Lined paper - half sheet size

[Judybug]

Can anyone suggest a fountain pen friendly brand of paper that comes in half sheet size [5.5 in. x 8.5 in.], lined, with holes punched. I need this for my medium sized planner. Office Depot has this paper, but it is not very fountain pen friendly. I can find this paper on various websites - but it is generic paper and I have no idea whether or not it is suitable for fountain pens.

 

Currently I am using good quality copy paper that I've cut in half and punched my own holes. But I miss having lined paper.

 

Judybug

[*david*]

How far apart are the holes?

[Judybug]

I have 3 rings. They are 2 and 3/4 inches apart.

 

Judybug

[Judybug]

David,

 

Franklin-Covey's website has exactly what I want. You get 50 sheets for $4.95 plus shipping. That seems like a bit much for everyday list paper. And I've learned from experience that you can't count on expensive paper being good for your fountain pen.

 

Judybug

[wdyasq]

A: Get favorite paper from favorite big box store - I like the 32# HP copy paper

B: Pay the money to have it chopped to size and holes punched by their machines.

 

You now have 1000 sheets of properly sized, good writing paper for (my costs here the last time I had similar done) paper $16, cutting and hole punching $2.

 

C. Set up a store on eBay and sell the stuff for $5/100.

 

OOPS, that sounds too much like a business... sell them on FPN....

 

Ron

[*david*]

To take that idea in another direction:

You could buy a thick Clairefontaine notebook in A5 size (which is very close to what you have), take it to a store where they do binding (I have only had this sort of thing done at Kinko's, but there are probably more choices), have them slice off the notebook's bound edge, and hole punch it for you.

 

Sounds not cheap in the end. Maybe not worth it. I don't know.

[Judybug]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Today at a local office supply I ordered some Mead 5 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in lined paper with holes. It was cheap - 120 sheets for about $3.40.

 

I have no idea how a fountain pen will do on it, but I'll let you know when it comes in in a few days. If it passes the FP test it will certainly be better than paying $5.00 for 50 sheets of those fancy planner pages.

 

Judybug

[Judybug]

I've been using unlined 32 lb. copy paper in my planner, but I miss having lines so - as I said when I started this topic - I've been seaching for inexpensive, lined, 5.5 in. x 8.5 in. paper with holes. This is available in the paper specifically for planners at 50 sheets for $5.00 - or a 10 cents a sheet.

 

The Mead lined filler paper that I ordered from a local office supply - 5.5 x 8.5 with holes - came in today. It is $3.50 for 120 sheets - or about 3 cents a sheet. I tested the 10 cent sheets and the 3 cent sheets with these pens:

 

Sheaffer NoNonsense with Sheaffer red cartridge

Waterman Phileas - medium point - with P. R. Sherwood Green

Waterman Phileas - fine point - with Noodler's Legal Lapis

Esterbrook desk pen with Sheaffer's Peacock Blue

Esterbrook desk pen with Noodler's Iraqi Indigo

Monteverde Invincia with P. R. Orange Crush

Aldo Domani Sorrento with Sheaffer Brown

 

Neither of these papers feathered with any of the pens. The 10 cent paper has enough bleed-through to the back side that I don't want to use the back side. The bleed-through on the 3 cent paper is even worse, so - as far as I'm concerned - using the back side of either of these papers is not an option. So I might as well use the cheap stuff.

 

Of course, I could keep using the 32 lb. copy paper [cut in half with holes punched]. A half sheet of it is only 1.5 cents! And I can write on both sides!

But I won't have lines! It's a cruel world for the paper-obsessed!

 

Judybug

[wdyasq]

Judybug,

 

I actually printed my own graph, radian graph and lined paper for a project I did. I had access to a laser printer and someone else bought the paper. At the time I was not concerned about having good pen paper as I am now. BTW - I bought a half reem of IBM 24# paper at BigLots for $2.50 the other day, not a bad price. It is not as smooth as the 32# HP paper.

 

Ron

[Judybug]

Ron,

 

Hmm. I guess I could make my own lined paper. I'll think about it. It's funny - I always write letters on unlined stationery, but when it comes to planning, lists, etc. I want lines. Just seems more -- structured.

 

Wouldn't you think somebody in the whole wide world would make a decent-quality lined paper for a reasonable price?!

 

Judybug

[*david*]

Just draw some lines before you start writing.

 

I would buy the paper you're looking for as well.

[sonia_simone]

I found some Hammermill color copy paper at work and it is sweeet to write on with FPs. I think it's 28 lb., 98 brightness. Very smooth and no bleed-through, with a nice buttery texture.

 

I also set up some line guides for myself in Excel--easy because you can select the row and adjust its height, then copy that row x times. I print them and slide them underneath plain paper for notes at work, partly because I enjoy freaking people out by how neatly I can write. (I'm discovering how damned fine my writing looks with a consistent waist height.) You should be able to play with it and get something that will print well for you. You could print a bunch of 8.5 x 11 and then have it cut down per above.

 

What would be really cool is you could add an unlined column to one side for notes, scribbles, keywords or whatever, like the Circa Levenger paper.

 

Wait, now that I think about it, doesn't Levenger have what you want? They might not have the hole-punched in the smaller size, though.

[Judybug]

I want to thank everyone for all the good suggestions. That's what's so great about FPN - you can get a whole bunch of people to agonize with you!

 

I've solved my problem by designing a page on WordPerfect with horizontal lines and a vertical margin line on the left side of the page. I have a copy machine that is several years old and s-l-o-w, but it makes good copies. I copied the lined pages on both sides of 32 lb. paper, cut them in half with my paper cutter [three sheets at a time], and then punched holes in them [three sheets at a time].

 

It was quite a little project, but I have a nice stack of lined, good quality paper. Life is good! In the future it might be worth it to have an office supply at least do the cutting and hole-punching. But by doing all this myself [only retired people have time for this kind of foolishness] I figure the cost of one 5.5 x 8.5 lined sheet is about 2 or 2 1/2 cents. [1 1/2 cents for the paper - the rest is to allow for the cost of toner in the copy machine.] The cheapest fountain pen worthy paper you can buy is about 6 cents per sheet.

 

Judybug