Review: Mohawk Paper Mills Samples

[rbbrock]

I received my 5 samples from Mohawk recently, and I hope my impressions may be useful for you fine people. All papers tested with Noodler's Walnut, Visconti Turquoise, and Herbin Lie de The.

 

First is Beckett Expression Super Smooth, 24 lb., alabaster (marbled grey). It truly is super smooth, it's probably the smoothest paper I've ever written on. All my nibs just glide across it with no effort. I enjoy the act of writing on it very much. However, it takes forever for ink to dry; the paper just doesn't absorb the ink at all. It just sits in pools on the surface. It doesn't feather at all though, and once the ink finally dries it has excellent, crisp lines. It would probably be OK with a dry writer, but I much prefer wetter pens so this paper doesn't work for me. Also, there is slight see-through from the other side, but not too excessive.

 

Next: Navajo 28 lb., brilliant white, smooth finish. This paper is wonderful. It's almost as smooth as the super smooth above, but ink dries much better. The Noodler's Walnut takes a bit of time, but not bad. The other inks dried nice and quick. There is still no feathering, and the strokes from my 0.8 mm stub look great. There is no see-through on this paper. It is my favorite of the five I tried.

 

Third: Via 24 lb., warm white, smooth. This is not as smooth as the first two, about the same as Ampad Gold Fibre I'd say, but the paper itself is much nicer. It causes a bit of feedback through the nib, but just a touch. Also, the line is not as crisp, the texture of the paper causing a bit of fuzziness around the edges. A hint of see-through on the Walnut, but none on the lighter colors. I like the color of the paper very much, a nice off-white but not as dark as most ivory papers.

 

Fourth: Superfine, 24 lb., soft white, eggshell finish. This is smoother than the Via, but only slightly. Again, there is a hint of fuzziness to the strokes, especially from my stub. The round nib lines look pretty good. No feathering, quick drying, etc. Very well behaved; I like it better than the Via, but there is significant see-through from the back, even with the light Lie de The and Turquoise. It's a nice lighter paper, as long as you only write on one side. Again, the very light off-white color is quite nice, it's just a touch darker than the Via warm white.

 

Last: Strathmore 24 lb., ultimate white, 25% cotton, laid finish. This paper feels nice and substantial in the hand, and is a nice, bright white. However, the laid finish leaves a fairly rough surface that I don't especially enjoy writing on. The front is quite rough, while the back is somewhat smoother. It was difficult for me to write on the rougher side with my stub. The strokes from the stub don't look too great, either. I did not like writing with my round nibs either, but the strokes look fine once they're dry. On the back, it was much easier to write, and the strokes from all my pens look fine. The rag content lets the paper absorb ink very rapidly, even the pools of Walnut left by my stub, so if you have a wet-writing round nib this paper would be fine, I think, but I would avoid it with any type of italic. No feathering.

 

Conclusion: I am going to have to find someplace to order the Navajo 28 lb. smooth; I really, really like that paper. It's very smooth to write on, dries fairly rapidly, doesn't feather, and feels nice and heavy in the hand. However, all of these papers were remarkably well-behaved, and it appears to me that Mohawk makes an outstanding product. As long as you match the paper's weight and finish to your own preferences, I suspect that any of their products would be very nice indeed.

[Lisanti]

Thank you for the reviews - they are very well done, and cover all the areas that I can think of. Please let us know when you find the Navajo 28 - after reading your review, I want to try it too.

 

Joan

[Margana]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review and of five papers no less! Very cool!

 

[rbbrock]

The exact same Navajo I had a sample of can be ordered from www.thepapermillstore.com

 

The price for one ream (500 pages) is $21.97, and shipping for one ream to my zip code is $6.77, which makes it about $0.06 per page ($0.05748, actually ).

 

I will update if I can find it anywhere else.

 

Edit: I also found it here for $21.28, but shipping was $11.35 . As you can see, this store had the same paper in 32 lb. weight as well for an extra $3.00 or so.

Edited March 17, 2007 by rbbrock

[TOB9595]

Nice review. Thanks

 

So many different types of papers out there.

It's great that Mohawk offers samples

 

I'm looking forward to getting my papers..

Tom

[playpen]

Ok, I give up. I visited this site and can't seem to find where I might order the free samples. Could someone give me a clue?

Thank you!

[MicheleB]

QUOTE (playpen @ Mar 21 2007, 12:13 AM)

Ok, I give up. I visited this site and can't seem to find where I might order the free samples. Could someone give me a clue? Thank you!

Go to http://www.mohawkpaper.com/

then you must login

then it takes you straight to a page that displays:

 

Paper Samples

 

Would you like results in: US Metric

 

Grade

Finish

Shade

Basis Weight

Sheet Size

 

You have to do one sample at a time. Fill out the first form using pull down menus. Hit search button. Enter qty. Add to shopping cart. Order more. Repeat process for al 5 samples.

I am using Mozilla as my browser. Perhaps if it's not working right, try a different browser. I had no problem. Just a pain to have to do each sample one a time.

[rbbrock]

As MicheleB said, you have to get the samples from Mohawk. However, you cannot purchase directly from Mohawk, so you have to find someplace that sells their products retail.

[playpen]

Thank you Michele and RB.....I'll try it after school today!

[mbrooke]

Be sure to try the 28 lb Strathmore Script in wove finish. I tried the laid finish, but did not like it.

 

Mike

[TOB9595]

Here's my results using MOHAWK, SUPERFINE, EGGSHELL, ULTRAWHITE 24#

I ordered the largest paper size available. I can cut it down to note size.

The only bleed through I had was using a Waterman Ideal with Waterman Purple ink and a medium nib. It wrote like a firehose.

Paper was nice and smooth to write on.

Inks dried well with no feathering..to my old eyes Even the Waterman Ideal didn't feather

 

More reviews to come as I get to it.

Tom

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/TOB9595/PEN/MohawkSuperfineEgshelUltrawite.jpg

 

T

[rbbrock]

Tom, your writing sample looks like it is about the same as my experience with the eggshell finish - to my eyes, there is no feathering but the lines from your Ideal, and a few other pens, are less well-defined than would be, well, ideal. (Please forgive me, I couldn't help myself). I must admit that your lack of bleed-through confounds me; I still have my sheets, and after re-checking my sample I can still see the opposite side writing fairly distinctly . . . odd.

 

Anyway, thanks for the photo, it's a great illustration of this paper's characteristics.

[TOB9595]

And what is IDEAl in today's world

hahahahahahaha

 

I still have to use this paper a bit more in some letter writing...I 'll post if the results differ.

And I still have to try out some more paper types.

 

I got the swatch books and may well use those for the paper sampling.

Tom

[guitarman19853]

I got my 5 samples and can provide a breif description.

 

I too, got the Beckett Expression 24# Super Smooth paper. I agree, but I found it to be a fairly quick drying paper.

 

The next 3 I can group together

 

Strathmore Bond 24# Wove finish

Strathmore Pure Cotton 28#

and Mohawk Superfine 24# Eggshell finish

 

All 3 of these were not smooth at all to write on. The texture made it unpleasant. However, None of them feathered or bled through. The 2 cotton papers look really nice.

 

the last one that i got is one that I want to get a ream of.

 

Navajo 32# Brilliant White Smooth Finish

This paper is the smoothest I have ever written on. It's only slightly smoother than the HP 32# Laser paper, but it is noticeable enough to make me want to use this over the HP paper.

 

It's late and i'm pretty sure i'm going to edit most of this tomorrow...