Thin Paper Comparison - 50, 60, 70Gsm

[Renfield]

NEW SUPPLY of Bank Paper in the UK...

 

koralatov has informed me of extra sources of 45gsm Bank Paper in the UK which may be the same stock as the Ryman Bank Paper 45gsm but simply sold in bulk.

 

Q Connect Bank Paper 45gsm : A4 White Ream (500) for £4.95 plus postage from http://www.officepad...y/kf51015.shtml also available from other suppliers. Just google "Q Connect Bank Paper"

These people seem to have the best deal going: I've had a pretty good look too! It works out at £5.39 per ream plus £0.99 P&P. Including VAT! Total £6.38 - I've just ordered one so now I can start making the Filofax refills!

 

Let us know when it arrives, that it is the same stuff, and I will check out delivery. I didn;t see a NI exclusion, so I could be in luck.

 

Also, can you print lines onto it? Or would that mess it up?

 

I don't do too well with a lined sheet underneath.

[DanielCoffey]

The paper will probably be too thin to pass through most printers. It depends on what you have. I know my laser printer won't handle paper below 60gsm.

[Renfield]

The paper will probably be too thin to pass through most printers. It depends on what you have. I know my laser printer won't handle paper below 60gsm.

 

Its a fairly basic Kodak All in One 5250 printer.

 

A quick Google search is saying no, seems to be 75-90gsm for plain paper.

 

I suppose I could give it a go, but doesn't look likely.

 

I think my handwriting is bad enough, but without lines it looks chaotic.

[WillSW]

I picked up some Ryman's Bank Paper today. Here are some notes after not that much use:

 

The paper seems sensitive to hand oil. I noticed some feathering (with Noodler's Brooklyn Brawn and Montblanc Racing Green) but it was on a sheet I had already scribbled on done other things on top of on my desk. Trying the pens in other spots on the paper revealed no feathering.

 

If you like extra-fine nibs and absorbent papers that make them just that much thinner, this is not for you. It doesn't widen things that terribly (and it's probably obvious that thin paper with these positive properties won't be absorbent in that way), probably no more than Rhodia, but it does slightly more than the Silvine Airmail paper I picked up recently. This has only bothered me so far when using a flexible nib with R&K Scabiosa; the connecting strokes in shaded writing are significantly less thin than on other papers.

 

I was able to achieve bleedthrough only with an Ahab on max pressure, which is probably the most violent one can be with a pen on paper. Keep a sheet underneath if you're hitting those 2mm-wide Noodler's notes.

 

The shading and other behavior is great and I'll definitely find use for this paper.

[Rosser]

I hate paying delivery as much as the next man. However, buying 100 sheets of bank paper for nearly as much as a 500 ream that has £4.95 shipping is just morally wrong.

 

The one I pointed out at Amazon, was 500 sheets?

 

It had a weight of 1.4kg, must be a ream?

What's the score for you to buy from Eire? Try this link.

 

Thanks for the Irish link. Got mine today!

[Renfield]

I hate paying delivery as much as the next man. However, buying 100 sheets of bank paper for nearly as much as a 500 ream that has £4.95 shipping is just morally wrong.

 

The one I pointed out at Amazon, was 500 sheets?

 

It had a weight of 1.4kg, must be a ream?

What's the score for you to buy from Eire? Try this link.

 

Thanks for the Irish link. Got mine today!

 

If its not rude, where are you based? and how much was delivery?

[Rosser]

I'm in Dublin and it was €6 for delivery. On a related note, I'm looking at https://www.parcelmotel.com/ for future UK purchases as they forward stuff from Northern Ireland allowing you to avail of UK sites that have free UK Delivery Charges or UK sites that don't deliver outside the UK. Living south of the border, you get used to being burned on delivery charges.

 

Ross.

[Renfield]

Living south of the border, you get used to being burned on delivery charges.

 

Ross.

 

 

I am in Belfast, we are used to getting burned as well, but this times it's a petrol bomb over a flag :ph34r:

 

Deliver to Northern Ireland gets stiffed a lot. Most places especially stationary supplies, wont delivery to UK, or as a minimum charge a heavy subsidy.

 

If you do look for free postage, Bureau direct and Cult Pens both include NI in its free delivery. I have ordered from both.

[The Good Captain]

The Q Connect Bank paper was delivered this morning. PrintCartridgeDirect.com and £6.38 for a ream (500 sheets!) all inclusive. Scans to follow as soon as I can but on first impression it feels like it is slightly heavier than the Ryman's version, whatever both their professed GSM rating. Show-through for all the inks I used on it, is as would be expected of a light-weight paper and it is a great paper, as is the Ryman's. The only bleed-through, on both, is noticeable with only two inks of the ones I have in pens at the moment. Most visible with Noodler's 'Prime of the Commons' and secondly with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. Only the use of the former would stop me writing on both sides.

At the price, both these papers beat the Tomoe River stuff into a cocked hat, with the Q Connect having the edge perhaps if visual presentation should be important.

As a Brit, I reckon these two products should be considered as fantastic and presentable options for those wanting quality light-weight papers, and they are available on our doorstep. I'll get the scans up here tomorrow, all being well.

 

 

[The Good Captain]

The Q Connect Bank paper was delivered this morning. PrintCartridgeDirect.com and £6.38 for a ream (500 sheets!) all inclusive. Scans to follow as soon as I can but on first impression it feels like it is slightly heavier than the Ryman's version, whatever both their professed GSM rating. Show-through for all the inks I used on it, is as would be expected of a light-weight paper and it is a great paper, as is the Ryman's. The only bleed-through, on both, is noticeable with only two inks of the ones I have in pens at the moment. Most visible with Noodler's 'Prime of the Commons' and secondly with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. Only the use of the former would stop me writing on both sides.

At the price, both these papers beat the Tomoe River stuff into a cocked hat, with the Q Connect having the edge perhaps if visual presentation should be important.

As a Brit, I reckon these two products should be considered as fantastic and presentable options for those wanting quality light-weight papers, and they are available on our doorstep. I'll get the scans up here tomorrow, all being well.

 

 

And here is the link to the new topic with the scans.

[Teacher Man]

Has anyone tried Clairefontaine 'smart paper' 50 g/qm (also available at 60, 70, 80)? It is sold as optimized for ink jet and laser printers as well as photo copiers. No mention of fountain pens...

[Teacher Man]

Has anyone tried Clairefontaine 'smart paper' 50 g/qm (also available at 60, 70, 80)? It is sold as optimized for ink jet and laser printers as well as photo copiers. No mention of fountain pens...

 

Okay, I have the 50 g/qm and the 60 g/qm version here. If anybody is interested, I will try to perform some humble experiments... Nowhere near as elaborate as what has been done here so far, I fear.

[The Good Captain]

Has anyone tried Clairefontaine 'smart paper' 50 g/qm (also available at 60, 70, 80)? It is sold as optimized for ink jet and laser printers as well as photo copiers. No mention of fountain pens...

 

Okay, I have the 50 g/qm and the 60 g/qm version here. If anybody is interested, I will try to perform some humble experiments... Nowhere near as elaborate as what has been done here so far, I fear.

That would be really good of you and whatever you can manage to do will, of course, be much appreciated. Thanks you in advance.

[Teacher Man]

Has anyone tried Clairefontaine 'smart paper' 50 g/qm (also available at 60, 70, 80)? It is sold as optimized for ink jet and laser printers as well as photo copiers. No mention of fountain pens...

 

Okay, I have the 50 g/qm and the 60 g/qm version here. If anybody is interested, I will try to perform some humble experiments... Nowhere near as elaborate as what has been done here so far, I fear.

That would be really good of you and whatever you can manage to do will, of course, be much appreciated. Thanks you in advance.

 

I am not sure if this is helpful...

[notbob]

Another paper you may want to consider is the Paper Store's onion skin. o-skin link

 

I was gonna order some, but hadda budget hit that puts me off till next month. I suggest this paper cuz over on the sheen scene, hard surfaced papers really show up an ink's sheen cuz the ink dries on the surface and doesn't soak in too well. This onion skin is so thin you can see thru several sheets and one sheen scene fan claims inks sheen on it like crazy. I'll compare it to my TR paper. We shall see.

 

When I do get around to ordering a reem, I promise to parcel some out free on the PIF 2013 thread.

[lawrenceg]

I have just started looking at these papers ie onion skin, tomoe river, biblio papers and the like to see what the fuss is about.

 

Your article is really useful and interesting (having done something very similar). Could you please let me know what fountain pens you used and what the nib sizes were as found that made a huge difference

 

Like many of us I am trying to get some onion skin paper by piggy backing onto a much larger order.

 

i was sent one sheet ;-) of 33gsm onion skin type paper. What an eyeopener, amazing paper. I plucked up the courage to write on it with various fountain pens

Platinum president M nib. Beautiful to write and great on paper

Namiki silvern, broad nib. Lovely to write with, but you do wonder if it is to broad a nib for the paper.

Namiki custom, fine nib. They felt a bit scratchy to write with.

sheaffer medium nib. Beautiful to write with.

note that the japanese pens nibs are thinner than the european nibs.

I want more, and may be forced to buy from abroad unfortunately

 

When i get the chance I will scan the paper and put it on the website.

 

Got to get ready to go to the St Annes pen show :-)

 

Regards Lawrence

[jbb]

Thanks for the helpful review.

[The Good Captain]

Has anyone tried Clairefontaine 'smart paper' 50 g/qm (also available at 60, 70, 80)? It is sold as optimized for ink jet and laser printers as well as photo copiers. No mention of fountain pens...

 

Okay, I have the 50 g/qm and the 60 g/qm version here. If anybody is interested, I will try to perform some humble experiments... Nowhere near as elaborate as what has been done here so far, I fear.

That would be really good of you and whatever you can manage to do will, of course, be much appreciated. Thanks you in advance.

 

I am not sure if this is helpful...

Thanks - great comparisons.