Intermediate-Grade Lined Paper?

[Frangipani]

Does anyone know of lined paper that is pretty good for fountain pens, but not as expensive as Clairfontaine or Rhodia?

 

Pretty much all of the loose-leaf paper I have found is as bad as a napkin for fountain pens feathering. I don't even use B nibs very often.

 

I use a lot of paper, so cheaper is better. It's just for writing notes and assignments for university, so it doesn't need to look fancy or anything like that.

 

Thanks very much for any ideas.

[mel_leilani]

I like the Miquelrius notebooks. They cost more than a generic spiral but are cheaper than Rhodia/Clairefontaine, and usually contain more pages to boot. I have several I'm using at the moment, and I've had no issues with feathering or bleed.

They come in a ton of covers and styles. You can get them from Amazon, as well as at Target and Barnes & Noble. Or directly from their website, which gives examples of pricing:

http://www.shopmiquelrius.com/servlet/the-816/*NEW%21-MR-Fresh-4/Detail

The site says the paper is 70 gsm. It isn't as satiny smooth as Clairefontaine but it's still very pleasant to write on, and inks dry quickly. I think it's great; I've tried it with all my pens, and I love it. Though you should probably note the largest nib I own is a medium, so I can't say how well bigger nibs will fare.

Edited May 7, 2013 by mel_leilani

[aenjin]

I do a lot of writing/note-taking and I really like the Environotes sugarcane notebooks. I've had trouble finding them at my usual places though and for now the Staples sugarcane notebooks are taking up the slack. These aren't as good as Environotes, but still perfectly fine for jotting things down with fountain pens.

 

Generally any sugarcane aka "bagasse" type paper seems to work well. I would recommend them over Clairefontaine for notes and definitely Rhodia.

[recluse]

For general writing Staples' college ruled fillers should do fine if you're mostly concerned about feathering. I have no problem with it and often even use both sides.

 

Here's how regular filler (current stock, bought a few weeks ago) behaves, all pens are somewhat wet writers except, of course, Preppies.

 

 

 

Here's the sugarcane base paper. It was bought couple years ago, however, and this may be irrelevant for the current stock.

 

 

 

 

It should be noted that other formats (not letter size) or other brands may be of lesser quality. Office Depot currently offers a bit worse fillers (couple years ago their fillers were as good as Staples'). Five star and Pen-Tabs fillers are no good.

[TMac]

I've been using Fabriano notebooks sine I read about them here on FPN in December. They are 85 gsm and have not had any bleed thru or feathering. I really like them a lot. Also, they are very reasonably priced.

 

The only place I found them is at Utrecht Art Supply. I've purchased online and at one of their local stores.

[Frangipani]

Thanks very much, everyone. I'll check those all out.

 

I do slightly prefer loose paper (forgot to mention! Sorry!) but I'm sure notebooks will be fine.

 

Nonetheless, I think I'll check to see if Staples delivers here. We don't have any of those in my town.

[wallylynn]

I personally just use plain copy paper (from the recycle bin and use the back side). Then I print the lines I want, I use a weighted grid from:

 

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

 

There are other sites, but I forget at the moment.

 

Also, what ink do you use? Some inks are more tidy than others.