It is well known that my artistic skills are lacking, so can any of you more talented types help John out?
I'm an artist and I love pen work. I am curious what type of paper you'd suggest? This is the type of art I do. I'm looking for thick smooth paper that wont bleed, and I am putting it into a custom sketchbook so something around 8.5" x 11" would be great. Thanks!
If you have any suggestions please let John (and myself!) know in the comments.
Update: John says thanks for all of the help!
I have received some interesting emails over the years but a recent one from Michael F. may be the best yet. He stumbled across a pen that had him stumped, and once I took a look at the pictures I had no earthly idea either. He did a little more sleuthing and came up with a name: The Rotring Roll-kuli. I'll let Michael explain a little more:
The Pollkuli pen I’m showing you is a mystery to me. It was included in an auction purchase, along with the target pen, a Sheaffer Snorkel. I date it to the mid 50’s to mid 60’s based on style and materials. I cleaned it up, and the seals were great.
The pen features:
integral twist dip style re-fill system; the ink is drawn up and around the clear point holder
bifurcated transparent reservoir, allowing the user to raise nib up, flow the captured ink into the tail part of the section, re-dip, and fill again
clear “feed” area, showcasing the ink near the paper
smooth writing ruby (?) ball point
sporty red band
rarity: few examples exist, apparently. I know of no others.
The pen is a smooth, smooth writer! Compared to the Hi-TEC 0.25, its luxurious! The line left on the Rhodia paper is rich, but not wet. Noodlers Heart of Darkness hints at grey-brown. The tiny bit of skipping I get (look at the ‘Rs’) may be due to my grip on such a novel pen.
He calls it a Pollkuli in his original email because that is how the red band reads, but he quickly came about the real name after starting a thread on the Fountain Pen Network. There is great history thread available there as well.
The pictures Michael sent are stunning and really show off this unique pen. Thanks for sharing!
I am always happy to answer reader mail and over the years I have answered a lot. I'm not exactly the fastest responder, but I do my best to answer them all. On occasion, I get repeats of the same question so I thought it would be good to answer some of those publicly to help out other readers who may be wondering the same thing.
So, here is the first one, from Mike: Does the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slims refill fit in the Zebra Sharbo X?
Both of these pens use what is called a D1 size refill, so yes, the Slims refill fits fine in the Sharbo X. Most D1 refills are interchangeable between brands, although the small tolerances might make the fit tighter or looser depending on the pen. For example, the Slims refill fits in the Sharbo X like a glove, but I had to force the Sharbo X refill into the Slims barrel. In the end it fit and worked fine, but some force was required to seat it properly.
Mike also wondered if the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock or the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto refills would work, and the answer in no. Those refills are much to long to fit in the Sharbo X.
I hope this helps you out Mike, and hopefully this helps other readers who had the same question.
