I've been looking for a journal that is well priced and produced localy and came across the "BlueLine" journals. The come in all shapes and sizes and are quite afforable. They are also made in Canada so they have to travel a litlle less. Others I've researched often are produced in the orient and then shiped to europe to be bound. Then they have to travel to the new world. Seems to me like a hell of a lot fuel being burned to ge a journal in my hands. That's why the BlueLine product seems so interesting. Any one out there have any experience with this product and how it behaves with FPs?


Thanks for any info

....................Stani

Got myself one of these in Canada no less and I love it and the blueline book that came with it.
http://shop.5click.com/ivey/product.cfm?ProductID=53
Chris

I use Blueline journals for work, we purchase them through Grand & Toy. The A796 Record series is 7.6875" x 10.25", black hard cover with 200 ruled, numbered pages - it is these numbered pages we need for project notes, proves that no pages have been removed if the journal ever has to be used in court. The cover, unfortunately, has the Blueline logo and the model number printed on the bottom front corner in white letters, and the spine has the model number printed in white letters. This printing gives the book kind of an institutional look, like a lab journal. The spine is glued, not sewn, but does lie fairly flat. The books hold up well, I tend to fill one every eight to ten months and they still look good after all that daily use. And they are Made In Canada, according to the notes inside the book.

The paper in these journals is smooth and white with blue lines, but it does have 30% recycled content and as such is less than ideal for fountain pens. Wet writing fountain pens tend to feather somewhat and bleed through terribly. I stick with fine nibs and that prevents the bleed through, allowing me to write on both sides of the page. My opinion is that the paper quality is slightly below some of the recent Moleskine journals, and way below Apica or Rhodia paper.

Summary: nice journal, hate the logo printed on the cover, mediocre paper.

Hope this helps.

Rick

I looked at one in my local Meijer store (U.S. upper midwest grocery chain) and the ones they carry are from 100% recycled material. The rules are a medium brown/gray and while the paper felt pretty good, it had that distinctive "nap" typical to recycled papers. I passed on it at $7.99 for the 200 page ledger.

I've used Blueline journals for years, ever since my mom gave me a hand-crafted leather cover. That dictated the size, I the A19 model (9 1/4" x 7 1/4") fits perfectly if I trim about 1/4" off the edge of the cardboard covers. I like that they are thin, at 192 pages (I hate writing at the bottom of the pages if any thicker), but I agree that the paper is not the best for fountain pens. Fine point is the way to go for sure. I actually went looking for something else with better paper recently and tried both Clairefontaine (sp?) and Markings, but I think I will go back to my trusty Bluelines. I also like that they are ubiquitous since Staples carries them.

A cover I made for my Blueline book

How bad is the paper? Do you have any photos? I really like the National Brand, but they are way too expensive. Any thoughts on a similarly priced journal?

More info Please- always looking for another type of journal!

It seems from some other threads like people are really not fans of these, but I LOVE mine. I go through a lot of journals and the price is much better for Dominion Blueline, I've found.

I use the A501 which is, I guess, technically a sketchbook (gotta have those unlined pages!)....and yes the bleedthrough is pretty pronounced, with all my inks, but I only write on one side of the page anyway (maybe explains why I go through them so fast...hm...but I write FAST and dislike struggling with spines/spiral binding to write on the left--though on rare occasions I *will* turn the journal upside down when I'm finished and write my way back through it--only if I'm travelling or broke, though!).

Feathering is negligible IMO. But again I'm not in this for copperplate, but for getting words onto paper. Anyway I enjoy a tiny bit of blur to soften the edges of reality.

Again this is just my 2¢ and I gather most FP users pretty much hate these. But I'm pretty crazy about them--and the price is right!

EDITED to make my hotlink actually WORK. And also to say, at some point I will scan some journal pages so you can see the bleedthrough/feathering issues for yourself....

I have one, I used to use it as an agenda in school.
Great format and cover, disappointing paper...
This is my experience with them, they are great as long as you don't ask them to take a fountain pen...

It's too absorbent, my already a bit too wide, Safari Fine nib just explodes on that paper. It's also kind of scratchy, but in a wet way...

Hope this was clear enough to be of any help to you.

Jean-Bernard

The best argument pro-feathering that I've heard!