Pen & Pencils

Hello, Tommy!




"Hello, Geezer!"



Hey, everybody! It's Tommy Turquoise!... Say, Tommy, what have you got there?



"It's a Pentel EnerGel 0.7 mm Needle Point Liquid Gel Ink Pen."



Oh, one of the ones I reviewed recently.



"Not exactly, Geezer. It's the unused pen that was in the package, remember? They came two to a pack and you only used one in the review."



Sure, I remember. What are you doing with that one?



"Well, I thought that it might be a good candidate for the Pen And Pencils July Giveaway, Geezer."



That's a great idea, Tommy! Why don't you tell the folks how to enter the giveaway.



"Gladly, Geezer! To enter this months giveaway and have a chance to win a brand new Pentel EnerGel 0.7 mm Needle Point Liquid Gel Ink Pen all you have to do is is leave a comment to this post, please, one comment per person, telling us what you think of me, Tommy Turquoise! The contest will stay open until midnight on July 5th when it will be closed. Between midnight and 1:00 AM on July 6th The Old Geezer will use the Random Integer Generator to generate a random integer between one and the total number of comments made, inclusive. The winner will be announced in the comments section to this post after 1:00 AM on July 6th so be sure to check back then."



"The rules are simple, just one entry per person. Duplicate comments by the same person will be ignored. If you sign in anonymously, please leave either a screen name that you use elsewhere or an email address (one that you don't mind the public seeing) so if you are the winner you can be identified! The prize can't be sent to an unknown person. Once a winner has been chosen they will have 3 days in which to contact The Old Geezer via email at theoldgeezer@live.com with a name and mailing address. If the first round winner has not contacted Geezer by midnight, July 8th then the count will be reduced by one and another winner will be chosen."

I first read about the Pilot Plumix while reading an article on “unposted”. I was intrigued to say the least. I used to do calligraphy some years back but I set it aside and have yet to pick it back up. So I appreciate elegant writing and I knew the minute that I saw the nib on the Plumix just what it was supposed to do. It has a broad faced medium wide nib very similar to a calligraphy nib but unlike a calligraphy nib the nib on the Plumix is designed to be pushed! A true calligraphy nib can not be pushed, only pulled, or else it chatters and spits ink! I knew that the Plumix was designed for the average person to use in their daily writing and I knew how to use it! At the time Target was about the only place the Plumix could be found, (it is now carried by JetPens), so as soon as I could I headed out to my local Target store and picked up one in Turquoise Blue.




The Plumix comes carded with a single Pilot Blue ink cartridge. But there are no instructions on how to use the pen! If you are not familiar with broad tipped calligraphy pens then the Plumix may be a strange beast to you! The body of the pen is also different than other fountain pens. Made entirely of plastic the Plumix has 3 body sections, the cap, the grip or midsection and the tail or upper body. The cap is bullet shaped, has 2 wings to aid the user in removing the cap, which screws on. The grip is ergonomically made, the bottom being rounded and the 2 sides slop upward and are curved inward. Thus the grip offers only one way to hold the pen, the correct way. The upper body screws onto the grip and meets the grip at a specific point. The belly of the body slops downward to start then back up then tapers to a blunt end. It sort of looks like a guppy! All in all I find the shape pleasing to the eye as well as to the hand. The pens are two tone with the cap and body being of one color while the grip another. Currently the Plumix is offered in Transparent Black, Turquoise Blue and Purple, with a clear grip.



Some stats…The Plumix weighs 10.6 grams with a full ink cartridge. It is 150.8 mm long capped, 151.1 mm long posted and 144.1 mm long unposted. It is 12.1 mm in diameter at the joint between body and grip. The balance point, from the nib, is 71.4 mm posted and 61.9 mm unposted. The pen is top heavy either way but it has a better balance posted. The nib is 1 mm wide.



To use the Plumix first unscrew the body from the grip and insert the ink cartridge into the grip. The cartridge has to be manually forced onto the feeding tube. Squeezing the ink cartridge a little helps aid in getting the ink through the baffles and to the nib. Reattach the body and remove the cap. I like to post, you may not. Next grip the pen as you would any other pen but using the grips shape as a guide. Tilt the paper as you would normally, as we were taught in school. When the pen nib is touching the paper it should be at a 30 to 45 degree angle to the long side of the paper. When a stroke is made for an upper case “T” it should be a very thin stroke and be at the prescribed angle. The downward stroke should be normally slanted but bold. Subsequent letters should have this thin/thick appearance. Simple, hey!? By adding a little flair you can make your handwriting come alive!

This new drawing, done entirely in red is an attempt at trying something a little different. I happened to find a postcard done of a Chinese woman's painting, done entirely in red on a white background, of a floral arrangement.


I chose a close-up of some dogwood blossoms. Getting used to working entirely in red is a bit of a challenge. I call my drawing here, "Blossoms in Red."

Zed! What are you doing here!? And where’s Tommy!?




“I told him to take the night off. I wanted to surprise you and tell you that I’ve moved myself and my entire family to Earth!”



You have!? Wow! That’s great Zed! I guess we’ll be seeing a good deal more of each other then!?



“That’s right, Geezer!”





Well then, is that my Rotring 600 you’ve got there?





“Sure is, Geezer! Time to give it a review!”





You’re right, Zed! So…





I have been wanting a rotring for some time now. It was a toss up between the 500 and the 600, 0.35 mm of course and silver. Not that I don’t like the black color, I do, but more on that later. The black and silver, very attractive and the other variants are just a little our of my price range. So I took the plunge recently, cracked open the piggy bank and splurged on the 600 model! Did not get it on eBay, instead I found it and the Staedtler REG 925 85 03 Regulator at Smartimports.com. Their selection of pencils just happened to be almost completely limited to the very 2 pencils that I wanted that day! As for the500 model, well it’s only 2/3rds the price of the 600 so maybe I can get one soonish, we’ll see!





The rotring 600 0.35 mm…





“Eh, Geezer? Don’t you mean 0.3 mm?





No, Zed, I mean 0.35 mm! You see 0.35 mm is much closer to the actual diameter of the lead than 0.3 mm is. So the wily Germans decided to confuse everyone and correct, or nearly so, a misconception that has been perpetrated on the entire world for decades!





“That’s confusing, Geezer!”





Welcome to Earth, Zed! Ain’t ‘cha glad ya moved here!?… As I was saying, the rotring 600 0.35 mm drafting pencil is an almost entirely metal pencil, as is the entire 600 series of pencils and pens. The 500 series has a plastic body with a metal grip, pocket clip and a few other parts. The section holding the 3-jawed chuck is of a tough white colored plastic of some sort while the clear connecting tube that connects the white support to the metal lead reservoir is of another. Other than the eraser and the strip the lead grade indications are printed on the pencil is entirely made of metal. Just what, brass, aluminum, steel or a combination of 2 or more I can’t tell. The various parts have been surface treated in such a way as to give the smooth areas a uniform satin finish once chromed. Same goes for the knurled portion of the grip and the lead grade indicator. The color makes the pencil look hard chromed. The obround window in the lead grade indicator reveals the the lead grade indications are gloss white upon a gloss background. Ad to this the red numerals, “0.35” on the left side of the pencil and the ”rot ring” around the Lead grade indicator and you have one very beautiful pencil! The only other adornments visible are the manufactures name on the pocket clip and the lead size on top of the push button, both embossed.

Man, I’m beat!… I’m ready for the ole waterbed!… I sure hope that there’s nothing happening for the next 15 minutes! At top of the hour I can get out of here!…



Zed!?… What are you doing here at this hour!?… You know, it’s almost quitting time and I…



“Ghdye mjhtdff mgjoo…”


Wait!… Sorry, Zed! I had already turned off the Universal Translator! Like I said, it’s almost quitting time…!



“I know, Geezer, but it’s well past the first of the month and you’ve not had the Pens And Pencils August Giveaway, yet!”



That’s right, Zed! I’d almost forgotten all about it! Thanks for reminding me! And if I’m not mistaken, that’s the Pentel Sharp P207 0.7 mm Drafting Pencil that I’m giving away!



“Right you are, Geezer! So why don’t you take a few minutes and get this giveaway off the ground!?”



Well…. OK, Zed!… Sleep’s over rated anyway!



“That’s the spirit, Geezer!”



I have not reviewed this particular pencil, but I have reviewed it’s sibling, the P203, on Associated Content. If you are unfamiliar with the Pentel Sharp P200 series of Drafting Pencils then checkout my review of the P203.



The P207 is a brand new, never used pencil that I purchased especially for this giveaway. I’ve added 10 sticks of HB lead to the reservoir, bringing the total to 12 sticks. I’ve also added a clean out rod, of the proper diameter, to the underside of the eraser as Pentel is living up to their proclamation of discontinuing the practice of including a clean out rod with their pencils.



So, how does one go about entering the Pen And Pencils August Giveaway? Simple! Just post a single comment to this article telling Zed how handsome he is, or isn’t, before midnight, EST, August 30th. If you post anonymously PLEASE include either an email addy in the body of your comment (one that you would not mind others knowing) or include a handle/screen name that you commonly use elsewhere on the Net! I can not giveaway the prize to someone whom I can’t identify! If you wish to make a general comment about the pencil or about my blog or about anything else, then please sign my Guest Book and leave your comment there!



The contest ends a nano second after the clock strikes midnight August 30th and becomes the morning of August 31st! Sometime after midnight August 30th and midnight August 31st I’ll count up the total number of eligible entries, assigning each entry a number in order in which the comments were posted. All comments/entries after midnight August 30th are automatically ineligible.



Once all the eligible entries have been assigned a number I’ll use the Random Integer Generator at the bottom of this blog to generate a random integer between 1 and the total number of eligible entries, inclusive, received. I’ll post the winner in the comments section of the post, so start checking back to see if you’re the winner, around 12:35 AM August 31st. The winner will have 3 days, until midnight, September 3rd, to claim their prize by dropping me an email @: theoldgeezer@live.com identifying themselves and giving me a valid shipping/mailing addy! Once I have an addy I’ll mail the pencil to them ASAP!



So, thanks for reading my blog and for entering my August Giveaway! Please return often as I will be posting more reviews shortly!