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Has anyone tried using sand as a blotter, or know if a specific kind of sand was used? I'm curious to try this (entirely as an entertaining experiment, without any expectations of efficiency or tidiness).

I'm looking for a desk pad or blotter, preferably leather, that will protect a very large, old wooden desk that's been in the family for a while. Does anyone have any recommendations? Of course, fountain pen friendliness is essential. thanks! C

My question is simple--does such a thing exist? I fell down a rabbit hole of looking at ink blotters the other day, shortly after crawling out of a rabbit hole of looking at inks (and their cute little bottles), and it struck me that a lot of the smaller rocker blotters kind of have a profile that could be the shape of a bottle. I tried Googling, and the closest thing I could find to a bottle in that shape is this half moon bottle, and it's definitely not suitable for holding ink with that narrow opening, nor for blotting being that it is so narrow overall. Just about all of what I come across are sets which include both items, rather than an item which is both, and the rest is simply one or the other. The root of the problem is that now that I have had the inkling that it might work, I sort of want such an item

These three rocker blotters sit in my main writing area at home, next to each other. If I'm traveling, I generally put a small loose sheet of blotter paper in my travel notebook. They don't get used much, although you can see some ink spots on the top one, here. Most of the time, there really seems to be no point, as the ink tends to dry quickly. But this morning, I made a short entry in my journal, walked away from it for about half an hour, came back and noticed it still open, and shut the book. When I opened it again, some of the brown Noodler's ink with which I'd made the date header had transferred itself to the facing page, while the purple Iroshizuku ink that I'd used for the actual entry had not. The rule seems to be that if I do remember to blot something, it will probably turn out that I didn't need to. But if I forget, sometimes it turns out that I really should have. The still wet brown ink, by the way, was being used with a semi-dip pen, an Esterbrook Dip-Less. I say semi, because although you dip the pen, it uses a regular fountain pen nib and feed unit, and should act just like a fountain pen for writing. I don't actually put Noodlers in regular fountain pens any more, but I use it in a couple of these wells.

I was pretty impressed that Basildon Bond's first sheet was blotter paper. It was difficult to get in the USA for a while, but it's now on Amazon (but it still ships from the UK.) Well the last one ordered came in without a blotter page. So, I ordered another. It also doesn't have a blotter page. Did they drop it, or did I just get two pads with a missing blotter?

Colleagues, I like and use my rocker blotters, and I have a few favorites. Generally, they use paper that is 2-3 inches (5-6.5cm) wide, and needs to be 8.5 inches (21.6cm) long, though 9 inches (22.5cm) or more is much better. Modern so-called blotter paper from art supply shops blots very poorly. I was able to buy a pile of desk blotter paper that was produced probably 30 years ago, and I cut that into strips. Alas, it blots too slowly to be as effective as I'd like. I put felt behind the paper, but that didn't solve the issue. The best rocker blotter paper I've had was taken off an old rocker blotter; the owner long ago had simply cut down paper from a free advertising blotter. Those were commonly distributed to the public. Alas, it was a smaller rocker blotter and even that hardly held the paper in place because of the short length. I've discovered those old free blotters are typically 6.25 inches (16cm) long, not long enough for the rocker blotter to grip the ends of the paper. So...has anyone found a source for GOOD blotter paper from which I can cut strips at least 8.5 inches long, preferably more? In the alternative, are there longer old advertising blotters out there? The thicker, the better. Fred

Hi all, My partner's office just had a major clearout, and he's brought home about 20 desk blotters (with blotting paper attached) Anyone who wants one, for the price of postage (about £3.00 but I need to measure & weigh to be sure) is welcome to one - just drop me a PM. They're about 16" x 10" or thereabouts, half are black, half are dark green.