Posts filed under Pen Reviews

How I Keep Track of My Pen Collection

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

When I started collecting fountain pens over five years ago, I never imagined I would own enough pens to need a system to keep track of all of them. But collecting pens is an addiction, and like any addiction, there’s always at least one more pen to buy. You start with one and wind up with one hundred.

I decided that, for insurance purposes and my need for sanity, I should come up with a way to keep my collection organized. I despise Microsoft Excel, so I knew I wouldn’t want to use it. I found a database app that works on my iPad, iPhone, and Mac called TapForms.

TapForms can manage any kind of information you want: recipes, books, home inventory, research, and cats (if you’re a cat lady). And what I love most about it is I can design each database with the layout, content, fields, and photographs I want. Right now my most used database is my fountain pen collection, but I also created a database to keep track of all my poetry for my M.A. thesis, and I started one to organize my ink.

I set up my Fountain Pen Collection Database with the information I need, and the great thing is, if I want to add more fields at any point, I can. Here’s a screen grab of the form I created:

You can see what kinds of information I find useful for each pen, including the manufacturer, color, nib type, photographs, where and when I bought the pen, repair information, and information about pens I’ve sold.

Here’s a screen grab of one of my pens catalogued in the form:

I can have the database organize the pens alphabetically by manufacturer (that’s my default), but I can also categorize pens by searching any field. For example, I can get lists of all the pens I’ve sold, all the pens with fine nibs, all the pens from a particular manufacturer, etc. Below is a partial list of pens with italic nibs in my collection:

This is a terrific tool for many reasons. First, I can keep track of all my pens. Second, I have the information I need for insurance purposes, including photos of each pen, limited edition numbers, and how much I paid for each pen. Third, if I decide to sell a pen, I already have the information about it in my listing, including whether or not I have the original packaging, what I originally paid for the pen, if it’s been repaired, etc. For example, here’s the information on one of the pens I sold.

I highly recommend TapForms if you don’t already have a method for keeping track of your pen and ink collections. You can secure the database with a password, which is especially useful if you keep it on your iPad or on a computer accessible to others.

For computers, TapForms is Mac only, but if you own an iPhone or iPad, there’s a stand-alone app. If you own both a Mac and an iPhone/iPad, you can sync your data across all devices (and you can even have it on your Apple Watch if you like).

The iPhone/iPad app is $16.99, and you can download it from the App Store here. The Mac app is $49.99, and you can purchase it directly from TapForms (or download a trial) or purchase it in the Mac App Store here.

(I purchased TapForms for Mac and iPad with my own funds.)

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Posted on June 16, 2017 by Susan Pigott and filed under Storage, Pen Reviews.

Pentel EnerGel Philography Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Pentel EnerGel has been around for quite a while, and it's also really accessible since you can find it at most big box retailers. If you're lucky, you might even find them in your office supply closet. Like the side of the regular pen says, the refill is a type of liquid gel ink that lays a really nice line. How do you improve on a pen that works great already? Well, you put a sleek metal body around it.

If you've never tried an EnerGel before, let's cover the basics. It's similar to other gel pens on the market, and the writing experience is incredibly smooth. They are either retractable or capped, depending on the model and price. The ink is the star with these refills because it's a deep, dark black with clean edges and plenty of flow. They're some of my favorite gel cartridges, but they also aren't interchangeable with a wide range of pen bodies. That being said, the regular EnerGel bodies aren't bad, but they also don't fit in an executive or dressy setting. The refills come in a conical tip with several sizes and colors, and you can also get a 0.5mm needle tip (which is what comes with the Philography) that makes precise writing a bit easier.

In short, the EnerGel refills are stellar. Now, the Philography body is the star of this show. It's a bit slimmer than the regular plastic retractable pen, but it's still very balanced in the hand. In my experience, it's been really comfortable to use.

The grip area does not have any texture, which may be a negative for some people that enjoy a bit of additional grip. The anodization process for the metal adds a bit of texture to the entire body, though. I've not had any issues with the pen slipping or feeling unstable while I write.

Another major difference with the Philography compared to the standard body is the retracting mechanism. The Philography features a smooth twist mechanism to extend or retract the refill from the tip. It feels great, doesn't require much of a turn, and also doesn't unscrew too easily. In order to access the refill, you turn the grip counter-clockwise until the tip is fully retracted, and it eventually starts to unscrew.

There's minimal branding on the pen — just a "Pentel" and "EnerGel" located above the band that separates the top and bottom sections. There's also a peculiar pair of swooshes at the top of the pen that are supposed to add some visual interest, but I think they detract from the overall aesthetic. The top of the pen is a shiny chrome material that, sadly, loves to collect fingerprints. The clip is strong and sturdy without being difficult to operate.

As an added bonus, you can also use a few other refills with this pen, such as the Zebra Sarasa and Uni-ball Signo retractable lines. This opens up the possibilities for several more colors and tip sizes.

Overall, this metal version of the classic EnerGel is a big hit in my book. I love metal-bodies pens in general, and I was pleased to find that the execution on this model was done well.

The model I have is the Turquoise Blue, but you can also pick this up in Black, Silver, Dark Blue, and White. You pay a bit of a premium for the nicer material and build, but it's worth it in my opinion. At $23 a piece, you can significantly improve the writing experience and presentation of the EnerGel line.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on June 14, 2017 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Pentel, Energel, Pen Reviews.

Sailor 1911 Large Ballpoint Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Sailor are known for their high-quality, well-made fountain pens. There are several Sailors on my wishlist, but they can take some time to purchase given the high price tag. After all, well-made goods cost more than cheaper ones.

When I received the 1911 Large ballpoint to review, I was curious to see how it performed since I only associate Sailor with fountain pens and inks. The 1911 looks similar to the fountain pen version of the pen, except it uses a twist mechanism to extend and retract the refill tip.

At first glance, the top portion of the pen seems too large compared to the grip section. I've seen fountain pen versions of the 1911, and they don't have the same "out of balance" look since the body is longer and untapered at the end. That thought hasn't stopped popping up every time I look at the pen. And, it adds a bit of extra heft to the top of the pen while writing, too. This can cause some balance problems if you're not accustomed to writing with a top heavy pen.

Initial impressions weren't bad, and I was excited to see how it wrote. That's where my impressions took a big hit, and they're still struggling to recover. Yes, this is a ballpoint refill, and I was expecting something in that ballpark, but the writing experience with this refill was less than satisfactory. It's perfectly smooth (almost too smooth), but it skips and constantly looks like the refill is almost dried out due to the light black to medium gray tone it puts down. The lines are not sharp and tend to deposit artifacts outside of the main line as you write. When compared to my favorite ballpoint refill, the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000, it just doesn't compare.

Shortly after writing a few lines to try out the refill, I was optimistic that I could just swap in another refill that worked better. But, as I went through my stash of regular refills and eventually crossed them all off the "compatibility" list, I realized that this refill is proprietary to this pen and that I was just stuck with it. Bummer!

For that reason alone, I find it difficult to recommend this pen. The refill looks like a standard Parker refill that has been slightly modified to make it unique to Sailor. That doesn't feel right, and the fact that their stock refill is mediocre just hurts more.

Maybe I'm being harsh on this pen. After all, it's beautiful! This complaint is similar in nature to buying a $150 fountain pen that has significant nib issues that make the writing experience negative without some kind of nib tuning. It just shouldn't happen. With this pen, however, tuning isn't an option due to the proprietary refill.

At nearly $100, that's just unacceptable. This pen oozes executive class on the outside, and it feels great when you pick it up and operate the twist mechanism. Once you start writing, however, the experience is similar to the dollar-a-dozen Bic stashed in the office supply closet. At this price, you're not far off from the fountain pen version. My recommendation is to spend a little extra money on the fountain pens that Sailor has figured out and perfected!

(Pen Chalet provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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