Doane Paper Grid+Lines

[KrazyIvan]

Doane Paper Grid+Lines Wirebound Notebook.

 

This is a paper I have been using before I got into fountain pens for a second time. It always worked well with regular ballpoint and gel pens. The smaller notebooks are very pocketable (slightly smaller than CTF's Hitlist Notebook). I generally use the 5”x7” pads for work. They are big enough for a lot of information but small enough to be portable. The one thing I do not like of the pad paper is the fact that the back side is not imprinted with the famous grid+lines patern. When I started to use fountaain pens, this was less of an issue because of the slight bleeding of ink. I still use the back of the page for less critical info.

 

For those not familiar with grid+lines, it is a creation by Chad Doane. He had a “revelation” while in a meeting. Some people were using grid paper and others lined paper. He thought how great paper would be if the two were merged. Grid+lines was born.

 

Enter the wirebound version of this paper. I had the notebook for a while but had not used but one page for a quick pencil sketch when I first got it. It went back on the shelf for quite a while until I ran out of the pads. I brought the notebook out and the first thing I noticed was the grid+lines inprint on both sides of the page. It make's obvious sense. The rather rustic looking chipboard cover looks like it could take quite a beating if stored in a bag for transport.

 

Fountain Pen Test

 

I thought I knew how this paper handled fountain pen ink but it turns out that there is a difference. There are no specs on the paper weights used in doane paper notebooks. There is an obvious weight difference in the paper used in this notebook as compared to the paper in the small portable notebooks. The fountain pen ink tests proove this. There was almost no bleed even with a M nib and very minor feathering. The one ink that did feather very bad was Noodler's Midway Blue in my Parker Duofold Junior. Noodler's Air Corp Blue Black in my Sensa Meridian (F nib) seems to behave the best but Diamine Asa Blue, Noodler's Blue and Kaweco Blue are so close to it in performance that it is hard to tell which one takes second place.

 

Overall, this is a notebook that will be portable enough to carry around and take fountain pen ink very well. There is virtually no bleed through on any ink I used. If you look at the back of the page scan, I used my wettest pen and it does not show through to the front of the page.

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5277/5907135228_69b012ab74_z.jpg

grid+lines cover by IvanRomero, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5160/5907135214_466560d95e_z.jpg

grid+lines_FPwriting_test by IvanRomero, on Flickr

 

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5907135210_bc35495942_z.jpg

grid+lines_back_page_FPtest by IvanRomero, on Flickr

[gregamckinney]

I love the grid and line concept, but every form factor of that paper I've tried bled terribly.

greg

[KrazyIvan]

I love the grid and line concept, but every form factor of that paper I've tried bled terribly.

greg

 

Don't know what to tell you. You can see my results. :hmm1:

[Bogon07]

Krazy Ivan,

Good review. How many pages or sheets are there in the notebook ?

 

I really like the grid+lines concept although I think this notebook could be improved with a red margin line like the big pads.

 

As I've noted before your Noodler's AirCorp Blue-Black is very dark.

Have you tried it with a medium nib to see if the blue becomes more apparent ?

[KrazyIvan]

Krazy Ivan,

Good review. How many pages or sheets are there in the notebook ?

 

I really like the grid+lines concept although I think this notebook could be improved with a red margin line like the big pads.

 

As I've noted before your Noodler's AirCorp Blue-Black is very dark.

Have you tried it with a medium nib to see if the blue becomes more apparent ?

 

Bogon!

 

According to the doane paper website, it has "100 Sheets / 200 Pages per notebook".

 

Yeah, that Aircorp Blue-Black has me puzzled. I am out of the sample. I did not buy a bottle. Funny thing is, in the sample vial, I could see the blue. The nib creep was also blue. The line was always a dark black with just a minor hint of blue halo on the outside edge that you really had to look for in order to see it. I never tried it in another pen. Maybe I will get another sample and try it on the TWSBI 540 B nib I have coming in.

[Bogon07]

According to the doane paper website, it has "100 Sheets / 200 Pages per notebook".

 

Yeah, that Aircorp Blue-Black has me puzzled. I am out of the sample. I did not buy a bottle. Funny thing is, in the sample vial, I could see the blue. The nib creep was also blue. The line was always a dark black with just a minor hint of blue halo on the outside edge that you really had to look for in order to see it. I never tried it in another pen. Maybe I will get another sample and try it on the TWSBI 540 B nib I have coming in.

 

Wow 100 sheets, now that is a substantial notebook. :clap1:

 

Congrats on the TWSBI540.

 

I've noticed some of my Noodler's inks change colour as the amount left in the pen decreases and the colour lightens. This seems especially true of the Walnut and to some extent the AirCorp Blue-Black. I can conteract this by screwing the converted piston down occasionaly to maintain pressure on the ink.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Bogon07

[KrazyIvan]

According to the doane paper website, it has "100 Sheets / 200 Pages per notebook".

 

Yeah, that Aircorp Blue-Black has me puzzled. I am out of the sample. I did not buy a bottle. Funny thing is, in the sample vial, I could see the blue. The nib creep was also blue. The line was always a dark black with just a minor hint of blue halo on the outside edge that you really had to look for in order to see it. I never tried it in another pen. Maybe I will get another sample and try it on the TWSBI 540 B nib I have coming in.

 

Wow 100 sheets, now that is a substantial notebook. :clap1:

 

Congrats on the TWSBI540.

 

I've noticed some of my Noodler's inks change colour as the amount left in the pen decreases and the colour lightens. This seems especially true of the Walnut and to some extent the AirCorp Blue-Black. I can conteract this by screwing the converted piston down occasionaly to maintain pressure on the ink.

 

Thanks on the 540. It is sitting at work right now since it got delivered on Saturday. I'll pick it tomorrow morning.

 

Yes, it is a substantial notebook. I am glad I got it and hope to buy more. I am getting used to spiral notebooks. I wonder if Rhodia makes something similar with Dotpad paper.

 

I have noticed color changes in my ink while in the pen but it usually gets darker due to concentration of the dye due to water evaporation.

[Bogon07]

I think most of the Rhodia side wirebound notebooks are bigger around A4 size with less pages.

http://rhodiapads.com/collections_classic.shtml

 

I found the the ReverseBook quite nice to use. It is slightly smaller 8.25" square [210 X 210 ( 8 ¼ x 8 ¼ " ) – 80 sheets]is a 5mm gridded.

[KrazyIvan]

I like to keep it in the #16 size and below.

Edited August 17, 2011 by KrazyIvan