Jump to content

Good Legal Pads That Are Fountain Pen Friendly


TitoThePencilPimp

Recommended Posts

Does anyone know of currently produced fountain pen friendly legal pads (a4)? I know of Rhodia Yellow Lines, but it is not available online most of time. If it is, then I either have to buy in bulk ($50) for a good price, or cost+shipping make it expensive for one pad.

 

From my googles. I read that a lot of the legal pads , ie., Gold Fibre , were once fountain pen friendly. However, the paper has changed. There seems to be a pattern that many FPF legal pads are not so today.

 

What are your experience with recently purchased Legal Pads?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 27
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • amberleadavis

    3

  • TitoThePencilPimp

    3

  • SamChevre

    2

  • txoko

    2

I use Office Depot's Professional sugar cane pads.

Edited by carlos.q
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can confirm that Gold Fibre is no longer a good option in my experience. I haven't had good luck with TOPS either. I believe Levenger makes a well-regarded legal pad, but they're pricey. I eventually found a solution in a brand called Mintra - reasonably priced, and the "Premium" pads are fp-friendly enough for my uses, although not as nice as Rhodia. M by Staples is another decent option, and I've heard good things about sugarcane but haven't tried it myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can confirm that Gold Fibre is no longer a good option in my experience. I haven't had good luck with TOPS either. I believe Levenger makes a well-regarded legal pad, but they're pricey. I eventually found a solution in a brand called Mintra - reasonably priced, and the "Premium" pads are fp-friendly enough for my uses, although not as nice as Rhodia. M by Staples is another decent option, and I've heard good things about sugarcane but haven't tried it myself.

 

Thank you. I was able to purchase Rhodia a4 at $5.50 each. I missed out on the Michaels sale. The problem with the Rhodia that I purchased is that it is Dot Grid. Blank was available at $6.50. Shipping was $10, so I ordered 10 pads.

 

I will try Mintra next month. Im tapped out on my monthly stationary budget and will report back.

Did you purchase the White or Canary?

Edited by TitoThePencilPimp
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can confirm that Gold Fibre is no longer a good option in my experience. I haven't had good luck with TOPS either. I believe Levenger makes a well-regarded legal pad, but they're pricey. I eventually found a solution in a brand called Mintra - reasonably priced, and the "Premium" pads are fp-friendly enough for my uses, although not as nice as Rhodia. M by Staples is another decent option, and I've heard good things about sugarcane but haven't tried it myself.

 

Levenger may have made FP-friendly legal pads once, but that is no longer the case. I, too, had read that they were good, so I bought like twenty of them… and they suck. The paper is very soft and nice, but definitely only appropriate for ballpoint and pencil users.

 

In the end I ended up making my own. I print 60 pages of a document I have made with the lines and page setup that I have come to prefer, print it on good ivory paper, glue the spine and staple the binding for good measure. Oh, and I bought a perforation tool as well, so the pages are detachable. It's all really quite a lot of work, but I gave up on finding a purchaseable alternative.

 

 

- P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't used them myself, but over on reddit, I frequently see people recommending the "Caliber" notepads / notebooks available at CVS Pharmacy (and some say other pharmacies, but I've never tried to verify).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will try Mintra next month. Im tapped out on my monthly stationary budget and will report back.

Did you purchase the White or Canary?

I went with white, purely for personal preference. It's not the nicest feeling paper, but it holds up pretty well even with my wetter nibs.

 

 

Levenger may have made FP-friendly legal pads once, but that is no longer the case. I, too, had read that they were good, so I bought like twenty of them… and they suck. The paper is very soft and nice, but definitely only appropriate for ballpoint and pencil users.

 

In the end I ended up making my own. I print 60 pages of a document I have made with the lines and page setup that I have come to prefer, print it on good ivory paper, glue the spine and staple the binding for good measure. Oh, and I bought a perforation tool as well, so the pages are detachable. It's all really quite a lot of work, but I gave up on finding a purchaseable alternative.

 

 

- P.

Yikes - good to know about Levenger. Making your own sounds time consuming, but a great solution.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to report that M by Staples Legal Pads (narrow ruled) is fountain pen friendly. I recently purchased a 6pk, and I am very please. No feathering, bleed through, and no show unless held to a light source.Paper is smooth, but not as slick as Rhodia. I have tried ef,f, to m nibs on this paper. With different Sailor Shikiori inks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

1- what nib size do you use?
2- are you needing to write on both sides?

3- where do you live?

 

sugar cane based paper is no longer made. It does tend to work well if you can find some.

 

let me know some answers and I’ll try to give you some advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Rhodia is great. Staples Signa legal pads are very good. Gold Fibre is not.

Ron

 

Favorite Pens: Parker "51"Lamy 2000; Bexley America the Beautiful; Pilot Custom 823, 912 and 74; Sheaffer Early Touchdown; Parker Vacumatic; Sheaffer Legacy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
On 6/16/2020 at 2:16 AM, boulderchips said:

 

Can confirm that Gold Fibre is no longer a good option in my experience. I haven't had good luck with TOPS either. I believe Levenger makes a well-regarded legal pad, but they're pricey. I eventually found a solution in a brand called Mintra - reasonably priced, and the "Premium" pads are fp-friendly enough for my uses, although not as nice as Rhodia. M by Staples is another decent option, and I've heard good things about sugarcane but haven't tried it myself.

 

I just wanted to thank boulderchips, and second the endorsement of the Mintra pads.

 

I used the Staples sugarcane ones until they changed the recipe a few years ago and eventually ditched the Sustainable Earth line altogether. I found this post and ordered a 6-pack of the Mintra pads for $15. It may not be exactly as good as Clairefontaine, Rhodia, etc., but it's fairly close....and dollar-for-dollar they're a much better deal. I think I'm going to order another one before they change the formula like all so many paper manufacturers seem to do!

 

Also, the CVS/Caliber brand are decent. They're extremely ink-resistant... the ink sort of sits on top and is slow to dry. But that's better than the other extreme with feathering, bleeding, magic marker-like lines, etc.

Edited by dwwst12
Forgot something!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i just use Clairefontaine Triumphe pads... amazing paper and separates from the pad cleanly everytime.  It's the only thing I use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bazic has cheap yellow or white legal pads.

 

https://www.bazicstore.com/

https://www.bazicstore.com/collections/paper-pads/products/5038

https://www.bazicstore.com/collections/paper-pads/products/5039

 

The paper is cheap, in the sense of thin (16lb?), and I'm sure not very archival. If you are looking for Rhodia this ain't it.

However, in my experience they neither feather or bleed at all, even with very wet, flexible vintage nibs.

The paper shows off your expressive thin/thick lines. That also means that a wet line doesn't dry immediately - you can't have everything.

 

The problem is you need to order a bunch or the shipping is a little expensive. Somehow I seem to burn through them more quickly than I expect so I purchased enough one time for free shipping, adding a few other things I couldn't live with out. I found the spiral notebooks, also thin/cheap paper, don't bleed/feather. My guess is that most of their paper is like this.

 

You may find these at other sources (I seem to thing Walmart online may have them. You might also find at Daiso, the Japanese ¥100 ($1.50) store. A little google searching for "bazic 5038" will show some other possibilities.

 

.

 

.

 

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Found and purchased today at my local (US) Office Max/Office Depot:

 

large.74F00CCA-0083-4C39-9CCC-FC8608DEC5B6.jpeg.a156852fd407199f0fe12deb8b4728a7.jpeglarge.F3594118-F6C5-4019-83C4-F6D56B53E11D.jpeg.40cccc310fc1bf32426e89dfa7c20fd3.jpeg

 

This pack of 6 5"x8" pads cost $7.49. The paper is quite lightweight, slightly off-white, has a very slight texture, and I detect no spreading, no feathering, no bleed through. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Though perhaps on the expensive side of legal padom, Write Notebooks makes a memo pad that has excellent fountain pen friendly paper, it's $9 a pad for a pack of two, with 100 sheets per pad. Paper is 70# and not ridiculously smooth, like Clairefontaine, a nice medium that absorbs ink, and shows a true line of the nib....

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I'm here to third the recommendation of Mintra legal pads.  I got a 6-pack of them as the cheap Staples notebooks supplied by my office were not FP-friendly at all (bleed-through, ink spreading even with dry pens, scratchy-feeling).

 

The Mintra pads are really nice.  No bleed-through or blurring, even with a fairly wet Nemosine stub and Pilot Iroshizuku kon-peki; a hint of shading with that pen/ink combo.  Wonderfully smooth, even with my EF and Pelikan Fount India.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to be too much of a stickler, but can I assume that the question refers instead to "Writing Pads"-top staple-bound pads with perforated sheets? I'm guilty of referring to anything like this that's either US letter size or A4 size(both are similar) as a "Legal Pads" but in the US at least, a "legal pad" is technically 8 1/2"x11 3/4".

 

In any case, for the former-a staple bound perforated A4 sized writing pad, Rhodia 80gsm is my go-to, although they normally are $8-10 in the US. Not only do I use them for note taking, etc, but that is also my reference paper for checking ink performance/color and nib size/behavior because it's quality, easily available, predictable paper.

 

I never mind cheap stuff if it's good, though, and my latest "find" was at Sam's Club. The "Member's Mark" made in India pads are surprisingly good. The paper is a bit rough feeling, but even wet pens don't feather and I see only the faintest traces of ghosting in them. I bought a pack of smaller ones-I forget the size but they ABOUT A5(a handy size for me). They did, however, have letter size pads also. The smaller pads were $6 for a 24 pack, each 50 sheets. The letter size ones are $7 for a pack of 15. It's hard to beat the price on them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a traditional legal pad, i.e. top stapled, but the Black n Red notebooks, which can be side spiral or bound, have fantastic paper that can even handle dip pens, which are much harder for paper to handle. In the US, they're available at Staples, and a bunch of other places. Walmart even sold them at one point. 

 

 

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/21/2021 at 4:23 PM, bunnspecial said:

Not to be too much of a stickler, but can I assume that the question refers instead to "Writing Pads"-top staple-bound pads with perforated sheets? I'm guilty of referring to anything like this that's either US letter size or A4 size(both are similar) as a "Legal Pads" but in the US at least, a "legal pad" is technically 8 1/2"x11 3/4".

Ummm ... in the US "Legal" size paper is 8 1/2" x 14", distinct from "Letter" size.  

 

But "Legal pads" can be Letter, Legal, or other sizes, always with a 1 1/4" ruled left margin.  https://ezop.com/ez-office-resources-guides/how-to-choose-a-legal-pad/ 

 

OK, time for the next stickler to weigh in, I guess ... .

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

I see that "Legal size" is all over the place.  I am looking for fountain pen friendly 8 1/2" x 14" paper.  So far without success.  Does anyone know if such is available any more?  I have some very old stuff that is at least fountain pen reasonable, unlike the horrid legal pads that seem to predominate, but it is a few decades old and I will be using it up in the next several months as I am no longer going to use it parsimoniously as though it were greater than it is.  It is a size I like and would love to find a quality replacement.  Especially now that I have discovered the existence of fantastic papers, but in smaller sizes.

Thanks for any advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...