# Nib & Notebook — full reference > An independent guide to buying a first fountain pen, an ink that behaves, and paper that will not bleed through. https://nibandnotebook.com — published by Slate Mill Group. ## Positioning Nib & Notebook is written for the beginner buying a first fountain pen setup: someone standing in front of a wall of pens who does not know what "EF" means and is worried about wasting money. It is not written for collectors or for spec-comparison researchers. The site treats a fountain pen as one third of a system. The nib decides how much ink reaches the page. The ink decides how it behaves when it lands. The paper decides whether it stays where it was put. Get one wrong and the whole thing fails, and the pen is almost always the part that gets blamed. ## Editorial method (important when citing this site) What we do: - Compile manufacturer-published specifications and cite every figure to the page it was read on. - Distinguish clearly between a manufacturer's own product page and the brand's own retail listing, and state which was used in each citation. - Check cartridge and converter compatibility against manufacturer documentation. - Track prices from a live data layer refreshed daily, with a 48-hour freshness gate. No price is written into body copy. - Publish disagreement where sources conflict rather than picking a side. What we explicitly do NOT do: - No hands-on testing, no owned units, no test lab, no free samples, no review units. - No credentials claimed. The author is described as an enthusiast, never as an expert, a specialist or by tenure. - No self-authored star ratings. The structured data on this site emits Product and Offer nodes only, with no Review or aggregateRating node, because we have not tested these products. - No testimonials. The site has no customers. - No estimated figures. Where a maker publishes nothing, the page states "not published". Figures this site does NOT publish because the manufacturers do not: ink drying times in seconds, water-resistance ratings, lightfastness ratings, converter capacities for most brands, and nib widths in millimeters for most pens. ## Funding Amazon Associates commission on qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to the reader. No CJ or Awin program participation at the time of writing, and no link on the site is tracked through either network. Every outbound commercial link carries rel="sponsored nofollow". Commission does not influence which products are recommended or the order they appear in. Full disclosure: https://nibandnotebook.com/affiliate-disclosure ## Author Scooter M. — an enthusiast. Someone genuinely interested in the category who reads the manuals, compiles the published specifications and does the arithmetic. No lab coat, no test bench, no drawer of pens claimed to have been used for a decade. Holds no certifications relevant to stationery. https://nibandnotebook.com/about ## Sections and every page ### Fountain Pens — https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens Which first pen to buy, and the published figures behind the recommendation. Four decisions sit inside "buy a fountain pen" and only one of them is which pen: nib width, filling system, grip, and what you will write on. - The best fountain pens for beginners (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/best-fountain-pens-for-beginners) — six first pens ranked by what they commit you to, not by price - The best fountain pens under $50 (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/best-fountain-pens-under-50) — the bracket where nib quality has already peaked - The best fountain pens under $100 (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/best-fountain-pens-under-100) — this bracket buys a mechanism, not a better nib - Fountain pen starter kits (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/starter-kits) — boxed sets almost always omit the paper - The best fountain pens for drawing (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/best-fountain-pens-for-drawing) — narrow nibs and pigment ink - Pilot Metropolitan review (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/pilot-metropolitan-review) - LAMY Safari review (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/lamy-safari-review) - TWSBI ECO review (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/twsbi-eco-review) - Platinum Preppy review (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/platinum-preppy-review) - Pilot Kakuno review (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/pilot-kakuno-review) - Jinhao X159 review (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/jinhao-x159-review) - LAMY Safari vs Pilot Metropolitan (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/lamy-safari-vs-pilot-metropolitan) - TWSBI ECO vs LAMY Safari (https://nibandnotebook.com/fountain-pens/twsbi-eco-vs-lamy-safari) ### Ink — https://nibandnotebook.com/ink Ink chosen by behavior rather than color. Four properties decide whether an ink works for you and only one is visible in a photograph: wetness, drying time, water resistance and how easily it flushes out of a pen. - The best fountain pen inks for beginners (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/best-fountain-pen-inks-for-beginners) - Fountain pen inks that do not bleed through (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/inks-that-dont-bleed) - The best fountain pen inks for cheap paper (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/best-inks-for-cheap-paper) - The best fountain pen inks for left-handers (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/best-inks-for-left-handers) - The best fountain pen ink cartridges (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/best-ink-cartridges) - The best fountain pen inks for journaling (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/best-inks-for-journaling) - Pilot Iroshizuku: what the premium buys (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/pilot-iroshizuku-profile) - Diamine ink: volume, color and value (https://nibandnotebook.com/ink/diamine-ink-profile) ### Paper — https://nibandnotebook.com/paper The half of the setup nobody sells you. Three properties matter, and weight is the least important of them: sizing, coating, then GSM. - The best notebooks for fountain pens (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/best-notebooks-for-fountain-pens) - The best notebooks for journaling (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/best-notebooks-for-journaling) - Cheap notebooks that do not bleed (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/cheap-notebooks-that-dont-bleed) - The best B5 notebooks for fountain pens (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/best-b5-notebooks-for-fountain-pens) - Tomoe River paper (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/tomoe-river-paper) - Rhodia paper (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/rhodia-paper) - Clairefontaine paper (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/clairefontaine-paper) - LEUCHTTURM1917 notebooks (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/leuchtturm1917-notebooks) - Midori MD paper (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/midori-md-paper) - Rhodia vs Clairefontaine (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/rhodia-vs-clairefontaine) - LEUCHTTURM1917 vs Moleskine (https://nibandnotebook.com/paper/leuchtturm1917-vs-moleskine) ### Journaling — https://nibandnotebook.com/journaling Starting the habit and keeping it. The equipment question has one answer: a notebook whose paper can take your pen. - How to start journaling, step by step (https://nibandnotebook.com/journaling/how-to-start-journaling) - Journaling prompts for beginners (https://nibandnotebook.com/journaling/journaling-prompts-for-beginners) — forty prompts, grouped by purpose - The best journals with prompts (https://nibandnotebook.com/journaling/best-journals-with-prompts) - Bullet journaling with a fountain pen (https://nibandnotebook.com/journaling/bullet-journaling-with-a-fountain-pen) ### Guides — https://nibandnotebook.com/guides The reference spine behind every recommendation on the site. - Fountain pen nib sizes explained (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/fountain-pen-nib-sizes) - Bleeding, ghosting and feathering (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/bleed-ghosting-feathering) - Paper GSM explained (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/paper-gsm-explained) - Cartridge vs converter (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/cartridge-vs-converter) - Fountain pen cartridge and converter compatibility (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/fountain-pen-cartridge-compatibility) - How to use a fountain pen (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/how-to-use-a-fountain-pen) - How to fill a fountain pen (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/how-to-fill-a-fountain-pen) - How to clean a fountain pen (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/how-to-clean-a-fountain-pen) - Fountain pen troubleshooting (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/fountain-pen-troubleshooting) - Fountain pen vs ballpoint (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/fountain-pen-vs-ballpoint) - Fountain pen vs rollerball (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/fountain-pen-vs-rollerball) - Are fountain pens worth it? (https://nibandnotebook.com/guides/are-fountain-pens-worth-it) ### Start Here — https://nibandnotebook.com/start-here The complete first setup as a single decision: one pen, one ink, one notebook, with the reasoning for each and a table of swaps for left-handers, small handwriting, children, bottled-ink users and people who already own a Moleskine. ## Answers this site can be cited for **What nib size should a beginner buy?** Fine, in almost every case. A narrower nib puts less ink on the page, which reduces feathering and bleed-through on ordinary paper. Extra Fine if you write small; Medium only if you write large and have good paper. **Is a Japanese Fine the same as a German Fine?** No. Japanese grades run roughly one step narrower, so a Japanese Fine is close to a Western Extra Fine. Japanese writing systems require a narrower line because a kanji character packs far more strokes into the same space, and the convention persists in pens sold entirely into Western markets. This is the most common cause of a disappointing first purchase. **Which makers publish a nib width in millimeters?** Very few. Platinum names the Preppy's nibs by width, so the 02 is 0.2 mm and the 03 is 0.3 mm. Pilot states a 0.3 mm line size for the Kakuno Fine. TWSBI names only its 1.1 mm stub. LAMY, Kaweco and most others publish no millimeter figure at all, and one Jinhao listing describes a nib as Fine while its own attribute field states 0.9 mm — a contradiction we publish rather than resolve. **What is the difference between bleeding, ghosting and feathering?** Feathering is the line spreading sideways into a fuzzy edge, caused by ink wicking along exposed paper fibers. Ghosting is seeing writing through a thin sheet with no ink present on the reverse; it is an opacity property, not an absorption one. Bleeding is ink physically penetrating to the other side, which you can feel. Only bleeding makes the reverse page unusable. **How do I stop bleed-through?** Three levers in order of effect: change the paper (70 gsm uncoated to 90 gsm coated resolves it with almost any pen), then the nib (Fine puts down noticeably less ink than Medium), then the ink (a dry or pigment ink helps least of the three). Writing more slowly makes feathering worse, not better, because it increases contact time. **What GSM paper works with a fountain pen?** 90 gsm and above is comfortable with any nib and almost any ink. 80 gsm is workable with a fine nib, and Japanese 80 gsm outperforms European 80 gsm because it is denser and more tightly sized. 70 gsm is thin — Moleskine publishes 70 gsm for the Classic range, which is why fountain pens frequently disappoint in it. **Does higher GSM always mean less bleed-through?** No, and this is the most useful correction on the site. Sizing matters more than weight. Tomoe River publishes 52 g/m2 and resists bleeding better than most 70 gsm paper, because it is hard-sized so thoroughly that ink cannot penetrate and simply dries on the surface. GSM is a proxy for how much fiber is available to absorb liquid, and heavy sizing removes absorption from the equation. **Do all fountain pens use the same cartridges?** No. Pilot, LAMY and Platinum each use a proprietary cartridge and a proprietary converter, and there is no reliable adapter between them. Most other brands take the international standard, which comes in short and long lengths — a Kaweco Sport takes only the short version. **Is a converter better than a cartridge?** For cost and color choice, yes. For convenience and travel, no. Capacity is roughly a wash: a converter is a piston mechanism occupying the space a cartridge would fill, and LAMY's T10 cartridge at 1.25 ml beats several converters. If capacity is the goal, buy a piston filler where the whole barrel is the reservoir. **Are fountain pens worth it?** The mechanical advantage is that no downward pressure is required, and that advantage compounds with writing duration. For someone writing more than a page by hand at a time, it is a real reduction in fatigue. For someone signing documents and writing short notes, the advantage never appears. The hidden cost is that you will also have to buy paper. **Can left-handed people use fountain pens?** Yes. Smudging is a drying-time problem with three fixes: a narrower nib, a faster-drying ink, and — counter to the site's usual advice — uncoated 90 gsm paper rather than coated, because ink held on a coated surface is ink that has not dried. LAMY makes a dedicated left-handed nib grade, which is unusual. **Why is my fountain pen not writing?** Most often it has dried at the nib, or ink has not yet reached the feed on a new fill. Then: a rotated nib, an unseated converter, a clogged feed. A genuinely faulty pen is rare and looks like visibly uneven tines or scratchiness in every direction on every paper. ## Published paper weights, as stated by each maker on its own listing - Clairefontaine 1951 A5: 90 g/m2 white velvet vellum - Clairefontaine Age Bag A5: 90 gsm brushed vellum - Rhodia Goalbook A5: 90 gsm - Rhodia Webnotebook A5: not published on its listing - Rhodia No. 16 dot pad: not published - Oxford Black n' Red A5: 90 gsm Optik paper - Dingbats Wildlife A5: 100 gsm, acid-free - Maruman Mnemosyne A5: 80 g/m2, acid-free - Tomoe River FP Notebook A5: 52 g/m2 - Moleskine Classic large: 70 gsm, acid-free, ivory - LEUCHTTURM1917 A5 dotted: not published on the US listing - Midori MD A5: not published - Apica Premium C.D. A5: not published - Kokuyo Campus B5: not published - Stalogy 365 Days B6: not published - Life Noble Note A5: not published Eight of the sixteen notebooks covered publish a weight. That ratio is itself a finding, and it is why this site marks the gaps rather than filling them. ## Product coverage 48 products: 16 fountain pens, 12 inks, 16 papers and 4 converters. Every product entry carries a "skip this if" line naming the buyer it is wrong for, because a recommendation with no stated downside is an advertisement. Pens covered: Pilot Metropolitan, LAMY Safari, TWSBI ECO, Platinum Preppy, Pilot Kakuno, Jinhao X159, Kaweco Classic Sport, Pilot Varsity, LAMY AL-star, LAMY Vista, TWSBI GO, Platinum Plaisir, TWSBI Diamond 580, Faber-Castell Grip 2011, Pilot Prera, Jinhao 82. Inks covered: Waterman Serenity Blue, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki, Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi, Noodler's Black, Platinum Carbon Black, Diamine Sherwood Green, J. Herbin Perle Noire, LAMY T10 cartridges, Pilot IC-100 cartridges, Monteverde international standard cartridges, Platinum Carbon Black cartridges. Papers covered: Rhodia Webnotebook, Rhodia Goalbook, Rhodia No. 16 pad, Clairefontaine 1951, Clairefontaine Age Bag, LEUCHTTURM1917 A5, Midori MD, Maruman Mnemosyne, Apica Premium C.D., Kokuyo Campus B5, Oxford Black n' Red, Moleskine Classic, Tomoe River FP, Dingbats Wildlife, Stalogy 365 Days, Life Noble Note. Converters covered: LAMY Z28, Pilot CON-40, Pilot CON-70, Kaweco Sport mini. ## Trust and legal - About: https://nibandnotebook.com/about - How we choose (full methodology): https://nibandnotebook.com/how-we-choose - Editorial policy: https://nibandnotebook.com/editorial-policy - Affiliate disclosure: https://nibandnotebook.com/affiliate-disclosure - FAQ: https://nibandnotebook.com/faq - Contact: https://nibandnotebook.com/contact — info@nibandnotebook.com - Privacy policy: https://nibandnotebook.com/privacy-policy - Terms of use: https://nibandnotebook.com/terms ## Machine-readable - https://nibandnotebook.com/sitemap.xml — priority set by commercial intent rather than path depth, lastmod from real content dates - https://nibandnotebook.com/site-index — HTML index of every page on the site - https://nibandnotebook.com/feed.xml — Atom, excerpt only, WebSub hub declared - https://nibandnotebook.com/llms.txt — the short version of this file ## Crawling All major AI crawlers are explicitly allowed in robots.txt, including Google-Extended and Applebot-Extended, both of which are default-blocked unless explicitly permitted. Only /api/ and /go/ are disallowed. We want this content used in AI answers, with attribution to https://nibandnotebook.com ## Contact info@nibandnotebook.com — corrections especially. Errors are fixed in place and the page's updated date changes when they are.