The “Parker-style” or G2 refill is one of the the most common pen refills sold today. This long-standing design is not only an internationally accepted ISO standard, but is a size and shape that is conducive to making great pens.
So with thousands of different refills to choose from, which Parker-style G2 refills should you be buying?
Paper and notebook sizes are an unfortunately confusing thing. You just want some printer paper or a new notebook, and instead you are choosing between “A4” and “B5” and a slew of other unhelpful options. Maybe you are better off switching to numbers, like “8.5 by 11,” but we’ve all made the mistake of ordering legal paper when we meant to get normal copy paper.
This guide should help you sort out all your loose leaf paper and notebook size problems.
Choosing a fountain pen isn’t always an easy task and a surplus of information can be almost as bad as a total lack of it. With that in mind, this guide is designed to help you choose the best Sailor fountain pen for you.
Sailor isn’t is common as Pilot and a few other competitors in the US, but they make some exceptional pens. This guide will help you decide the right Sailor fountain pen for you in 2021. It will focus on the most popular Sailor lines, with the assumption that if you are looking for something expensive or rare, you probably don’t need a buying guide!
Platinum is one of Japan’s “Big Three” pen companies, but it doesn’t seem to get the same level of attention as the other two (Pilot and Sailor) here in the United States. Despite that, Platinum makes some of our favorite fountain pens.
If you are considering buying a Platinum fountain pen which should you lean towards? Which are sure-fire hits that no one can deny is a great pen?
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I just had to learn that lesson the hard way. I’ve been carrying my brass Cap-O-Matic with me for a number of weeks while running around on my summer to-dos and a few days ago my pen went missing. Only once my trusty companion was gone did I realize how much I had been enjoying the pen.
Continue reading “Seriously Underrated: Fisher Space Pen Cap-O-Matic”
Gel pens use water-based ink that writes wonderfully but is prone to drying out. This means a refill that looks full might not write. What a waste, right? Not quite, but these pens can often be restarted.
Continue reading “How To Revive A Gel Pen That Has Ink But Isn’t Writing”
People make mistakes, which is why pencils have erasers (well, not all pencils, but you get the point). But most pencils are optimized for writing, not erasing, so not all erase from paper very well. Instead the pencils smudge, smear, or leave ugly marks on the paper which you need to wear down the paper in order to remove.
But what kinds of pencils erase the best?
If you have been in the market for a nice fountain pen (or at least researching them) then you have almost certainly encountered a material known as ebonite. But what exactly is ebonite, and why are the pens made from it so expensive?
Continue reading “What Is Ebonite (And Why Make Fountain Pens From It)?”
Ever notice how some pencils have erasers and some don’t? Are the eraser-clad pencils designed for writing and the eraser-less ones for art? Or is it something more complex?
Remember back to grade school when everyone seemed to carry around the same black and white notebook? What’s the deal with composition notebooks? Do companies still make them? Do students still use them? Are some better than others?
When discussing pens on Unsharpen.com we use some terms so often that we assume everyone knows the meaning. But these meanings aren’t always clear and sometimes our definition will vary from that found on other sites.
With that in mind, what is a ballpoint pen?
If you are considering some new gel pens and you stumbled on the “Sarasa R” you might be a bit confused about this new gel pen. Here’s an explanation of how this newer model differences from the standard Sarasa pens.
Continue reading “Zebra Sarasa vs. Sarasa R: What’s The Difference?”
One of the downsides of the popularity of some fountain pens is that fakes have hit the market. Sometimes these are clones, but there are also outright fakes that are sold as the original. One of the pens that has been affected is the Lamy Safari.
One of the most popular questions sent to the Unsharpen Youtube channel is, “Where do I buy that pen?” And it makes sense, because while pens are sold almost everywhere, finding a specific pen can be a real challenge.
Here is our guide to buying pens in 2021.
If you want a retractable fountain pen, you have to understand that you are diving into a niche within a niche. Only a tiny subset of fountain pens are retractable, so there isn’t as much competition as you’d expect, but this is still a rich and interesting segment.
Let’s run through today’s top retractable fountain pens.
Continue reading “The Best Retractable Fountain Pens of 2021”