A surprisingly popular question in the stationery world is, “How long is an average wood pencil?” When we found out that there was no obvious answer, we go to work to find out.
Continue reading “How Long Is A Pencil?”How Long Is A Pencil?
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How To Clean Behind The Seal Of A Fountain Pen Converter
If you are cleaning your fountain pen and noticed that there is ink or water behind the plunger of the converter, you’ll likely find that it’s quite difficult to get at. How do you take apart the converter, clean up that ink, and fully clean your pen?
Continue reading “How To Clean Behind The Seal Of A Fountain Pen Converter”How Wide Is A Pencil?
It might seem basic, or even obvious, but a common question people ask is, “How wide is a wood pencil?”
The answer, of course, is “it varies…” We did some testing to see just how wide a range of popular pencils are.
Continue reading “How Wide Is A Pencil?”The Best No-Plastic And Low Plastic Pens And Refills
Many people are trying to reduce the amount of plastic they use in their lives, but this can be quite difficult, especially with small, affordable items like pens. While pens and plastic go hand-in-hand, particularly with lower priced pens, there are some choices you can make to reduce the plastic in your writing instruments.
Continue reading “The Best No-Plastic And Low Plastic Pens And Refills”Pens, Ink, And The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Form
If you have recently purchased a pen or ink from an international reseller or manufacturer there is a chance that you will be required to fill out a Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Form. This request will come from the shipper, usually Fedex, not the seller or a government agency.
So what do you do when you get this request?
Continue reading “Pens, Ink, And The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Form”Finding The Darkest Pencil
One of the common questions we see on Unsharpen is, which pencil is the darkest? In other words, which pencil has a graphite (or even a charcoal) which puts down a line that is the blackest black possible.
We did some investigation to see which pencils were worth considering if darkness is your goal.
Continue reading “Finding The Darkest Pencil”What Is A Clutch Pencil And How Is One Used?
Clutch pencils aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be, but they still have their uses. This article will explain the basics of clutch pencils, discuss why you’d use one, and finally run through some of the top clutch pencils sold today.
Continue reading “What Is A Clutch Pencil And How Is One Used?”The Top Tool Pens of 2022
It can be incredibly handy to have a small set of tools at hand. With this in mind, a number of “tool pens” have been released over the years. We bought and tested a number of them. Our thoughts are below.
Continue reading “The Top Tool Pens of 2022”The Best Ways To Erase Pen Ink From Paper
Pen ink is designed to not be removable from paper, but sometimes mistakes happen. When they do, how do you remove pen ink from paper?
Continue reading “The Best Ways To Erase Pen Ink From Paper”What Is Fountain Pen Ink Sheen?
When discussing fountain pen ink people will often talk about “sheen” and how desirable it is. But what is sheen? What causes it? Which inks have the best sheen?
Read on to find out.
Continue reading “What Is Fountain Pen Ink Sheen?”What Cartridges Fit Wing Sung Fountain Pens?
Wing Sung fountain pens offer incredible value in a set of pens ranging from $1 to over $50. Despite the low price of many Wing Sung pens, the company almost always includes a converter with them. But what if you don’t want use the converter and would prefer to use an ink cartridge?
Continue reading “What Cartridges Fit Wing Sung Fountain Pens?”Does Lamy Sell Replacement Parts For Fountain Pens?
If you have a Lamy fountain pen that is in need of a replacement part, then you are in a tough spot. The pens are technically repairable as the can be mostly broken down to their components, but finding replacement parts can be a real challenge.
Continue reading “Does Lamy Sell Replacement Parts For Fountain Pens?”
Fountain Pen Cartridge Guide
In theory, using a fountain pen cartridges should be easy — you insert one into your pen and you start writing. In practice, they are rather confusing. Some cartridges only work on one brand of pen, some work on lots of pens… and they all look alike! Cartridges are rarely labeled well and the downside of messing up a cartridge installation can be a broken pen (bad) or a leaky cartridge (often worse).
This guide will answer most common fountain pen cartridge questions as well help you visually identify which cartridge is which.
The Right Pencil Lead Grade and Hardness For Every Scenario
Every pencil, whether it’s a mechanical pencil or wooden pencil, has a lead and every lead has a grade. But which lead grade should you use? Which is best for a test? Which is best for art? How about note taking?
Continue reading “The Right Pencil Lead Grade and Hardness For Every Scenario”
How To Fill A Fountain Pen
Fountain pens tend to seem relatively simple, but that doesn’t mean the correct process for filling every pen is obvious. This article will explain how to fill any common fountain pen.