One of the giants of American pen manufacturing, Parker, produced millions of pens using the vacumatic filling system. It proved to be reliable, provided for a huge amount of ink storage, but also intimidates many collectors. We hope that this complete tear-down will remove much of the mystique from this venerable but reliable piece of […]
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Review: The Marbled Paper of Robert Wu
We have a serious weakness for arts and crafts. The kind of high-quality, useful things you just can’t find in regular stores anymore. So, we made a pilgrimage to the One of a Kind arts and crafts show in Toronto this past November, with a special eye out for our specialty: reading and writing paraphenalia. […]
The Fountain Pen Convert: A Cautionary Tale
Messy stainsfingers Leaky scratchy Bleeds-through-the-paper Old-fashioned To me, that was the fountain pen. Dip pens were worse. When I was a teenager, I was into calligraphy, and had a beautiful old dip pen with many nibs. Although I did enjoy using it, I found it frustrating because of the lack of quality paper. It was […]
The Humble Bamboo Skewer
One of the most versatile, and cheap, tools in our shop is the humble bamboo skewer. Familiar to most of us as the disposable vehicle for grilling kebabs, bamboo skewers have several qualities which make them an unparalleled shop tool. a bamboo grove Creative Commons photo by: Crystalline Radical Bamboo is a tough plant, technically […]
The Toronto International Pen Show
We are happy to be attending the Toronto International Pen Show this year, for the first time. The show runs from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday October 23, 2010, at the Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites. We have booked an eight foot table, and will easily fill it. Amongst our inventory will be […]
Tools: an Introduction
Ah, tools! A tool is a thing which can do what your hands can’t: spin at 8000 rpm, slam bits of metal with great force, reach down a wee hole to pluck a delicate part out. There are even tools (my favourite) for making more tools! And we love them. They can be clean or […]
