entire Pencast in one go every week on Sunday while I food prep lunches for the week and then either knit or paint or swap out inks in my fountain pens. Love you guys and the Pencast! Thank you!
Drew doesn’t like waiting his turn, but co-hosts a wonderful pencast where 50 percent of the time he is waiting his turn, making funny faces…
Thank you for acknowledging my fortitude and dedication to the content. - Drew
@@Gouletpens can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you guys do, Drew. It’s the “human contact” I feel like I’ve been missing in this stressful, almost robotic life. You guys slow things down. Talk about life. You find the hood and the exciting (waffles!) and you make me smile and feel less alone in all of this. Thank you a million times. Thank you to you and Brian.
Drew establishing and maintaining his signature facial expressions through two deep dives is quite entertaining
Special thank to Brian and Drew! The last couple of years have been pretty grim and then got even grimmer in October. I quickly realized I needed to find a new interest or I’d be doom scrolling for way too long. I soon discovered Goulet Pencast. I’d enjoyed and used fountain pens since the early 2000’s but never really collected them until I found you guys. I’ve enjoyed your knowledge and greatly appreciated your humor and candor. But I realized that I needed to start from the beginning! I confess it took me a few episodes to understand Turkey Hammocks. I loved them all. Now after three months, an embarrassingly large purchases of pens (three from Goulet!).”, and an exponential increase in ink bottles and samples I’ve finally caught up! Thanks to you and look forward for another year of delight and interest.
That's awesome. Hopefully you can write about all the good things in this broken world to think on them and keep from the gloom. So glad you found the channel! It's a kind place here. 💖
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast is a mantra I picked up in stick fighting that one of my instructors took from a background in sports psychology. It's something I remind myself regularly.
Dude! Dude! I LOVE your deep dives! I love how technical you go BUT what I love the most is how well you explain things, you break it in pieces that anybody can understand and you draw me into want to know more! Dude you nailed it!
I'd love to see that Varsity refill guide as a broken out video. It'll be useful in the future
Consider it done! - Drew
So guys: when you pass, would you want to have a particular pen with you in the coffin? If so, which pen would it be? I really enjoy my E95s, but I am planning to be cremated, so, not sure if I want it to burn.
This might sound much too somber, I apologize for that, but for some weird reason I have been in more wakes in the last month (about two a week), than in the previous five years at least. So, end of life has been in my mind lately. All those have been from elders on my family or the family of some people I care about.
The wooden-spoon-on-the-brush exercise used to be a training exercise for learning fine brush control. Both as a way to back-weight the brush when you "choke up" with the grip and learn control when you "lay back" the grip. Some brushes I used were designed (weighted) to be held by the middle of the bush handle. Lengthening the handle this way forces you to use your whole arm to control the pen/brush/pencil vs just your wrist.
Ah-HA! Look at me being accidentally brilliant. Take that, Brian! - Drew
That was great!
Drew, I am winnowing myself down to 5 inked pens, which fit in a Rickshaw Sinclair and a two pen sleeve that slides inside it. I have been extremely happy with this pen set-up! However, I am also prostrate for color. So I give myself an exception and also ink as many Preppies as I want, to have a greater variety of inks available. The way that Preppies stay ready to write over time is a fantastic bonus. Plus, I've dedicated Preppies to Baystate Blue and Noodler's Tsvetsayeva for those days I want something water-resistant. This system is working well! And, since you talked about both storage and pens that don't dry out today, it seemed relevant!
I've finally caught up! Just spent the last few weeks binging the entire pencast. So much pen stuff living in my brain now.
Thanks for still making these videos. My Fridays are empty when I don't have a pencast to watch. What are your favorite funky nibs?
Hi Guys!: Another fun and entertaining pencast to start off the new year! I don't know if anyone has mentioned it. but Falcon in Japanese is Hayabusa. Here's an idea for carrying those handled pens. Look for a zippered case that is designed to hold artist brushes. Those should be long enough to contain one of those dip pens. Furthermore, they have different sized loops so that you can hold fat brushes, so you may be able to put some ink sample bottles in there, maybe even an inkshot. Being able to go to an art store and check out the different ones would probably be a good idea. Now, to add to the hammer discussion, just think how interesting the next THIRTY FIVE pencasts could be with a segment called Hammer Spotlight! You could either have that after the Pen Spotlight, or at another time in the pencast!! Brian could present a hammer and tell all of the uses and any other ephemera about that particular hammer! Just a suggestion!!
Great info all around! Thank you! - Drew
Hearing question about deceptive sealing, it brought me to the experience I had this morning. I didn't touch 2 of my inked pens the whole December. Not due to any particular reason, they were the cheap pens that I inked with a cartridge and just left them home when I went away. I thought they weren't sturdy enough for travel. I tried to write with them yesterday and they just seemed like I never left them hanging. The pens in question were Pilot Pluminix and Pilot Petit 1. At this point my cheapest pens. Didn't expect them to seal so well at all.
The Pilot Petit1 can be left unused for a loooooooooog time and still 'just write'.
@@MarshaLove0723 Do you by chance have experience with eyedroppering it? Does it retain its qualities or does it burp a lot?
@@SnowDragonka Sorry, I have only used them with their Petit cartridges.
I have to see the show in 3-5 parts, but love it. You could be on television - that good.
51:31 Another huge factor is if you are left or right handed. Being left-handed, I have spoken to right-handed people and compared the same exact pen and nib and they don’t seem to have the same issues with scratchiness or feedback as I do.
Unless you write in a language that goes from right to left, of course.
Love the deep dives btw. And Drew, you did great!!
Try changing the needle on the sewing machine. They get dull. And they come in different gauges. It could make a big difference.
I made a video comparing the Pilot Custom 74 series. The nib sizes are a #5 on the 74, #10 on the 742 and #15 on the 743. The 91 and 92 models also have #5 size nibs, the 912 model also has a #10 size nib, and the 823 model also has a #15 size nib. Pilot’s numbering gets convoluted, but basically if it’s a 2 digit model it has a #5 nib. If it’s a 3 digit model that ends in a 2, it has a #10 size nib. And if it’s a 3 digit model that ends with a 3 it has a #15 size nib.
I was making some notes with my SEF Falcon when you started explaining the Pilot nibs. As the question was read I realized I wanted an answer as well. I have fallen in love with this pen. Thanks. A short video on refilling the Varsity would be welcome. I should point out that being able to refill a disposable pen would limit the need to buy more higher end pens ...but would not limit the desire for more pens.
The Pilot Falcon SEF nib is my favorite in my entire collection. I got the FA nib last year and it’s definitely special but for me in every day writing there are actually more opportunities to appreciate a pen can both offer line variation AND be be able to write like a stiff pilot-EF, than to have a more flexible nib. Maybe because I tend to write small!
Thanks for showing removing the nib of a Varsity! I have an empty one I’ve been thinking about trying to refill, but actually seeing it done helps me work up the courage to try it myself. I think Pilot could make a lot of money expanding the line. More nib sizes. Maybe an (intentionally) refillable model. There was the Petit1, but it had a lot of quirks. It was fun but pretty niche.
Drew, a gentle leader is so helpful to getting a dog to walk nicely with you. It goes around the head/nose area so they can't put their weight into pulling you around. It kinda looks like a anti-bite headgear but actually they can eat with it on. They are so worth the cost. Even your son could walk the dog with it and have better control.
You are my people. Rock on!
You can also take the back finial/cap of the varsity off and fill it from the back. There is also a hack you can do where you take some clear tubing roughly the size of the section and wedge the nib into the tubing and secure it over the end of the section an essentially pressure fill through the nib and feed with a syringe or bulb syringe and basically shotgun ink into it.
Happy New Year! Drew's advice to attach a soup ladle to Tricia's pen reminded me of a story that may best be titled, "Why Robert Schumann is known today as a composer and not as a pianist." According to classical music station WQXR, "The conventional story is that Schumann, either impatient with his progress or just that committed to being the absolute best, devised a finger strengthening mechanism out of a cigar box. The machine would bend back one finger and keep it in place, while allowing the user to exercise the other digits. There may be some credence to this -- finger strengthening devices weren’t uncommon in the 1830s, and several of them were available for home use. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Schumann wound up partially paralyzing his right index and middle fingers in the hope of making them stronger." Later research suggests there was more to this story, but I present it here as a potential cautionary tale. A ladle may well be fine for back-weighting a pen to "slow the roll." Just don't use -- oh, I don't know -- a hammer?
Sounds like I'm in good company! - Drew
Catching up on missed episodes! I used to work at target in security. I definitely had a few paths that I would take. Still use those paths when shopping now that I've been promoted to "guest."
Loved the deep dive! Thank you for answering my question. I really enjoyed the information and felt like I knew/assumed a lot of that but it was great to hear it all laid out. My guess is that Drew it correct in the primary sense that the smoothness of the tipping material is the primary factor but all other factors then have a secondary effect on the feel.
Happy New Year! Any fountain pen resolutions this year? Mine is just using my pen more often, more rotation! Same as last year 🤣
Deep dives like never before? Oh man, my excitement is barely containable
OMG yes, Drew! The Kaweco Sports have good caps, and I’m quite surprised by this. I’ve 4 Sports and 1 AL-Sport inked since September, and I’ve only ever used them a couple of times last year. Just last night, I decided to bust them out for a paper test, and they still wrote like a dream. No muss, no fuss. Commenting now before I forget! 😂
Thanks for demonstrating how to *BARREL FILL* the Pilot Varsity.
Hi Brian and Drew. I love spending Saturday and Sunday breakfast with you both. Yes I watch the show in chunks.
I was just going to say I would really appreciate a full video on the FA vs Falcon nibs. I would love to see live writing samples for the nibs. I do realise you have the comparisons on your website, watching you write with these nibs would be really helpful. Thanks in advance if you decide to go in this direction 😊
Thank you so much for joining us! Brian is definitely going to do a Falcon video at some point! - Drew
41:29 I agree with Drew about team sports! My issue with board games is not the waiting for a turn, it’s with playing a game that takes an hour to set up, forever to play, and equally long to score and figure out who won. My time limit for games is 30 minutes from opening the box to closing it.
The “chopper” works fantastically! Swings like an axe, splits like a maul. I would recommend one for the collection.
Yes, I own both a pilot falcon and a pilot custom with an FA nib. They are different pens, alright, but so good.
"U Don't know whenever u need dirt" - Brian Goulet - (I dieeee!) 😂😂😂
Loved the sneakily good sealing caps question. I think the Kaweco Sports are better than you’d think based on the design but still don’t compare to “fancy” sealing caps, imo.
The BENU Euohoria has surprised me, and I wonder why. It lasts pretty long, I don’t know about as long as Platinum, Pilot, TWSBI. To be fair though, when I have mine inked I don’t leave them sitting around as long. (I’m looking forward to using my newly arrived Earl Grey!)
I remember the sinkhole in the driveway, and immediately thought of it, when listening to the last pencast.
I was the one that asked about that 😂
Hey guys! I'll put in my suggestion for Brian doing a Falcon vid...take us through up close writing with each nib, and which pen(s) the come on. I, for one, am a big fan of flex nibs and line variation but don't have the budget to just buy one without having seen it in action. Plus, there's a great ASMR benefit to watching a flex nib writing. (and we'd have the bonus of Brian narrating it)
I think Brian convinced me to get some pilot Varsity pens and fill them Platinum Sepia and Platinum Blue for sketching pens
I gasped out loud when you said you haven’t seen Clue in awhile Drew! I strongly recommend a rewatch. 💕
It've seen it in the last 5 years, but yeah, still worth another viewing! - Drew
Those dead trees are very important habitats for flying squirrels, raccoons, and woodpeckers.
I was going to post a similar comment. The bugs in those trees are good food for a variety critters and birds, especially when birds are feeding nestlings. Birds can also use holes in dead trees for nesting. So those dead trees are not completely useless to everyone.
The FA nib can be had, at only one store in Tokyo, on a Custom 823. The store is the Tokyo Quill Pen shop. I have purchased a Custom 823 from them with an FA nib and it is glorious.
I thought I’d forgotten about Crossfire but the second it was mentioned I remembered the commercial. Core memory unlocked. What those Nerf pistols lack in capacity, Drew, they certainly make up for in range. The ones that are about the size of my hand have sent darts flying at least fifty feet when I’ve shot them!
Love the Catacorn comment, laughed outloud!
That thing about being less likely to achieve/maintain a resolution if you talk about it is known in the writing trade as "talking out the story." Once you've told it to someone, NOW you have to put it on paper, and that's just SO much harder.
I got my second Lamy Vista Black in the past couple of weeks because I'm going to run ONE cartridge of Lamy Black ink through it and then just store it as part of my Lamy Safari/Vista collection. My older one looks WELL worn because the silver-colored pain in the LAMY on the barrel has almost disappeared, and I just decided I needed a more-pristine looking one for the collection.
I hope everyone at Goulet Pens and all their families have a happy and prosperous New Year!
Happy new year!!! Love it! I look forward to this every Friday.
First yes to the Varsity video.
Also...my dirty mind!!!!! This episode had so many key words that proved to me that my mind is warped hahahaha
Mind you I was listening on my way home in traffic, so I was laughing to myself. So fun 2024 seems pretty awesome. 😊
Hey! Happy Weekend! This is my friday afterwork priority. Watching the pencast, cleaning pens and optimizing pens.Concerning the Kakimori Penholder... its wood. Brian should have a solution there. Just cut it down.
So the guy who can't wait his turn has some measure of self control? I am confused! Keep up the great work you guys, love the snorkeling - I learn so much listening to you! About pens and yellow pine!!😂😂
Haha just because I don't like it doesn't mean I can't do it! :) - Drew
Happy New Year! So glad to see you guys back. I got a question: my husband is supporting my pen addiction and gifted me the Diplomat Aero Flame (Fine Nib) . I wanted it so bad, he listened and I love it, but was I was not prepared for, was the fact that this pen is so heavy but it feels nice when writing with it. So i am wondering, do you already have a video on the heaviest pens? Just out of curiosity and my constant excitement for new videos from you guys. Greetings from Germany. Fran
I would like a dedicated Varsity eyedropper video so I can find it when I need it. While you were showing it, I logged on and bought a 7 pack, the washi tapes (I've been watching for them to be restocked,) a bottle of ink, and the Montegrappa Elmo Beach. So this was an expensive pencast for me!
I have a Target path--unless I need something at the back of the store, I usually go through the ladies clothes to the middle aisle and then cut through the home goods to get over to the groceries, and then back across through pet supplies/cleaning products/toiletries to the cash registers.
Ooh… I hadn’t heard of Hardcore History before. Thanks for mentioning it!
Just wondering, for no particular reason, does the Goulet team make The Pencast all at one Swell Foop or otherwise in sections, like I often listen/watch it? It does seem like a considerable amount of diligence and effort to keep that level of consistency going for what is often two hours or more virtually every week. Not many Super Heroes I know could do it.
Please add my vote for a Pilot Nibs Explained video! Hearts to everyone at Goulet Pens! (Especially Brian K who has helped me out multiple times :)
Tap Plastics sells plastic tubes with caps that you can place a Kakimori Sakura in for storage or travel.
Often wish that the Kakimori nibs would come with protectors similar to those which come with the Iro-utsushi. Thanks, guys. Looking forward to the Pilot deep-dive.
All of my Kaweco pens are solid writers after long durations of no use. Sports, liliputs, and the supra. Everyone Everytime writes.
One of my most reliably ready to write pens is my Monteverde Ritma. I was really skeptical about a magnetized cap, but it has never given me a hard start.
No way! That's awesome! - Drew
@@Gouletpensyeah I’m genuinely surprised! It’s been a great find for me and I’ve made it one of my EDC pens alongside my Benu Earl Grey Tea and my twsbi eco
Can a caticorn sticker be far behind? I can envision a cat with a nib protuding from its head...
Just took apart my v-pen! So cool! It's taking forever to get the red ink residue out of the wick...but it'll be nice to have something else in there!
I have a 742 with a fa nib. It's a size 10 nib and I love it!
Happy New Year
I have a black Pilot Falcon with a SB nib and I love that nib!
I suspect this question will never be answered, but I’d like to know what Brian’s thoughts and experience was when Howard stern called him to ask about fountain pens?
Rest assured if Howard Stern were to ask about a phone call any other customer made to us, we wouldn't tell him either. ;) - Drew
@@Gouletpens I just figured since Howard told his side of the story on his show Brian could recap his experience at least how he felt getting the call not necessarily the details of the conversation.
Would love to see a short video on how to eye dropper the Varsity
Last year I bought a custom ebonite desk pen from Ranga and it never dries out - it too has fine threads, and no clip on the cap (to Brian's point about clip holes). My Opus 88 Jazz is also a champ.
I have a Falcon SF on a pen with a totally different clip (slim and no ball on the end but not the same as the 912). The pen is marked Namiki on the center band, which, as you know, is the name for Pilot's upper grade pens. When I got this, back in the '90s I think, they were using the Namiki brand more. I believe they introduced the Falcon this way, with its own pen. It was a bit later when they started making the nib available on other pens. I doubt you will find a hard Falcon nib because the whole point for this nib is that it is soft, so it can flex a bit.
Drew is right, it is called the Elabo. Japan also has the 823 with size 15 FA, which is awesome.
Thanks for another great pen cast...for the Kakimori pen holder...maybe consider a pen roll for paint brushes from an art store as an alternative 😊
Settlers is a great game. My kids are 15 & 19. We’ve been playing with them since they were really young. We made a few modifications early on. 2:16:46
Yay! Ticket to Ride! We have 16 versions of the game, as well as a couple expansions for the base game. 😁
The Falcon and its nib are really fun to write with. The body of the pen is light, as is more common with Japanese pens I'm told (correct me if that is incorrect).
Nice Benchmade Osborne Brian! Have one in classic green.
dig the pond!!!
This is Eric Ortega here. Yes, that was a board game reference. Drew, there are modern board games that you are engaging for the majority of the game. Look into cooperative games!
No pen clip=better sealing. This is such a revelation for me!!! I also use sailor fude de mannen which is always inked up platinum carbon black and ill neglect it for MONTHS and it doesnt dry out! I never made the connection that perhaps it's because it's clipless. Thanks brian!
I have looked at my sailor nibs under microscope and looked at jowo nib tipping under microscope and it looks to my eye that the sailor tipping material is imperfect. there are divots in the tipping material that can not be smoothed completely because for whatever its made out of is imperfect and the jowo tipping is more even in its composition
Did you really look at the nibs under a microscope 🔬 ?
1:01:00 My Liliput doesn't dry out even if I leave it untouched for months. I usually bring it with me, inside the coins' pocket of my wallet. It happily stays there, getting some scratches in the process but I know that it will write perfectly when I need a pen in a pinch. I got an Extra Fine also, which in theory should make it dry out faster but nope!
just wanted to share; the first pen I eye dropper converted was a pilot petite, and it has a similar nib-feed-wick thing as the varsity! I had to look up how to thoroughly clean the petite so I could also clean out the wick (it stains, but it'll be uh... clean enuf) because i wanted to use a different ink color in it. I have 2 petites filled right now with 1 in reserve haha
Yes! Those are great pens! - Drew
Hey speaking of Opus 88...Where did they get their name? What does the name mean? I love mine and they hold SO much ink! I bet their nibs would make for good special grinds.
Drew, you finally finished P&R! Does that mean we'll get a P&R character-pen comparison?? I would be so delighted.
I'll think about it! - Drew
About the Pilot 742 nib: as Drew said, it’s the same nib as the 912, which is the no.10 nib. The 823 and 743 have the larger no.15 nibs. So the 742 (also priced the same as the 912 in Europe) is essentially a 912 but with rounded ends.
Edit: Oops, Drew clarified it 2 minutes later haha
Another one for the list of things Drew says: " It depends on which body part you're touching it with." I'm compiling a list
It sounds to me as though Drew is correctly saying MEH-de-chee: that's good Italian (emphasis on the first syllable here). You guys are lovely.
I know I'm about 2 months late, but aging isn't the only reason you might not be able to reach your toes. I'm naturally flexible and had been all through high school and college. Working desk jobs changed all of that. Eventually, getting chiropractic treatment has me able to touch my toes again after 8 years. I know it is not for everyone, but it's an option that you might also have coverage for through your insurance.
Speaking of wacky tools, y'all should have a look at the Cole Bar hammer
> The Cole-Bar is a multi-function hammer with a full crow bar built in. It combines many tools into one. It is the hammer...reinvented!
I think the kickstarter is dead now, but they were trying to get it built for a looonngg time. I think people got cancer and other people died which probably didn't help their progress.
Out of the box, the Custom 743's FA nib is able to keep up because the feed just works better with it. The 912's feed isn't able to keep up with a Western form of writing and will skip if you're not going slow and have the proper positioning. There are custom ebonite feeds for the Custom 912 (and others) that feature 2 and 3 slits which make the FA nib on that pen flow so much better.
In terms of the Pilot Varsity being ready to go all the time, the wick feed really does the heavy lifting with that core of fibrous material. In terms of refilling, I recommend only using a similar color of ink. Trying to clean the wick is difficult at best and frustrating at worst. Needlenose pliers do well alone if you don't have a grip piece.
Drew, if you don't have an annual pen budget, you need to renegotiate your contract! Brian, do we ever get to see your (I imagine) multi-thousand pen collection? Would you need a van or moving truck to move your collection? Oh, and I know it'll never happen, but if you open a brick and mortar in RVA, I'll be the first one in the door. Wish there were a place locals could get hands-on experience with the pens!
Last week when you were talking about TH-cam statistics, and you said the average view on these pencasts only 30 minutes. I thought, "That's really sad. With all these loyal followers, on average we're only listening to a quarter of the information you're providing?!" But today when you explained that each pause and restart counts as a separate view, now I'm surprised the average is as high as 30 minutes! I mostly listen in the car as I'm running errands, so I probably break a typical pencast into 10 or more views myself. I'd be interested to know per viewer the average time we turkey-hammocks hang in there 😅
I know! It's actually shockingly high! - Drew