Weekend Reads 1/14/12

First Weekend Reads of 2012! Missed last week, and I almost missed this week. My family has the flu going around! :P

I got sick Thursday, and as a result have done very little blog work, and no pen-repair whatsoever. I'm going to wait another day or two till I begin repairing again, just to make sure every thing is sanitary, and that my strength is back again.

Anyway, on with the picks of the week. :)

Weekend Reads 12/10/11

Time for some weekend reads! Hopefully you've all had a good week, and now you're ready to settle in for some rest and relaxation, before Christmas gets to close.


I didn't get very many questions this week, so I'm going to save them up for next weeks reads. Remember, if you've got questions - ask away! I'd love to hear from you. :)




- This review must've been made just for me! It's a "double-review", and both items are things I want to buy very soon. It's not an exhuastive review, but it is a good one. :)

- An ink review, of another ink I plan on buying soon (a sample of). J. Herbin Diablo Menthe - Doesn't look like it did to well in the review. I'm just chasing after the color of this ink, not it's properties.

- Here is a review of the next pen I plan on adding to my collection - The Pilot Custom 823. This review was the main one that sold me on it!

That's it for this weekend. Those should be long enough to keep you busy, if you read the whole thing of course. Enjoy, and let me know if you've got comments, suggestions, questions ,etc.

Regards,
Tyler Dahl

Weekend Reads 12/4/11

Welcome to the first official Weekend Reads post. I hope you'll enjoy it!


Let's start this off with my favorite articles of the recent week. There are some great ones here, so be sure to check them out.






1) First one is not exactly FP related, but it is related to writing. Someone posted this website up on FPN, and I just had to share it here. I'll keep it a surprise, so you'll have to go find out for yourself what exactly it is. :)

2) Next up is an ink review from one of my favorite fellow bloggers. I've never tried this ink, but Im definitely adding a sample next time I go ink shopping. Noodlers Hunter Green is basically a waterproof ink, in my favorite shade of green.

3) With the holiday season upon us, and Christmas approaching fast, I thought this was a very appropriate post from Economy Pens.

4) I have not seen to many pink inks before... But this one looks pretty intriguing! Very wild, and not a very "manly" ink so to speak, but  enjoyed the review.



Now time for some Q&A!


Q #1: While I can, and have, replaced ink sacs, is there an easy way to get a new ink sac on the section when replacing an old sac? I have tried sac stretchers, tweezers, just my fingers, etc. Sometimes I have immediate success but sometimes it is frustrating beyond belief, the shellac dries out or ends up on my fingers, and I have to start all over! Is there one foolproof way to get the sac onto the pre-shellacked section?
A: My method for placing the sac on the sac-nipple is very simplistic. Once I discovered it however, I have had no trouble in getting my sacs on. I'll attempt to describe it, though I may end up needing to make a video of this one. - Start by trimming your sac to size, and dry fitting it, to make sure it's the right size. Next, give the sac-nipple a good coat of shellac. I prefer to have a little extra, and need t dab it off later, as opposed to not enough. If there's to little, the sac will stick and not slide, and that will make it harder to do this. Now for the real trick. Basically, I just push the sac on. I start with half of the sac-nipple, sliding the sac over it. Then, I use my finger (not pinching) to just push it over the rest of the sac-nipple. After this, I'll twist the sac 1/4 turn, to make sure the shellac is spread. Then dab off any extra shellac, and you're done! That probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but maybe you caught it. I'll work on a "pictorial", or video of this very soon. :)




Q #2: I recently purchased brass shim so that I could floss the tines of my fountain pens in order to increase ink flow. Luckily, my local hardware store had brass shim available to purchase, but only in a package containing various sized sheets of brass shim. Each sheet is a different width/thickness. The package included: .001, .002, .003, and .005. Since I am a novice at this, first, I had no idea that brass shim came in different widths. Second, which one do I use on my pens?
A: The preferred sizes for brass shim, when used with FP's, is .001, and .002. I use both, but mostly the .002. Any wider though, and you might spread the tines to far apart. The .001 is good for cleaning out ink channels in the feed. It's a bit thin to floss the nib with, unless you like a really dry nib.

Q #3: Hi Tyler, how about this: (a) what has been your toughest repair and (b) why was it so difficult? 
A: Wow, that's a tough question. I think I may have had toughest repairs, but never one single repair that's been the most difficult. I'll pick just one tough one though. It's funny actually - My toughest repair is now one of my most ruitine, and easy tasks to perform. At the time however, I was stumped, baffled, and frustrated. I was trying to install a hanging pressure bar into a Waterman pen, for the first time. Boy was that a chore! This one happened to be just a bit bent inside, so it was more difficult than normal. Still, After I finally got it in, I thought - "Why was that so hard!?". I laugh about it now, as I find this very easy to do, but at the time, it wasn't very funny at all. :)






Well, I hope you've enjoyed the weekend reads for this week! I know I was late this week, due to the work needed on my house. Hopefully next week I can run this all as scheduled.


Enjoy the reads, leave me a comment, subscribe if you liked this, and don't forget to submit your questions for next week!


Regards,
Tyler Dahl