Leuchtturm1917

[bookworm2109]

I recently bought a Leuchtturm1917 lined journal. I was reluctant because many FP users don't like them because the paper doesn't take to fountain pens. I have tested the journal using many different nibs and ink and the paper has taken to FPs wonderfully. The only ink that hasn't really cooperated is Sailor Jentle Grenade. And even that didn't bleed but just feathered. Maybe QC isn't great and I just got a journal from a good "batch". Or maybe some people have been too hard on these journals.

[inkypete]

There was a paper upgrade of recent times and the problem seems to be getting hold of a notebook with the later paper - I am thinking you probably have the upgraded version.

[Korybas]

I got two Leuchtturms 1917, and both had a serious bleed/show through. See for yourselves (left side is the actual writing, right side the other side of the paper, I put them side by side for comparison):

 

 

The third ink I used (the ESSRI blue-black) is an IG ink, and much drier than the other two inks; still there is show through...

I scanned the writing sample at 300dpi ; if you zoom in, you will see also feathering being present. Not too much, but definitely present...

 

The funny thing is that (as you can see from the scanned label below) that the product has the "Ink Proof" mark:

 

 

I am very sorry for the fuzziness of the second image, its just that the label was folded and did not sit flat on the scanner...

 

The above photos show (at least in my opinion) that they should improve their paper quality to be really "Ink Proof" if they want to sell in such an elevated price, obviously to people like us who use FP for writing.

 

Aris

 

 

[Edited to add the line about feathering being present]

Edited August 28, 2012 by Korybas

[CAG_1787]

I haven't had many problems with the Leuchtturms (some bleedthrough). I do find them infinitely superior to Moleskines, while still maintaining that same understated functional style and shape and grid layout (no Rhodia/Quo Vadis/etc fill all those categories).

[The Good Captain]

I am going over to the dot ones when I can as I really like that subtlety. Having said that, I've some small lined ones to finish off and a couple of plain, but they are the small ones so they get used and abused for all sorts of things. The one I haven't tried is the grid proper. Soon perhaps.

[andru]

I got two Leuchtturms 1917, and both had a serious bleed/show through. See for yourselves (left side is the actual writing, right side the other side of the paper, I put them side by side for comparison):

 

... images above ...

 

The funny thing is that (as you can see from the scanned label below) that the product has the "Ink Proof" mark...

:eureka:

I think I may have solved this - the wrapper on mine looks almost identical (see my review), except note mine says 80 gsm; Aris, yours says 70 gsm! Could this finally be the ultimate answer to getting consistent Leuchtturm1917 paper?!?....

 

Aris, thanks very much for posting the scan of the wrapper so this could be noticed!

[Korybas]

I got two Leuchtturms 1917, and both had a serious bleed/show through. See for yourselves (left side is the actual writing, right side the other side of the paper, I put them side by side for comparison):

 

... images above ...

 

The funny thing is that (as you can see from the scanned label below) that the product has the "Ink Proof" mark...

:eureka:

I think I may have solved this - the wrapper on mine looks almost identical (see my review), except note mine says 80 gsm; Aris, yours says 70 gsm! Could this finally be the ultimate answer to getting consistent Leuchtturm1917 paper?!?....

 

Aris, thanks very much for posting the scan of the wrapper so this could be noticed!

 

 

Andru, if this is true then it does explain the whole issue! Thanks man, I will be ordering those 80 gsm! Where did you get them from? Please remind me...

[andru]

Andru, if this is true then it does explain the whole issue! Thanks man, I will be ordering those 80 gsm! Where did you get them from? Please remind me...

I hope so! At least, the batch from which I got mine, at Papeterie Nota Bene in Montréal, Canada (no affiliation, just a happy customer, etc.), seem to be fine (excepting the show-through and the tiny spider legs feathering). You can communicate with them in French or English.

 

They are a very small, independent shop. They'll probably ship, but I imagine the stock will run out quick if a lot of people get the idea to order there...

 

There's also a small shop in Cambridge, Ontario where I bought my first Leuchttrum1917, but I couldn't reach them by phone, and my polite business-like email was never responded to, even after follow up. :mad: My loyalty streak prompted me to try to order there first, having been a customer when I lived nearby. Their prices were higher... Um, I don't see Leuchtturm listed on their paper products page anymore, in any case.

 

I suppose Amazon would be a way to go, if you could confirm all the relevant details with the seller.

[bookworm2109]

My journal is 80gsm also. Interesting...

 

I bought mine at Artist & Craftsman Supply in Chicago. I will definitely be heading back and getting a couple more.

Edited August 28, 2012 by bookworm2109

[inkypete]

I saw some of these at Sydney airport yesterday and noted that some of the notebooks had an extra sticker on the wrapper that said something like new improved paper. I will have a look today on the way through and get the exact wording but it was an extra sticker on the cello wrap - not on the notebook band. They seemed to be on the newer coloured cover notebooks.

[Jake]

I tried the Leuchtturm1917 and thought it pretty good but pedestrian.

 

Do they still perforate a bunch of pages in the back?

[bogiesan]

I tried the Leuchtturm1917 and thought it pretty good but pedestrian.

 

Do they still perforate a bunch of pages in the back?

 

 

"Pedestrian?" Compared to what? Leuchtturm gives you page numbers, an index, nice labels for the cover and spine. The perforated pages are supremely convenient, when you want to tear out a page cleanly, and the perfs are beefy enough to resist inadvertant separation.

 

I find everything about Leuchtturm's products appealing except the paper in the notebooks I purchased a few years ago which is apparently 70gsm or less and not calendered for fountain pens.

 

However, I also have a Leuchtturm daily agenda and it has zero attributes. I will finish the entire year but then it's back to my good ol' reliable Franklin-Covey 6-ring binder, two pages per day compact system.

[chomann]

I just ran into a batch of these 80GSM versions at Meijer of all places on sale for ~11.97 for the larger and ~$4-5 on the same 80GSM pocket sized in all the colors. I have yet to test the paper and such, but I've been eyeing these for awhile, the cost always held me back.

[PaperDarts]

I've been using one of these notebooks for just over a year, with XF to F nibs, and I find most of my pen and ink combinations produce the "spider-leg" feathering referred to earlier. Other than that, I like the paper and the notebook overall. The spider legs aren't enough of a problem for me to swear off Leuchtturm.

[N2theBreach]

I tried the Leuchtturm1917 and thought it pretty good but pedestrian.

 

Do they still perforate a bunch of pages in the back?

 

"Pedestrian?" Compared to what? .

 

Compared to the Rhodia, for example, I think the Leuchtturm quality is mid-grade. The cover on the Rhodia extends beyond the page edges, and it has a nicer feel to it. I also think the paper quality is better. The price is also quite a bit higher.

 

And, I like the Leuchtturm-- I like the "extras" on the L-tturm; paper quality is fine; and I like the price.

[bookworm2109]

I just went to Meijer and found them there. They are $14.99 at my Meijer though.

 

[skimstar]

This colourful notebook is my Moleskine replacement. I can't always carry around my Clairefontaine notebook and the compact size makes me really, really happy. The 80g paper that is now in Leuchtturm1917 is all the more reason for me to love this notebook. I haven't noticed any bleed-through though there is some feathering depending on the ink. I only write in it with EFs and Fs though. And I actually find them to be reasonably priced, at least at my hometown stationer. (Laywine's in Toronto, no affiliation--I forget exactly how much?) Though it has the downside of tempting me to buy the LE Aquamarine Lamy Safari...

 

 

Speaking of Leuchturms though: here's a funny picture. Bridgewater was giving them out at my school job fair. "Sell out" comes to mind... :roflmho:

 

 

...

 

S

[lapis]

I prefer Moleskine over Leuchtturm 1917. A couple of comparisons (the way I see things):

 

1. The textures are almost the same, M is a bit more yellow.

2. L feathers somewhat more than M.

3. L also bleeds a lot more than M (although M itself does of course bleed).

4. The smallest sizes are L = 90 x 150 mm, M = 65 x 105 mm. I need the smallest size here for my T-shirt pocket. This L is too big for me.

5. Yes, L has page numbers and dates, M doesn't, but I don't need those things anyways.

6. One M costs a bit less than one L, again no big deal IMO.

 

MIke

[marcomillions]

Fired up by this thread and the parallel thread (it would be nice if they could be consolidated some way--I'm posting in this thread because it was the first to raise the weight of the paper as a way of determining whether the notebook would be FP-friendly or not), but living far, far away from pen shops, I went to Amazon to see what was available. Quite a bit, as it turned out, and in their variety, it became possible to establish some rules of thumb to recognize the notebooks that were more likely to be desirable.

 

There evidently has been a change in the weight of paper in the mid-sized and pocket-sized notebooks, but this has also been accompanied by changes in the covers and, more significantly, in the number of sheets in each notebook.

 

First of all, the big notebooks--usually called "Master" notebooks, essentially A4-sized, I guess (Amazon gives them in English measure)--have used 100gsm paper in all of their versions. But what I took to be the earlier versions of these large notebooks contained 233 pages of 8.75 x 12.5 inch paper. The more recent form of these notebooks is now called "Master Slim" and contains only 121 pages of, I believe, modestly re-sized 9 x 12-1/2 inch paper. 100gsm in both cases, though, as noted at first. The latest versions are explicitly hard-cover; the earlier, by implication, are soft-cover. Prices for the latest version run from $18 to $28 depending on who the supplier is, whether ruled of not, etc.

 

For both the pocket (3.5 inches x 6 inches) and mid-sized (I suppose these are A5 in fact; 5.75 inches x 8.25 inches; now called "Large") notebooks, there is a simultaneous change in weight of paper, number of sheets, and cover. In the earlier versions of both, the paper was 70gsm, the covers look to be soft, and the number of sheets in a notebook seems most frequently to have been 185 for the pocket size and 249 for the mid-sized.

 

With the change to the newer versions, the pocket notebook is still provided only in soft cover, the paper is now 80gsm, but there are only 121 pages in each notebook. For the mid-sized notebooks, the paper is 80gsm, and the notebooks are offered with either soft covers (in black) or hard covers (in colors). The soft-cover mid-size now contains 121 pages; the hard-cover mid-size notebooks contains 185 pages. Prices range from $9.20 to almost $15 for no reason I can determine.

 

The best ways to recognize the newer versions with the more desirable paper: (1) the name of the notebook now explicitly contains an indication of hard-cover or soft-cover; (2) the number of pages in a notebook is smaller than had been the case with the earlier; (3) any notebook with a colored cover should be in the newer version.

 

Well, armed with these observations, I'm going to take a flyer on a pocket and a mid-sized notebook, hoping I've got the principles right to come up with the better paper. If I'm wrong and this turns out weirder than I thought, I'll edit this post to reflect it and I'll post an explanation of what happened. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't need to do that.

 

Marc

[Ghost Plane]

Mine is an 80gsm bright pink hard cover and it bleeds like crazy with my larger nibs, so hope you have better luck.

 

Thank you for the analysis.