J.burrows Premium Papers

January 1, 2017

J.Burrows Premium Papers

Always on the lookout for papers that perform well with FP inks, I decided to try a couple of J.Burrows papers from Officeworks here in Australia.

The first of the two papers is the cheaper Premium White Copy paper, at $4.50 per 500 sheet ream.

This paper is a generic 80gsm copy paper, aimed at general office duties. The colour is white, with an ever-so-subtle blue tendency, which you can see if you compare it to another white paper. You can just feel a slight roughness on the surface with your fingers. The paper is not coated, so there is a degree of ink absorption into the paper. This means there may not be as much shading as you might get with other papers.

The second paper is the Premium Digital Paper, at $9.50 a ream.

This is a higher quality paper, aimed at laser printers but does quite nicely with other uses. It is a whiter white than the White Copy paper, and a bit heavier at 100gsm. Interestingly both 500 sheet reams are almost the same thickness, so the Digital paper must be more dense.

The Digital paper is smooth, smooth, smooth. It is a delight to write on with any pen, and any slight scratchiness or unwanted feedback from a less than perfect nib just disappears.

The only sub-optimal characteristic of the Digital paper is that it allows the ink to spread sideways a little. However, its only really a problem if you compare this paper to other papers. Otherwise it’s just fine, but your nibs may write ½ size fatter.

Performance

See the three scans, Premium White, Premium Digital and Rhodia. You can see that the lines for some of the inks are wider for the Digital paper than the others.

Writing Samples on the Premium White Copy paper

Writing Samples on the Premium Digital Paper, showing the slight spreading

Writing Samples on Rhodia paper, as a Control

I haven't shown the back, as there was almost nothing to show for the bleed through, only some tiny spotting that you could only see with a loupe, than that was only for the Everflo True Blue

The only ink that misbehaved at all was the Everflo True Blue. There was minor bleed-through (spotting, really) and feathering on both papers, but the spreading was much worse on the Digital paper.

Summary

Both papers perform well with FPS and inks, with even the most difficult inks being kept under control. The Digital paper is probably better for those with Fine and Extra Fine nibs, as the spreading will be minimised, and the paper will make writing with the nibs more pleasurable. Medium and Broad pen users will probably prefer the Premium White paper.

Neither paper is as good as the paper in a Rhodia pad, but the Rhodia sheets are 5x and 10x more expensive than the Digital and Premium White papres.