PigPog

I got a new pencil today – a Lamy Scribble 0.7mm, with palladium trim.

I’ve liked the look of the Scribble for a while, and seeing them for real didn’t disappoint. I think the black ones look just as good as the palladium ones, but the palladium seemed to match my Lamy 2000 fountain pen a bit better.

I’ve not had it long yet, but I’m liking it so far – I’ve filled it with Pentel AIN 2B leads. It has a tiny tubular lead sleeve, that retracts all the way back inside to make it pocket-safe, and the clip can be removed for those who like to roll the pencil to keep the point a bit finer. I quite like to roll, but I need my pencil to clip to me, so the clip stays on.

• Dave’s Review
• Dave’s ‘Day in the Life’

I have a Pentel GraphGear 1000 0.3mm pencil, which I’d filled with Pilot Eno 2B leads, because I get on better with softer lead. The problem was that it wore down very quickly. I couldn’t use it for taking notes at work, because I’d have to stop to click more lead out three or more times when writing down an address.

Today, I finally got around to trying it out with Pentel AIN HB grade lead, and it’s much better. Yes, the line isn’t as dark, so it’s not quite as easy to read, but I can write several lines between clicks.

Ever since we started selling Diamine Inks at Cult Pens, I’ve been using almost nothing else. Until today, I’ve had good experience with every colour I’ve tried – Prussian Blue, Steel Blue, Umber, Saddle Brown, WES Imperial Blue – all have behaved very well. I picked up a bottle of Blue-Black last week, and loved the colour so much I flushed out both of my current pens, and filled them up with it.

I had flow problems with my Sheaffer Clipper Snorkel fairly quickly, and switched to the Pelikan M600, which never misbehaves. I started having flow problems with that, too.

By this afternoon, both pens were writing unevenly and skipping.

I’ve flushed them both out, and fed them both Waterman Blue-Black, and they seem fine again.

I love Diamine inks in general, and every other one I’ve tried has been great, but the Blue-Black does seem to be quite different stuff.

• Parker Executive – the rebirth of the old Rotring Quattro – surprisingly nice.
• Today’s LOLcat is CPR Cat.
• Bonus LOLcat: It’s Called Food.
• We have Waterman ink in bottles now.
• DIY Planner: Basic Fountain Pen Restoration, Part 1.