Sometimes you see a paper’s weight listed at “20 pounds” while other times you might see something like 75 grams per square meter (“gsm” for short). What’s the difference? How do you convert from one measurement to the next?
If you have ever look through some old pencils you’ll quickly find out that there were (and still are) many types of pencils aside from that standard #2 or HB one that got us all through elementary school. With that in mind, what is a copying pencil? What is an indelible pencil?
Continue reading “Copying Pencil vs. Indelible Pencil: What’s The Difference?”
If you are taking a trip to San Francisco and you’d like to do some pen, pencil, or paper shopping there are some great options for you. Read below to learn about some excellent stationery destinations.
Continue reading “The Best Stationery Stores In San Francisco”
If you have been buying notebooks in 2021, then you have surely encountered Leuchtturm1917. These high-end German notebooks have built a diehard audience thanks to their fair pricing, high quality, and cool styling.
So what’s the deal with Leuchtturm1917?
I’m primarily a pen user, but I do spend some time using pencils as well. When I do this I tend to prefer wooden pencils over mechanical ones, as I enjoy the wooden pencil experience more than I do the reliability and convenience of a great mechanical pencil.
Here are my favorite everyday wooden pencils.
Continue reading “My Five Favorite Wooden Pencils For Everyday Use”
If you have explained the world of budget ballpoint pens, there is a good chance that you’ve seen a pen from a company called Hauser or perhaps Hauser Germany. What’s the deal with this interesting company?
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?
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.
One of the odd things about the pen and pencil world is that these are tools people use every day but they often lack the vocabulary to describe what they are using. After all, technical discussion of pens and pencils doesn’t exactly come up very often in normal human interaction.
With the goal of aiding your talk about wooden pencils, here is the anatomy of a wooden pencil explained.
Fountain pen ink might seem like a some kind of mythical substance that can only be made through some sort of alchemy, but that’s not the case. At the very heart of it, fountain pen ink is simply a loose, watery ink that is compatible with a pen’s nib. And while there is certainly lots of craft and innovation and chemistry involved in professional inks, there are simpler forms that anyone can make.
Continue reading “Can You Make Fountain Pen Ink At Home?”