It’s a lot to cover in one page, but for now there isn’t a lot here, so one page should do.
Links
I’ve often thought about building these myself, but then I realize that reinventing the wheel is pointless, and my time can be best used elsewhere.
So… for those interested in templates, either for printing your own lined books, or for an underlay type style ( which is the way I use them ) it’s a great way to keep those lines straight while writing on blank paper.
The Well Appointed Desk has compiled an impressive array of templates, and they are free to download from her website. (I think a copy and paste job is required to get there, embedding a link was not permitted).
https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/05/turn-a-blank-notebook-into-a-lined-notebook/
Resources
I’m often asked for general and even more specific information, and while I’m always happy to help others when at all possible, a great resource of information for the Canadian hobbyist is a file maintained by an acquaintance in the Facebook Group “Canadian Fountain Pen Enthusiasts”.
While many of our customers are already members of this Group, and it is basically where penablers got its start. It is a wonderful place to gain information, and the resource file maintained by Peter is invaluable for the newcomer to the hobby.
Facebook is certainly not for everyone, and I know that people are abandoning Facebook as often as there are new people joining, but for those that are “on there” already and are unaware of this particular Group or Groups in general it is certainly worth checking out. CFPE is a private group, which means that while a non member can find the Group, application is required, and being Canadian or situated in Canada is mandatory for membership.
Canadian Fountain Pen Enthusiasts Link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1924910857766745
Since penablers is built on our offering of Ink Samples we are often called upon to compare or recommend an ink for a certain colour. Once of the better resources available is Ink Swatch dot com. There you can search inks in any number of ways. The best feature to my mind is the “Compare to a specific Ink” feature where you navigate to your ink of choice and the website will show you about 5 of the closest matches. The algorithms are not foolproof, and we have found a couple of glaring errors, but it is a great place to start regardless.
Ink Swatch Link:
Another great tool to organize your ink collection is Fountain Pen Companion, for those that don’t have the desire to build their own database of inks, this is an easy way to keep track of your inks, it’s quite usable on Mobile, so when you’re out shopping and a new ink catches your eye, you can always check if you have it already or not, or combine your consideration with the last software I mentioned, and see if you already have a duplicate colour. The onboarding to the app used to be a bit cludgy, but once you are in, it’s smooth sailing. Another great feature of this one is the ability to share and compare ink collections with friends. Perfect for meetups and ink swaps. It was a great tool for me early on, in the pre-penablers days, but I now have a website to show me which inks I already have at my disposal, so it became a bit redundant for me.
Fountain Pen Companion Link:
https://www.fountainpencompanion.com/users/sign_in
Freebies
Basically everything on this page is being offered for free, but here’s a physical freebie.
It doesn’t happen often, and when it does it is usually a problem, but for one reason or another a bottle of ink has broken, or the cap is broken, or any combination thereof. Another use for one of these is if you have an intra-bottle Ink Miser™ by design or mistake, and need a bottle to accommodate it.
penablers, by virtue of our offerings of Samples of ink, our Ink Advent Calendar and so on has dozens and dozen of empty bottles from a variety of Brands, which we are offering free for the asking. I know other online shops actually sell the empty bottles, but I just want to give them away, so for anyone that is interested or in need of an empty bottle or ten, just ask. Of course shipping is the responsibility of the recipient, so the only reasonable way to accommodate requests for an empty is to include it with an order that already requires Parcel Post shipping. The extra weight, and/or volume of the empty will be covered by penablers as required.
A wide variety of sizes, styles, and brands are available, just reach out if you are in need, or have a project in mind.
