Old Style Writing Tablets

[mrcharlie]

3. DG Office (current Dollar General brand)5.75X9 inch, is made in Indonesia and sells for $1.00 for 120 sheets. This paper is the smoothest to the touch. It writes with a bit of resistance and scratchy sound, which I actually like as it slows my somewhat hectic writing down. It has so far shown no bleed through, has only light show through, and very light if at all feathering. If you use these type tablets I think they are very much worth a try.

I also like to use the 6x9 pads for writing letters, and I have a dozen or so pages left from a couple older (10-20 year old) pads that don't bleed with most FP inks, despite not being much if any heavier than the current drugstore pads.

 

I found that there is a DG store within a mile of me!? so I grabbed one of these pads this morning. I'm sad to say, my experience is not the same. I tried all 8 inks I have currently in a pen, and only one did not bleed through at all (Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue). Two more bled a little, but little enough that you could still conceivably write on both sides of the paper without annoying your correspondent (Stipula Gray and Organink Manganate V). The other five bled too much to write on both sides of the sheet, and also feathered noticably. These were Sheaffer Skrip Jet Black, Pilot Varsity Black, Montblanc Black (the worst feathering of all of them), Akkerman Binnenhof Blues, Akkerman Bezuidenwoudgroen. All three blacks are generally considered safe well-behaved blacks, but all bleed and feather on the DG Office Writing Tablet paper.

 

I have also tried Wexford (Walgreens) and Mead 6x9 pads. They are both usable, I think they feather with fewer inks than the DG pad, but they bleed with most FP inks.

 

As always, YMMV, and if you find a pad that works well with the ink/pen you use, then there you are.

 

There are a couple other brands of 6x9 pads I have found online, but I haven't seen them in a store near me yet, so I haven't tried them. There is "Top Flight" brand, and "Roaring Springs" brand, and I think there was another one I can't find any sort of note or bookmark for.

 

Edit: Sheaffer Skrip Blue also doesn't bleed through or feather on the DG tablet paper, using a Sheaffer Medium nib.

Edited September 23, 2012 by mrcharlie

[MKeith]

3. DG Office (current Dollar General brand)5.75X9 inch, is made in Indonesia and sells for $1.00 for 120 sheets. This paper is the smoothest to the touch. It writes with a bit of resistance and scratchy sound, which I actually like as it slows my somewhat hectic writing down. It has so far shown no bleed through, has only light show through, and very light if at all feathering. If you use these type tablets I think they are very much worth a try.

I also like to use the 6x9 pads for writing letters, and I have a dozen or so pages left from a couple older (10-20 year old) pads that don't bleed with most FP inks, despite not being much if any heavier than the current drugstore pads.

 

I found that there is a DG store within a mile of me!? so I grabbed one of these pads this morning. I'm sad to say, my experience is not the same. I tried all 8 inks I have currently in a pen, and only one did not bleed through at all (Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue). Two more bled a little, but little enough that you could still conceivably write on both sides of the paper without annoying your correspondent (Stipula Gray and Organink Manganate V). The other five bled too much to write on both sides of the sheet, and also feathered noticably. These were Sheaffer Skrip Jet Black, Pilot Varsity Black, Montblanc Black (the worst feathering of all of them), Akkerman Binnenhof Blues, Akkerman Bezuidenwoudgroen. All three blacks are generally considered safe well-behaved blacks, but all bleed and feather on the DG Office Writing Tablet paper.

 

I have also tried Wexford (Walgreens) and Mead 6x9 pads. They are both usable, I think they feather with fewer inks than the DG pad, but they bleed with most FP inks.

 

As always, YMMV, and if you find a pad that works well with the ink/pen you use, then there you are.

 

There are a couple other brands of 6x9 pads I have found online, but I haven't seen them in a store near me yet, so I haven't tried them. There is "Top Flight" brand, and "Roaring Springs" brand, and I think there was another one I can't find any sort of note or bookmark for.

 

Edit: Sheaffer Skrip Blue also doesn't bleed through or feather on the DG tablet paper, using a Sheaffer Medium nib.

 

 

Sorry to hear that they didn't work for you. Well at least for a buck it's still a cheap experiment. I probably should have stated that my pens are all EF to fine nibs. The inks I had success with were Waterman Florida Blue and Havana, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, Black, Violet and Brown, Private Reserve Chocolate and Diamine Apple Glory ink. I'm sure you are right about what works for one doesn't for all. Style, speed of writing, as well as ink flow I'm sure contribute to differing results. I appreciate knowing what inks did work for you for future reference. Let me know if you obtain others and what results you get.

[mrcharlie]

Sorry to hear that they didn't work for you. Well at least for a buck it's still a cheap experiment.

At $1, it is a great price even if I could only use one side of the sheet, or if I have to only use it with certain inks. And the store was visible from somewhere else I go most every day, so I didn't exactly waste a lot of gas or time to go check it out.

 

I have at least two inks that don't bleed or feather on it, and I have at least two of the inks you list as well, just not currently in a pen.

 

FWIW, testing the same pen/inks on paper from the Wexford 6x9 pad I have purchased this year feathers worse/on more of the inks tested, but bleeds less. Also, I would not be surprised if the same brand pad/paper purchased today would test differently.

 

Tomorrow I will dig around for my Mead pad and test it too. I'm sure it won't be awesome, but perhaps better than these two.

 

Ampad makes two 6x9 pads; a 200 sheet white paper pad branded as Ampad "efficiency" and a 120 sheet assorted 5 color pad branded Ampad "Embassy Pastels" with an equal number of sheets in Green, Yellow, Blue, Pink, and Orchid. I don't know about the white paper pad (I haven't found it in a store), but the Embassy Pastels tablet is lined.

 

I did get an Embassy Pastels at a Fred Meyer earlier in the year when I was living on the US west coast; Fred Meyer is a sort of Target/Walmart/Kmart type chain store that is now owned by Kroger.

 

The pages from the Pastels pad do not bleed or feather on almost any ink! However, they are not very smooth (usable but not optimal, and smoothness varies quite a bit between the different colors in the pad), and I can only vouch for the Green, Yellow, and Pink pages working well with FP inks. Very few inks flow well on the Blue pages, and I don't have any of the Orchid pages left but I think they were also bad. The Blue pages made almost every pen/ink feel like a very very dry flowing nib; not cool. Noodler's Black and Montblanc Black are the only two inks that I'm sure work acceptably on the Blue sheets. I don't remember what I paid for this pad.

 

If I ever see a Roaring Springs or Ampad "efficiency" tablet in a store, I'll grab it and see if they are any better than Mead, which is at least not hard to find.

Edited September 24, 2012 by mrcharlie

[muskets]

I don't know if you have them in the States, but over here Basildon Bond writing pads are readily available and FP-friendly. They even include a sheet of decent blotting paper and a guide sheet, and come in a range of colours with matching envelopes. They're my go-to paper for letter-writing, usually the Champagne.

Edited September 24, 2012 by muskets

[mrcharlie]

Today I tried a recent production Mead 6 x 9 Ruled Writing Tablet, and it is the worst I've tried. On the same inks and pens as above, all of them feathered and bled. Every one. Useful for handwriting practice, and writing notes to your dog.

 

Surprised me; I'd finished off one I bought just a couple years ago, and it was not this bad. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if the FP feathering and bleeding varied widely between production batches.

 

I've never seen Basildon Bond in the US; definitely not in the economy drugstore/grocery store stationery market segment. It looks like it is in the 10-15 cents US per sheet category, after looking up prices on the web and converting to USD. IE Clairefontaine Triomphe prices. I like how they continue to use the officially obsolete Duke and Post Quarto sizes. The size pad a couple of us in this item fondly wish for is most similar to Post Quarto (9 x 7).

Edited September 25, 2012 by mrcharlie

[Rita_K]

The inks I had success with were Waterman Florida Blue and Havana, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, Black, Violet and Brown, Private Reserve Chocolate and Diamine Apple Glory ink. I'm sure you are right about what works for one doesn't for all. Style, speed of writing, as well as ink flow I'm sure contribute to differing results. I appreciate knowing what inks did work for you for future reference. Let me know if you obtain others and what results you get.

 

I happen to drive by a Dollar General this afternoon and decided to try one of their DG Office writing tablets. I have had very poor results with the Staples Bagasse paper so I didn't hold out too much hope for this one. Well, I don't know if I just lucked out and got a great pad but I am totally impressed with this paper. These are the inks I have tried so far ...

 

Diamine China Blue

Diamine Damson

Diamine Ancient Copper

Diamine Eau de Nil

Diamine Teal

Noodler's Black

Noodler's Bad Blue Heron

Private Reserve Orange Crush

De Atramentis Steel Blue

 

All were fine nibs with the exception of the DA Steel Blue which was a 1.1 Kaweco nib and Diamine Ancient Copper which was in a Noodler's Konrad Flex pen which writes a little on the wet side. Not one of the inks bled through which I think is pretty impressive. The paper is thin so if writing a letter on it I doubt I would use both sides. It has a fairly smooth feel to it. It's no Rhodia but for the money I think it's a very nice paper.

 

Thanks for the heads-up on this. I think I'll pick up another pad or two.

[Daisy]

I happen to drive by a Dollar General this afternoon and decided to try one of their DG Office writing tablets. I have had very poor results with the Staples Bagasse paper so I didn't hold out too much hope for this one.

 

Rita, just so you know, I too have had varying results with the Staples bagasse. Mostly it has been wonderful, but occasionally I have hit the odd notebook that was an absolute dog, even bought at the same time in the same store with the same country of manufacture as perfectly good ones. I'm not sure what gives, but there it is. So now I test them as soon as I get home, and if there's a bleeder in the bunch I reserve it for non-FP tasks and throwaway notes. But I'd encourage you to try again if you feel brave, because the good ones are usually REALLY good. At least that's been my experience, anyway.

[Rita_K]

Thanks Daisy. The last time I was at my local Staples I didn't even see any of the Bagasse paper but I would definitely give it another try. For right now I think this DG Office pad will serve me well for quick notes and lists. I'm going to get another pad or two but I realize I may not get the same good results.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Hidden in some paper I was saving was the remains of a cheap paper pad....30-35 years old. I had wasted all but 10 sheets with ball points....7 left.

No name....perfect!!!! for FP. Great sharp line, very good shading, no bleed through, no ghosts.....and that was the cheap stuff.

Back then they sized the paper so even the cheap stuff I'd bought as scribble paper...that one could stick in a typewriter...not that we peeled typing paper off of pads.

 

Sizing costs money from some boss's bonus...and 'no body' needs it, who buys 'cheap' paper...where BP is king.

 

What was was, in modern resource management days, will never again be.

Production management where one tries to make a better product and take market share is passe; it's not bonus sure.

[MKeith]

The inks I had success with were Waterman Florida Blue and Havana, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, Black, Violet and Brown, Private Reserve Chocolate and Diamine Apple Glory ink. I'm sure you are right about what works for one doesn't for all. Style, speed of writing, as well as ink flow I'm sure contribute to differing results. I appreciate knowing what inks did work for you for future reference. Let me know if you obtain others and what results you get.

 

I happen to drive by a Dollar General this afternoon and decided to try one of their DG Office writing tablets. I have had very poor results with the Staples Bagasse paper so I didn't hold out too much hope for this one. Well, I don't know if I just lucked out and got a great pad but I am totally impressed with this paper. These are the inks I have tried so far ...

 

Diamine China Blue

Diamine Damson

Diamine Ancient Copper

Diamine Eau de Nil

Diamine Teal

Noodler's Black

Noodler's Bad Blue Heron

Private Reserve Orange Crush

De Atramentis Steel Blue

 

All were fine nibs with the exception of the DA Steel Blue which was a 1.1 Kaweco nib and Diamine Ancient Copper which was in a Noodler's Konrad Flex pen which writes a little on the wet side. Not one of the inks bled through which I think is pretty impressive. The paper is thin so if writing a letter on it I doubt I would use both sides. It has a fairly smooth feel to it. It's no Rhodia but for the money I think it's a very nice paper.

 

Thanks for the heads-up on this. I think I'll pick up another pad or two.

 

 

Rita,

 

I'm glad you apparently found some of the good batch like I did. The variance has to be inconsistency in production batches. I bought ten extra pads and they are all the same in performance. BTW your pencil art is absolutely amazing!

[Rita_K]

Rita,

 

I'm glad you apparently found some of the good batch like I did. The variance has to be inconsistency in production batches. I bought ten extra pads and they are all the same in performance. BTW your pencil art is absolutely amazing!

 

MKeith, I picked up two more pads today and it's the same nice quality. If the paper was just a little heavier it would be right up there with Rhodia for me.

 

Thanks for your kind words about my graphite drawings. I really enjoy doing them.

[bob_hayden]

I did extensive tests on such tablets last year. Dollar General was good but Top Flight and Wexford were better. Of course, all that could have changed six times since then, but it's a start;-)

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/315347-writing-tablet-bleed-through-battle/

[Studio97]

Yeah, there was sticker shock, however looking back, when my parents were buying my 39 cent Big Chief tablets for me, they were paying 25 cents a gallon for gasoline.

Since email, texting and snail mail cards I havent received a regular handwritten letter but very few times over the last 15 years. I recall tablets for letters were very good in the 60s. I remember big chief tablets that worked well with ball points and I bought my own gas when mowing lawns when I was a kid. 25 cents a gallon and during a gas war 17 cents a gallon. Charge to mow a lawn and hand trim 1.00. A large lawn 2.00.

I see writing tablets now and then but i dont know what i would use them for now.

[bob_hayden]

I had no trouble finding these for my tests. Even grocery stores carry them. I use them to write (about once a week) to my mother (age 93) and a cousin (age 98). These folks don't do email!-) I also use them for keeping records such as gasoline consumption of my truck. They are nice for taking notes for a class or meeting because there is room for info but they are less awkward than full size paper.