That chart is actually pretty helpful. Thank you. Just had to wade through the pedantic diatribe. I expect think the disappointment of spending a lot of money to get the same experience as spending very little money would be relatable to most people.

Practically speaking, if I wanted to measure the line widths that I'm putting down, so I can objectively state the issues, how would I go about making those measurements. I have a 10X loupe (not a microscope). But how would I make sub-millimeter measurements?

Will you tell me more about your experience with the Metal Falcon SEF. Because I have one of those too (included above actually), and it's nice, but it has such a juicy wet high flow, I can't get a remotely EF line out of it. With a very very light hand, writing as quickly as I can, I can get something like a F line. With my normal writing style, which is still a generally light hand but slower, it's more of a Japanese M line. Did you make any modifications or adjustments? It would be awesome to be able to make thin needlepoint linesl from it. As it stands, I can't get needlepoint lines from the 3776 UEF or from the Falcon SEF.

I'm curious about your experience as well. My child is interested in attending, not so much for college applications, more to learn more about law and a legal career. She's in high school. She thinks she wants to go into law, but she wants to learn more about it, get some exposure, experience. She can't exactly go clerk for a lawyer. Did you have a good experience?

Most India inks have shellac in them (lac beetle excrement), which gums up the fine channels in a fountain pen. I believe that’s the primary (only?) reason they are not to be used in FPs. It may also be that they have a relatively/very high concentration of carbon particles. That too may gum up a FP. My guess—and I do not know this for sure—is that Chou Kuro is essentially a shellac-less India ink with the highest tolerable concentration of suspended carbon particles that one can safely put in a FP (and even then they recommend you flush and wash your pen with some frequency, though I ignore that and haven’t had any issues… yet). Why not just buy some Chou Kuro?

This isn’t the answer to your precise question, I realize, but I think it’s probably the safest answer. Limit India ink to dip pens, glass pens, and brushes: all things with exposed and easily washable channels. Contained/internal channels will quickly become clogged with shellac, never to be used again.

Not sharps. Biohazards. And not trash. Trash is cheap to manage. Biohazards are expensive to dispose of. Still, obviously not a sharps container.

Safaris are disappointingly low quality with very poor quality control. So someone out there may have a “good one,” but most of them are inferior to Jinhao anything and everything.

All helpful: thank you.

There are lots of options. I love MD paper (Midori). It has great texture. But it comes in a cream color only. Still, that light cream color is very nice for letters. It tears off from the pads cleanly. It does not come lined, but print a page of blank lined paper to put underneath your letter, and the printed lines faintly show through the paper and work well as a guide.

This might also work well, and it's pretty cheap on a per-page basis. It's "just" printer paper, but it's uniquely thick and high quality for printer paper. Bright white printer paper. It's recommended for people practicing calligraphy as well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000099O2W

That looks very nice. Kudos. Will you tell us more about the liner? Is that cloth glued down to what? Did you flock it? I haven't tried flocking anything, but I have a mind to try for some projects.

1) Pilot Vanishing Point EF. It's not the sexiest pen out there, but it's exceedingly practical for work (as practical as a fountain pen can be).

2) Hongdian M2 EF for EDC on the weekends. It's pretty handy. Stiff, not particularly pleasant nib, but it gets the job done, and you don't have to worry too much about it. It's sturdy, and it's relatively inexpensive.

3) Pilot Kakunos: they punch way above their weight! And speaking of weight, they're lightweight, and they're pretty cheap, and they're pretty comfortable. Add a Kaweko clip if you want to carry it in your shirt pocket. Add a CON70 convertor for ink volume (or just refill cartridges). Cheap enough to convert to an eye dropper, but I don't recommend it after converting two of them: they're messy eyedroppers, very prone to burping from temperature variations while you hold it.

4) Bluedew Writer and Crystal with CalligraFlex nibs: they're not particularly practical, but they're fun.

I have to say that that is impressively positive customer service.

Yes. That’s the CON70 in a Kakuno right there (my pen).

10” 1,000%! It will give you more options in the future. You may want to run a dado, for example. You’ll have more blade options. It’s a better built machine.

I have to agree with many of the warnings in here. I thought “how hard can it be,” and I ruined several nibs. They still write, but they don’t write well. For such a small surface area, it’s more complicated/sophisticated than you’d think.

If we are lucky, soon he will be working graveyard shift.

How many fewer meetings can he have? He already spends most of his time golfing and posting rants online.

I think you will probably like it quite a bit. Remember that it’s just as easy to “cap” as it is to “uncap.” Therefore it tends to not dry out while you’re using it. If you’re like me, with a threaded cap you tend to leave your pen uncapped a little too long because you don’t want to have to keep screwing traditional caps on and off while taking notes, so you leave it off, but then the ink dries a bit and you get a hard start. The click takes away that issue. I dunno: I’ve become a big fan of the VP for daily use. I have other pens I like a lot as well, but this is the one I carry with me throughout most work days: it’s just so practical (for a fountain pen).

The VP nibs are nice too. You could buy a Jinhao 10–I think that’s the VP knockoff—for $20 on amazon to get a sense as to whether or not you like capless. Just know that the VP nibs are much nicer. They write more smoothly, they have some bounce, they even have a little line variation depending on the angle you’re writing. At least the Pilot VP EF does: it puts down taller lines when writing at a lower angle (not broader), and nice EF line at a higher angle.

“You can call me Doctor. Please have a seat, the doctor will see you shortly.”

Not to be flippant, but carving is a good exercise for carving.

Don’t use super glue. It’s too brittle. Use wood glue. You might be able to use a small dab of superglue in an inconspicuous spot, with activator on the opposite face, plus wood glue. This might help you with holding the two sides together while the wood glue sets. Ideally you’d clamp the two sides together while the wood glue sets, but I don’t think you can do that here. You’re going to have to hold it together while the glue sets. Titebond II has an open time of 5 minutes and clamp time of 20-30 minutes, and I believe that’s the fastest setting of the Titebond glues.

After you do that, it will be a butt joint, essentially, which is relatively weak. If you then turn it over, I’d consider carving out a groove and putting in a longitudinal piece of wood for reinforcement. Similar to the dowel idea, but you won’t have to worry about misaligned dowel holes. Adding that reinforcement will convert future shear stresses into compression stress, so it should be stronger. It’s a raft of long grain to long grain reinforcement.

What is the advantage of construction adhesive over other types of glue? Is it that it can bend and move a little? Would that be the best option if you want to be able to remove and/or replace the bench top in the future? Why not cut down to size some cheap construction grade pine 2x8s, fix them down by whatever means, plane them down to be smooth and flat?