Officeworks Tradie Reporter's Wiro Notebook

[A Smug Dill]

I'm in the process of working out how I want to conduct ink reviews, and I think I've just identified a reasonably economical source of one type of paper I want to use.

 

Officeworks, which is a national chain of stationery stores in Australia that (as far as I'm aware) is not franchised, sells a variety of ‘Tradie Notebooks’ in different sizes and formats, that use stone paper and is marketed as being waterproof – and therefore must be non-absorbent. These notebooks are not otherwise branded; Officeworks' name, nor J.Burrows and Keji (both of Officeworks' house brands, I believe), is anywhere to be seen on the product. In Officeworks' online catalogue, it seems have the brand ‘nu:’, but that does not appear on the SKUs I saw.

 

I picked up one of the reporter-style notebooks (i.e. in portrait format, with metal wire binding on the top narrower edge) in the range for A$4.49. This notebook has extremely think and stiff covers, and it contains eighty 8mm-ruled sheets that measure 124x188mm when detached at the perforations. ‘Tradie’ is slang for tradesmen, referring to the likes of plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers, etc. and generally have connotations of blue-collar working-class folk with decidedly unrefined tastes and lack culture and sophistication; the presentation of the product reflects that ‘aesthetic’.

 

 

 

The sheets are floppy and easily creased, and the ruled lines are anything but light or subtle. Writing on it without a hard backing sheet immediately beneath the page, or without detaching the page first to lay it on a desk or table, with even a minimal amount of pressure puts sharp indentations in the page that are visible on the reverse side.

 

 

Inks take a hell of a long time to dry on this paper, and are quite apt to smear even after (supposedly) dry. Natural variation in how much ink the nib has deposited on the page for a particular glyph, or even a particular point alone a pen stroke, makes a hell of a difference.

 

 

It also make all my EF and F nibs produce lines that are noticeably broader than what I consider Medium.

 

It is absolutely horrible to write on, in my opinion. It's also such a treat as an extreme example of impractical papers to use in order to best elicit and show off sheens from inks, in terms of reviewing the inks' potential and characteristics, as opposed to telling a reader how an ink will behave the particular use case he/she has in mind (which may include the use of a specific pen or nib).

 

 

 

Even the writing from a stock-standard Lamy ballpoint refill sheens on it:

 

 

 

It is my answer to anyone who ‘requests’ or demands to see how any ink would sheen on non-absorbent paper such as Tomoe River.

Edited September 15, 2018 by A Smug Dill

[LizEF]

I got stone paper a couple years ago to see what all the fuss was about. After some playing, I decided it has two good uses:

 

1) As a fountain pen white board. (I only ever used Pilot Varsities on it, and it felt pretty smooth - perhaps it varies by brand - mine is not lined.) After writing, you can use a damp paper towel to wipe the writing off. (Some colors are harder to get off than others, and some may stain.) If I remember right, my brother tried baking one that had writing on it, and the writing still wiped off.

 

2) Tear a bit of a page off (harder than you'd think unless you cut it), and then tug on it like you're trying to stretch, but not tear it. (I held it in one hand, then used the thumb and the middle knuckle of my index finger on the other hand to pull on it.) Do this for a few minutes, and it starts to feel (and behave) like vinyl. Sort of. It's kinda like fidget paper.

[Karmachanic]

A review written on Tradie notebook paper would certainly be helpful for those who use Tradie notebooks. As to whether it emulates TR I would suggest a test before coming to that conclusion. TR 68 gsm has different chatacteristics than 52 gsm. It's quite possible that Tradie is different to both.

 

First class review though!

[A Smug Dill]

@Karmachanic

 

I don't want stone paper (of any brand) to emulate Tomoe River paper, or Midori MD, or any other paper. I'm not interested in whether the paper in the Tradie Notebook behaves similarly to any particular variant of Tomoe River paper.

 

I don't purport to inform Tomoe River users/fans how an ink will perform on their choice (or any) Tomoe River paper, when I produce and post a review. I have a variety of Tomoe River papers (cream, white, 52gsm, 68gsm) on order just to see what the fuss is about, but I have no intention of using them for the purposes of ink reviews I publish. I also won't be publishing any reviews of Tomoe River papers (since obviously they're already so well known and accepted on FPN by enthusiasts) or comparing them against stone paper.

 

(I'm also not interested in which brand of journal individuals use for which purposes under which circumstances, or which brand of printer/photocopy paper they're most likely to encounter and have to annotate in their offices or their lines of work, or which type of paper is used for printing their favourite source of crossword puzzles; much less expressly testing an ink for those specific types of paper.)

 

What I'm interested in is discovering and showing is the potential for a particular ink to display sheen, as a characteristic of the ink. The individual reader's (and fountain pen ink user's) choice of paper is not relevant to either the ink or to me, and how it performs on his/her choice of paper when the ink is delivered on his/her choice of pen and nib is his/her risk to take. If there is some way I could isolate sheening potential to something objective with a numeric measure that is not logically associated with the choice of paper, I would.

 

I hope to give readers, say, 50% of the information they're after, if they carefully read and process what I've written in a review. The remainder is up to them to guess, risk, take a leap of faith, experiment and discover, and so on. I'm not an analyst in their employ who has a responsibility to make sure their investment of time, effort, money and resources is both safe and smart, or to give answers to their specific questions. As far as I'm concerned, “be helpful for” means contributing information, and not necessarily answering specific questions, settling individual concerns, or dispelling doubts one may have.

 

Sorry, but this whole thing about Joe User approaching a discussion forum or an archive of reviews, as if it was meant to be an information service capable of, or designed (or even obliged) to, provide tailored and curated answers to specific questions and concerns the individual has, just rubs me the wrong way with regard to the way the online world is today.

Edited September 15, 2018 by A Smug Dill

[Karmachanic]

I shall refrain from reading your future posts. In this way I shall not be tempted to comment, and risk rubbing you the wrong way.

[Studio97]

Obviously a lengthy review with a lot of work put into it. I can appreciate the time and effort. For me stone paper equals not for fountain pens (as it would be horrible to write on) but rather ball points and RITR type pens. I have considered trying stone paper but I would never use a FP on it. RITR or pencils.

Also:

The info sheet says it is 100% waterproof so I would surmise FP ink would take a long time to dry and would smear.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Studio97

[Studio97]

I shall refrain from reading your future posts. In this way I shall not be tempted to comment, and risk rubbing you the wrong way.

👍 me too. Did I read a slam on blue collar workers too? Done here on this one.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Studio97

[A Smug Dill]

Did I read a slam on blue collar workers too?

 

 

That's what ‘tradie’ means in Australian slang, connotation at all. I was explaining the term, since this forum seems rather America-centric. It has nothing to do with my personal view of blue-collar workers, and I didn't name the product.

[inkypete]

Bit tense here - might just grab some popcorn, sit back, watch and take notes. As you were.

[Studio97]

I looked at the website for the product. Respectable looking for the respected tradespeople who would buy and use their respectable product. Nothing there about lack of culture and sophistication in blue collar jobs.

 

I don't know how I would use the appearance of ink sheen on stone paper while I only use FP ink on paper suited for that. I am sure that your work in your review is well intended to be helpful to some people.

Ah...my popcorn is ready.

[A Smug Dill]

My review of the Tradie Notebook above is intended to inform people of my experience with the product, and my observation of its characteristics.

 

My ink reviews are intended to share information with those who find common ground with my use cases for fountain pens and inks, and to explore the characteristics and/or potential of an ink as an exercise in curiosity. How anyone could or would apply the information is not my concern. If it even contributes 5% more information to the collective that may be of some interest to 5% of (perhaps silent and passive) readers of the reviews, I'd consider it to have delivered value to the community; never mind others who think they gained nothing from time spent reading it, and would like the ten minutes' of their lives back.

 

Writing with a broad, wet nib on Tomoe River paper to maximise sheen because that is so expressive/artistic/creative a pastime, is a narrative to which I do not subscribe, and in fact it is so far removed from my habits in so many ways, that doing so is meaningless to me, even just for reviews.

 

In any case, in my opinion, user reviews are not cooperative endeavours, and the last thing I want is to find out what you (or someone else) would like to do with an ink, and do just that myself ahead of you, so that you could accurately foretell what your outcome would be were you to do the same, and thus decide whether you want to buy an ink or not.

Edited September 17, 2018 by A Smug Dill