There have been several thoughts expressed to us recently, showing concern about how useful old inkwells actually are, due to evaporation rates. It occurred to us that it might be useful to have some empirical evidence either for or against (or, more likely still, both) this feeling. We have a number of inkwells in our […]
Breaking Down a Parker Vacumatic Filler Unit
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 […]
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 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 […]