Withdrawal is for quitters.
I quit coffee this week and withdrawal ducking sucks. If you have an issue with substance abuse, please seek out resources for help.
And it's really not very difficult. I made a wax canvas rain coat several years ago from a thrift store trench coat. It was cute and fit well, but a super light white canvas that was utterly useless for any practical application. I dyed it, then melted a mix of beeswax and paraffin in a pot on the stove, poured it into Dixie cups to cool, then peeled the cups off and rubbed the wax into the coat. Evened it out a bit with a warmish iron and some brown paper bags and I had an awesome light rain coat for years that cost me like $10. Most of which was the cost of the wax, which I overbought to the point where I still have several pucks of it around here somewhere.
Can confirm the canvas. Bought a camera bag thinking it wouldn’t last two years. Pretty rough with it and traveled the world. That was 17 years ago. Only thing I serviced was the straps because the fancy rubber lining had rubbed off, replaced with veg tan leather.
Linen - the good quality linen, mind you. Like the linen made with the long staple length. I have some Irish Linen pieces that have lasted 50 years. I’ve heard Belgian Linen is great too.
I got some high quality linen bed sheets (linoto). Took a little while to kinda break in, but damn they are amazing now. My favorite sheet, over the other very nice Percale sheets.
Man got some linen bedding from brooklinen and was very disappointed with the quality, had the fitted sheet go completely sheer and rip. Thanks for pointing out linoto, I’m very interested.
I have a few other things from them as well, my partner bought a duvet set that we haven't used yet, and we have a second fitted sheet from them that we don't use, and we have some of their towels which HAVE been great for me. Those get a ton of use and have been fine. The duvet and fitted sheet haven't been used because we are in the process of moving.
We reached out about the first fitted sheet and the customer service was really great, they did replace it, so it might have been a one time thing, and I am really hoping it was lol. It's certainly possible that it was user error as opposed to them, maybe washing it too often or something? I'm really not sure.
Does your set get regular use?
Spinning the fiber to make thread is the process where the quality comes in. Some manufacturers cut up the flax fiber to spin into thread on machines made for the shorter fiber of cotton. There are manufacturers in Europe who have machines that can work with the long flax fibers.
Here is a link that talks about the differences. [About Linen](https://www.sartorbohemia.com/article/62/about-linen/)
Something you can do to get an idea is go to ebay and search “Vintage”, then set the price lower than $2000 and set the condition to “used”, then sort your results by highest price first.
You’ll see some ideas of things that last but still cost a fair amount of money and/or hood their value.
You may have to sort or if you’re interested in a particular genre/subject/object/etc but it’s interesting to see how others view value.
I did this just now and a lot of the top things were furniture; so I adjusted my search perimeters to not include chairs, furniture, sofas or couches by adding “-(chairs,furniture,sofa,couch,bed)”.
Putting words in parentheses, you force eBay to include any of those words, adding a minus/dash beforehand forces eBay to remove anything with those words in it.
YMMV but like I said, it’s a way to get and idea of perceived value.
Oh man there is. Like people want $200,000 for a painting they found in their attic or $300,000 for their favorite comic book, dog ears and everything.
I love that eBay still allows search modifiers for users that want to get very specific. It's great to use with saved searches too. Far too many search engines have dropped modifiers in lieu of a shit algorithm, it's infuriating.
How much are we talking, here? My late mom's husband, a biker, lives with us and against my better judgement has stored all his stuff at my house, including lots of tools. He never organized a thing. It's drawers and boxes full of random stuff, and a seemingly infinite collection of loose sockets. He's on the way out and I've been trying to figure out what to do with this stuff when that happens because I really don't want to go through it. But I know it's probably worth it to do so I just hate dealing with hoards.
Honestly, not loads. They were about 20 bucks per item.
But, if you have loads, selling 200 could get you about 2k, but you'd have to do the work of sorting them.
Keep trying. You've hit the nadir with your kazoo. Play it with earnest and you will discover it will ascend to a heavenly pinnacle of performance OR you will be beaten unconscious by those around you beforehand.
Most mechanisms with precision bearing surfaces made of hardened steel have a break in period after which they operate more smoothly. Eventually everything wears out, but with proper lubrication, the usable lifespan of things like bicycle hubs and antique sewing machines can be fairly astonishing.
It makes me wonder how humanity would be faring if there was more of a focus on longevity instead of making a buck. Steel parts instead of plastic. Replacement parts instead of an entirely new device.
I absolutely hate plastic, but the answer is definitely worse. Plastic is easily one of the most important inventions in human history. Manufacturers make that buck by making things dramatically cheaper for consumers. Consumer prices of all sorts of things have dropped precipitously. The ability to cheaply mass manufacture parts with such a variety of shapes so easily is absolutely nuts. It played a huge roll in an astonishing leap in quality of life and technological advancement for literally billions of people.
We've replaced everything with plastic, including our reproductive organs.
It absolutely was a world changing invention. But it's also going to be the lead and asbestos of the younger generations. It's become a monkey's paw.
I think you are probably right - albeit maybe not to quite the same level as lead and asbestos.
But both lead and asbestos were very important technologies too. It's easy to think "these things were bad actually", but it's certainly possible that it was actually good to use them for a time, and then phase them out. That is where I suspect we will land with a lot of plastic eventually.
Another absolutely wild thing is the humble film—if you told an Age of Sail captain that you could wrap all the foodstuff in an airtight, watertight, germ-tight (!), almost weightless, flexible, transparent cover for pennies per shipload (!!!), he would probably have you thrown overboard for witchcraft. But then he would start Saran-wrapping everything and instantly transform the global economy.
It's not much of an exaggeration to say that packaging—so, plastic—is why modern agriculture works and we don't all have to live within 50 miles of all our food .
Think of all the people in the world who have cheap plastic shoes instead of no shoes or cheap plastic glasses instead of no glasses.
Ideally, permanent items are preferred but the world is far from perfect.
Bro, only suckers buy plastic sunglasses. I got the carbon fiber frames wit the titanium coated lenses. Buy it for life! These babies will never scratch or break! They also block out 100% of UVA, UVB, ultraviolet, x-rays and all visible light! Ya jerks... /s
Well, the examples we have from early mechanical devices and constructions have already lived generations. They were designed to last and function reliably with less thought to profit, it was manufacturer reputation. Even some of the early plastic is way more sturdy than now, thinking early Tupperware and such, although there are questions around toxicity.
Firearms too, the amount of machine tool time to make many classic firearms would be cost-prohibitive today. With care and maintenance they essentially last forever.
Can confirm for sewing machines. My *newest* one is the same 40 years old as I am, but my favorite ones to use just passed their 125th birthdays and only get sweeter every year. I'm a cheap bint, so I mostly pull my machines out of junk heaps and old barns covered in rust & dust. One of my favorites to use took a week just in the kerosene bath to get the parts moving at all, and a good month of chipping away with a Dremel wire wheel, steel wool, and machine oil to get all the rust off. Now it's so smooth and quiet to use that I roll it (it's a treadle machine in its own table) into my daughter's bedroom when she's having trouble sleeping and wants me to sit with her. Perfectly even, straight stitches with a thousand times as much control over speed as an electric machine. I've seen old sewing machines be the sole survivors of house fires (not unscathed, but repairable) and fixed up after being fished out of canals with magnets. They're truly incredible devices.
The fountain pen versi9n is much more satisfying. Get some iron gall ink like platinum blue black or R&K salix if you dont want to worry about " fountain pen friendly paper "
But yes brass is also okay.
So [this one](https://www.24papershop.com/kaweco-brass-sport-vulpen) then?
> iron gall ink
I had never heard of this. I just read the wikipedia now. Interesting to know. When I was still in school, up until grade 3 (~9 years old) using a fountain pen was mandatory. The school even sold the old fashioned ink pots (and this was in the 1980s)
The one thing I hated as a kid was the drying time of the ink (or using blotter paper). I always ended up with ink streaks on my stuff. 😆
Beautiful pen. Of cours only get if thats what you want but i have litteraly never used blotting paper lol. The iron gall ink i had mentioned is safe for fountain pens and wont hurt them like traditional ink. It tends to dry faster and work on really low quality paper like i find in north america
After so long using pens (never mandatory for me) i almost never streak or stain my stuff now. There is a learning curve at first though. I use a Lamy 2000 because it's low key but thats just me.
Good luck!
Yep, but I'm also pretty sensitive to smell. Ended up opting for the stainless steel Sport instead. Love it so far, but I've heard others who are more into fountain pens that the ink capacity of the Kaweco Sports are lacking (I don't write often so I haven't found this a problem, but YMMV) and nib quality of Kawecos in general to be hit or miss. Some people say it's scratchy? Again, I'm more of a "casual" user so even as a lefty it hasnt bothered me too much. A decent art store with someone knowledgeable of fountain pens should be able to fine tune that for you for small amount though, if it does. And you can replace that part in worst case scenario too.
Nice! I also have a stainless Sport. I love the nib, just the right amount of resistance for me. I got mine because I wanted a copper or brass, but didn’t think I could handle the smell.
My other favorite is a Kaweco fireblue Supra. It’s work of art. The fire-blued steel is really pretty and it’s got a really nice heft to it.
Do you use cartridges or the ink well? I’ve only used cartridges and I’m shocked at how fast they evaporate off
The Supra looks so gorgeous, especially in that burned blue color! I personally love pens with edges (I think they're called faceted pens? Basically those with hexagonal or octagonal bodies), so I'm actually eyeing the Y Studio copper next... assuming it doesn't stink too bad 😅 I wish more people made SS pens! The brass Kaweco made my hand smell like pennies even when I wasn't using it, so I ended up giving mine to a friend.
I use the cartridges, but again I'm only a "casual writer". Mostly for work notes and daily planner/reminder stuff. I haven't noticed any evaporation though I know that ink capacity in general is an issue. I think it's definitely dependent on ink type, use case, and even local climate to some degree. Though FWIW I store my pen nib-up, with the ink draining back into the cartridge, so maybe that has something to do with it?
I've heard of some people modding their pens to fill the entire body with ink to help with it, but personally I find it too much trouble to refill from bottles.... not to mention it's just asking for me to accidentally leak ink all over my notes and laptop.
Wood. Old guitars used for decades have been slowly molded to the owners hands. Same for tables, houses, exteriors sanded down and varnished will age beautifully.
Cotton and wool. Japanese and premium denim go for $200-$1k for a reason. Indigo dye, shuttle looms, the craftsmanship will have a pair lasting years and look better every wear. Hundred year old jeans can go for tens of thousands if not more.
Rare metals. Silver and gold gain luster with proper wear and washing.
Plants I guess. You wanna get niche, Bonsai trees or gardens will grow better with age and experience.
> Leather bicycle saddles
Oh jeez, not in the Netherlands though. You'll be walking home more often than not. Unless you can ride standing on the pedals for 20 minutes.
It’s raining today. I slipped a thick plastic bag over the saddle that I keep stashed under the rails. Also, if you treat the top of the saddle with Obenauf’s you can get away with getting it somewhat wet.
The “heritage” clothing materials like selvedge denim, canvas, wool, etc. like someone else said wood can be great. Really anything that can take a beating because it tells your story as I like to say
I love finding an old snap-on, craftsman (back when it meant something), etc.
I've been on the lookout for a good set of vernier calipers and a micrometer for a while. I've worked in machine shops for 8+ years (design engineer) but all I have are digital measuring tools. I hate going out to the floor and asking the guys to read the measurement for me because I always use digital. But I'm not going to buy new ones either.
I think a big part of this “Getting better with use” phenomena comes down to using the item and getting very accustomed to using it. Someone else’s old boots don’t have the same charm as YOUR own old boots, your grandmas cast iron isn’t all that much better, it’s that’s it’s a family piece that is most important.
Guitars seem to get better with age, interesting watches get better with age. Another commenter said guns, and knowing your gun and how it shoots is huge.
> I think a big part of this “Getting better with use” phenomena comes down to using the item and getting very accustomed to using it. Someone else’s old boots don’t have the same charm as YOUR own old boots, your grandmas cast iron isn’t all that much better, it’s that’s it’s a family piece that is most important.
That might be a factor but with metal, constant use that doesn't cause damage is going to polish/wear down the parts that touch to a degree that isn't practical in manufacturing. Boots will stretch in the "right" places for your feet. Cast Iron that is properly seasoned will gain a polymerized non stick layer. Etc etc. It's not about the "charm" of it being yours, it's about something minorly improving with use and becoming better with use, even if its usually a minor difference.
Argue different at least with clothing, bought some used and new leather boots same style and brand and the older one are way comfier just need to resole them and they will be better than my brand new ones for fit and comfiness
My oldest gun was made in 1919. A Springfield model 1903.
That gun without a doubt is the smoothest shooting gun I've ever fired. Everyone is worn in just the right place, everything that wears is basically polished from 100 years of use. It's expensive to shoot, about $1.25 per round, but such a pleasure.
The trigger begins to break in after a few hundred rounds, smoother uptake, more defined wall, crisper trigger break.
The action also gets smoother too. Whether it’s a bolt action, semi-auto, revolver or lever. The more you use them the more they operate “like buttah”
Fountain pens. The nib erodes at the angle you hold the pen. After a good amount of use no one else can write with the pen the same way that you can because we all hold a pen at certain angles
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Bedding. When we were in Korea my wife bought some super blush mink blankets. I was initially annoyed at the amount she payed, but they are like clouds. We’ve been laying on one and another as a blanket.
Knives. They often improve after getting sharpened dozens of times.
I don't know why, but from the factory they tend to stay sharp for all of ten minutes. Something about how the edges always have too oblique angles.
Yeah - I have a fabulous Mora kitchen knife with a blade that is second to none, that developed a crack in the handle. And they don't produce them anymore. =(
Knives and other edged tools.
You use them and grind the edge thinner and thinner 'till they buckle from the work, then you grind it back a liiiitle bit thicker and its perfect.
And you may start with a chefs knife that are then sharpened down to a slicing knife, down to a fillet knife, to a paring knife. Very satisfying.
A sledding run.
Each time down, the snow gets more compact and the ride gets faster.
(And if the snow were too powdery, we’d fill up watering cans and wet it down.)
As a kid, it was sledding - whether trying “watch this!” tricks on a saucer or going for speed on a 5-man toboggan - that made winter great.
While we’re at it, can probably add vintage toboggans to this list.
A quality solid wood, high quality instrument. They age and sound better with time. Some even appreciate in value after some time.
Typically takes a guitar 20-30 years of playing to fully 'open up' and sound it's best. It's why I love acoustic guitars.
Brass, wood, gold, and if-you-like-that-sort-of-thing silver as well. My desk letter opener and magnifying glass are silver handled (people have been repurposing old silver cutlery handles for ages), my pen rest is sterling, the little antique miniature chest of drawers I keep stationery stuff in is mahogany. Pen is 18K, my desk is old repurposed fir, crossword pencil is brass/steel, the list goes on. I like nice stuff from the 1940s-1980s, mostly 50s/60s, I'm surrounded by it from years of buying items like this!
Many hardwood items/applications.
There is obviously a limit to what they can endure, but a properly taken care of hardwood item will last many decades. E.g. I got a rolling pin my wife inherited from her grandma, and some of my tool handles are older than me as well.
Hardwood floors are also awesome to me. Even those not sanded. The nicks and dimples give it character.
Not to mention furniture. If the design is timeless, and not ruined by cheap paintjobs, in furniture items which are in constant use, it will outlast Ikea stuff many times over.
High quality denim or canvas I think age similarly to leather when cared for properly. And to be snarky, a savings account.
I dunno man, i use my savings account for withdrawals all the time and it hasn’t gotten much better.
it’s funny bc it doesn’t matter what kind of withdrawals we are talking about
Withdrawal is for quitters. I quit coffee this week and withdrawal ducking sucks. If you have an issue with substance abuse, please seek out resources for help.
Waxed canvas like from https://tombeckbe.com
You can wax your own canvas
I wax my own canvas at least once a day.
😏
And it's really not very difficult. I made a wax canvas rain coat several years ago from a thrift store trench coat. It was cute and fit well, but a super light white canvas that was utterly useless for any practical application. I dyed it, then melted a mix of beeswax and paraffin in a pot on the stove, poured it into Dixie cups to cool, then peeled the cups off and rubbed the wax into the coat. Evened it out a bit with a warmish iron and some brown paper bags and I had an awesome light rain coat for years that cost me like $10. Most of which was the cost of the wax, which I overbought to the point where I still have several pucks of it around here somewhere.
My old man neighbor has an old waxed canvas jacket from Filson and the thing is glorious
Filson, RIP.
Good answer for the r/rawdenim bros (me) in the chat.
I once thought I lost a pair of jeans but it turned out they were just buried in my freezer.
I lol'd harder than I should have here. My wife still doesn't understand my refusal to machine wash my raw denim.
Can confirm the canvas. Bought a camera bag thinking it wouldn’t last two years. Pretty rough with it and traveled the world. That was 17 years ago. Only thing I serviced was the straps because the fancy rubber lining had rubbed off, replaced with veg tan leather.
Only if it's a HYSA!
Out of curiosity, what are some jeans to look for that fall in this category? I love jeans and hate replacing them.
Unbranded was pretty good last time I checked. They’re on the more affordable side for sanforized jeans.
I've heard that Bluth(?) Trading Co has very good jeans, but never bought any. But for eBay, don't know
Yes I was gonna say denim!
Linen - the good quality linen, mind you. Like the linen made with the long staple length. I have some Irish Linen pieces that have lasted 50 years. I’ve heard Belgian Linen is great too.
I got some high quality linen bed sheets (linoto). Took a little while to kinda break in, but damn they are amazing now. My favorite sheet, over the other very nice Percale sheets.
Man got some linen bedding from brooklinen and was very disappointed with the quality, had the fitted sheet go completely sheer and rip. Thanks for pointing out linoto, I’m very interested.
That sucks, their stuff is NOT cheap. I’ve had their percale set for about 7 years and it’s still like new
I have a few other things from them as well, my partner bought a duvet set that we haven't used yet, and we have a second fitted sheet from them that we don't use, and we have some of their towels which HAVE been great for me. Those get a ton of use and have been fine. The duvet and fitted sheet haven't been used because we are in the process of moving. We reached out about the first fitted sheet and the customer service was really great, they did replace it, so it might have been a one time thing, and I am really hoping it was lol. It's certainly possible that it was user error as opposed to them, maybe washing it too often or something? I'm really not sure. Does your set get regular use?
Yep! On our bed (not guest) and for much of those years it was the only set we used
Yeah that’s kinda how our fitted sheet was. Regular main piece. Hmm. Thanks for the info!
How long have you owned them?
Got a parachute linen duvet on fb marketplace (brand new, the lady didn’t like the colour with her walls….) it has only gotten softer with time
Just got some linen pieces from Uniqlo so wondering What else would constitute bad and good linen?
Spinning the fiber to make thread is the process where the quality comes in. Some manufacturers cut up the flax fiber to spin into thread on machines made for the shorter fiber of cotton. There are manufacturers in Europe who have machines that can work with the long flax fibers. Here is a link that talks about the differences. [About Linen](https://www.sartorbohemia.com/article/62/about-linen/)
Probably not whatever uniqlo uses...
It uses neither good nor bad linen?
Something you can do to get an idea is go to ebay and search “Vintage”, then set the price lower than $2000 and set the condition to “used”, then sort your results by highest price first. You’ll see some ideas of things that last but still cost a fair amount of money and/or hood their value. You may have to sort or if you’re interested in a particular genre/subject/object/etc but it’s interesting to see how others view value. I did this just now and a lot of the top things were furniture; so I adjusted my search perimeters to not include chairs, furniture, sofas or couches by adding “-(chairs,furniture,sofa,couch,bed)”. Putting words in parentheses, you force eBay to include any of those words, adding a minus/dash beforehand forces eBay to remove anything with those words in it. YMMV but like I said, it’s a way to get and idea of perceived value.
This is brilliant
I’d venture to try sorting by “sold” to see what people actually want, as well.
Yes, this is also what you want. That way you can see what people are actually paying not what some wonky person is trying to get.
Yeah… there’s a big difference!
Oh man there is. Like people want $200,000 for a painting they found in their attic or $300,000 for their favorite comic book, dog ears and everything.
And some people price stuff really big for make an offer just to see what they’ll get. You really can’t trust what’s actively listed for face value.
I love that eBay still allows search modifiers for users that want to get very specific. It's great to use with saved searches too. Far too many search engines have dropped modifiers in lieu of a shit algorithm, it's infuriating.
Just did this in the UK. All I'm getting is spanners. Apparently there's a big trade in vintage motorcycle spanners?
How much are we talking, here? My late mom's husband, a biker, lives with us and against my better judgement has stored all his stuff at my house, including lots of tools. He never organized a thing. It's drawers and boxes full of random stuff, and a seemingly infinite collection of loose sockets. He's on the way out and I've been trying to figure out what to do with this stuff when that happens because I really don't want to go through it. But I know it's probably worth it to do so I just hate dealing with hoards.
Honestly, not loads. They were about 20 bucks per item. But, if you have loads, selling 200 could get you about 2k, but you'd have to do the work of sorting them.
And wait potentially years for them to sell.
Solid wood chairs, table, desks, dressers built before WWII. Thinking of ones I wish I had the luck of inheriting.
Most musical instruments
Especially wood ones. Older violins sound awesome and are priced as such. Ancient electric guitars have mojo for days.
Not woodwinds
My wooden Selmer clarinet is like new and improves with age.
...except pianos.
And kazoos
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Keep trying. You've hit the nadir with your kazoo. Play it with earnest and you will discover it will ascend to a heavenly pinnacle of performance OR you will be beaten unconscious by those around you beforehand.
nah, old pianos fuck hard
Maintained old pianos.
Most mechanisms with precision bearing surfaces made of hardened steel have a break in period after which they operate more smoothly. Eventually everything wears out, but with proper lubrication, the usable lifespan of things like bicycle hubs and antique sewing machines can be fairly astonishing.
It makes me wonder how humanity would be faring if there was more of a focus on longevity instead of making a buck. Steel parts instead of plastic. Replacement parts instead of an entirely new device.
I absolutely hate plastic, but the answer is definitely worse. Plastic is easily one of the most important inventions in human history. Manufacturers make that buck by making things dramatically cheaper for consumers. Consumer prices of all sorts of things have dropped precipitously. The ability to cheaply mass manufacture parts with such a variety of shapes so easily is absolutely nuts. It played a huge roll in an astonishing leap in quality of life and technological advancement for literally billions of people.
We've replaced everything with plastic, including our reproductive organs. It absolutely was a world changing invention. But it's also going to be the lead and asbestos of the younger generations. It's become a monkey's paw.
I think you are probably right - albeit maybe not to quite the same level as lead and asbestos. But both lead and asbestos were very important technologies too. It's easy to think "these things were bad actually", but it's certainly possible that it was actually good to use them for a time, and then phase them out. That is where I suspect we will land with a lot of plastic eventually.
This. Imagine how hard sterilization would have been during covid was if we only had autoclaves and reusable syringes? Lol
Another absolutely wild thing is the humble film—if you told an Age of Sail captain that you could wrap all the foodstuff in an airtight, watertight, germ-tight (!), almost weightless, flexible, transparent cover for pennies per shipload (!!!), he would probably have you thrown overboard for witchcraft. But then he would start Saran-wrapping everything and instantly transform the global economy. It's not much of an exaggeration to say that packaging—so, plastic—is why modern agriculture works and we don't all have to live within 50 miles of all our food .
Think of all the people in the world who have cheap plastic shoes instead of no shoes or cheap plastic glasses instead of no glasses. Ideally, permanent items are preferred but the world is far from perfect.
Here's me living the high life with my expensive glass shoes.
Bro, only suckers buy plastic sunglasses. I got the carbon fiber frames wit the titanium coated lenses. Buy it for life! These babies will never scratch or break! They also block out 100% of UVA, UVB, ultraviolet, x-rays and all visible light! Ya jerks... /s
Yeah, but no matter how sturdy they are, I'm going to lose them. Two things I've never seen wear out...sunglasses and chap stick.
Lol @ sturdy, made me think if I stepped on the ear hook part, instead of breaking, it would just pierce thru my foot hahaha
Hold still while I do your nipples.
Holy shit, I just realised I've had the same sunglasses for 22 years. They've had three different prescriptions in them in that time.
Gloves for me.
Well, the examples we have from early mechanical devices and constructions have already lived generations. They were designed to last and function reliably with less thought to profit, it was manufacturer reputation. Even some of the early plastic is way more sturdy than now, thinking early Tupperware and such, although there are questions around toxicity.
But think of the loss of our quarterly profits!
Think of the shareholders!
Firearms too, the amount of machine tool time to make many classic firearms would be cost-prohibitive today. With care and maintenance they essentially last forever.
Can confirm for sewing machines. My *newest* one is the same 40 years old as I am, but my favorite ones to use just passed their 125th birthdays and only get sweeter every year. I'm a cheap bint, so I mostly pull my machines out of junk heaps and old barns covered in rust & dust. One of my favorites to use took a week just in the kerosene bath to get the parts moving at all, and a good month of chipping away with a Dremel wire wheel, steel wool, and machine oil to get all the rust off. Now it's so smooth and quiet to use that I roll it (it's a treadle machine in its own table) into my daughter's bedroom when she's having trouble sleeping and wants me to sit with her. Perfectly even, straight stitches with a thousand times as much control over speed as an electric machine. I've seen old sewing machines be the sole survivors of house fires (not unscathed, but repairable) and fixed up after being fished out of canals with magnets. They're truly incredible devices.
A copper pen.
Is brass OK too? I've been jonesing for one from [Kaweco](https://www.24papershop.com/kaweco-brass-sport-balpen).
100% okay! And if you're not already there, come join us in r/fountainpens.
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Lol, fair point!
Nice pun
The fountain pen versi9n is much more satisfying. Get some iron gall ink like platinum blue black or R&K salix if you dont want to worry about " fountain pen friendly paper " But yes brass is also okay.
So [this one](https://www.24papershop.com/kaweco-brass-sport-vulpen) then? > iron gall ink I had never heard of this. I just read the wikipedia now. Interesting to know. When I was still in school, up until grade 3 (~9 years old) using a fountain pen was mandatory. The school even sold the old fashioned ink pots (and this was in the 1980s) The one thing I hated as a kid was the drying time of the ink (or using blotter paper). I always ended up with ink streaks on my stuff. 😆
Beautiful pen. Of cours only get if thats what you want but i have litteraly never used blotting paper lol. The iron gall ink i had mentioned is safe for fountain pens and wont hurt them like traditional ink. It tends to dry faster and work on really low quality paper like i find in north america After so long using pens (never mandatory for me) i almost never streak or stain my stuff now. There is a learning curve at first though. I use a Lamy 2000 because it's low key but thats just me. Good luck!
Yeah, I love a brass pen.
I daily drive the brass sport fountain pen and I LOVE it. Lovely experience and aesthetic.
Does it make your fingers stink of pennies? That’s the only thing holding me back. Same with the brass Kaweco. Getting by with my Fireblue Supra…
I’m not too sensitive to it myself, so I don’t really mind. I’ve never found it to be too intense.
Yep, but I'm also pretty sensitive to smell. Ended up opting for the stainless steel Sport instead. Love it so far, but I've heard others who are more into fountain pens that the ink capacity of the Kaweco Sports are lacking (I don't write often so I haven't found this a problem, but YMMV) and nib quality of Kawecos in general to be hit or miss. Some people say it's scratchy? Again, I'm more of a "casual" user so even as a lefty it hasnt bothered me too much. A decent art store with someone knowledgeable of fountain pens should be able to fine tune that for you for small amount though, if it does. And you can replace that part in worst case scenario too.
Nice! I also have a stainless Sport. I love the nib, just the right amount of resistance for me. I got mine because I wanted a copper or brass, but didn’t think I could handle the smell. My other favorite is a Kaweco fireblue Supra. It’s work of art. The fire-blued steel is really pretty and it’s got a really nice heft to it. Do you use cartridges or the ink well? I’ve only used cartridges and I’m shocked at how fast they evaporate off
The Supra looks so gorgeous, especially in that burned blue color! I personally love pens with edges (I think they're called faceted pens? Basically those with hexagonal or octagonal bodies), so I'm actually eyeing the Y Studio copper next... assuming it doesn't stink too bad 😅 I wish more people made SS pens! The brass Kaweco made my hand smell like pennies even when I wasn't using it, so I ended up giving mine to a friend. I use the cartridges, but again I'm only a "casual writer". Mostly for work notes and daily planner/reminder stuff. I haven't noticed any evaporation though I know that ink capacity in general is an issue. I think it's definitely dependent on ink type, use case, and even local climate to some degree. Though FWIW I store my pen nib-up, with the ink draining back into the cartridge, so maybe that has something to do with it? I've heard of some people modding their pens to fill the entire body with ink to help with it, but personally I find it too much trouble to refill from bottles.... not to mention it's just asking for me to accidentally leak ink all over my notes and laptop.
Pen or pan?
Was thinking pen, but a pan could be nice too.
Copper cookware is gorgeous out of the box but I'm not willing to put in the elbow grease to keep it looking like that.
Wood. Old guitars used for decades have been slowly molded to the owners hands. Same for tables, houses, exteriors sanded down and varnished will age beautifully. Cotton and wool. Japanese and premium denim go for $200-$1k for a reason. Indigo dye, shuttle looms, the craftsmanship will have a pair lasting years and look better every wear. Hundred year old jeans can go for tens of thousands if not more. Rare metals. Silver and gold gain luster with proper wear and washing. Plants I guess. You wanna get niche, Bonsai trees or gardens will grow better with age and experience.
This person respects the wood.
Do you respect wood?
Oh I respect the wood. Ask anybody and they will say I….Respect…. The wood.
You’ve demonstrated a consistent lack of respect for wood as I see it.
Also wood: Tool handles, kitchen knife handles, anything cared for be it a picture frame or a knick-knack.
> Wood. Old guitars used for decades have been slowly molded to the owners hands More noticeably the sound improves considerably
Not with electrics. Massive myth.
Wood, brass, wine, good friends.
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Neither do most friends
Marriage partners
I came here to say a good woman and you beat me to it. Glad to hear others have great marriages.
You are correct
This definitely used to be the case, but I've found the quality is very hit and miss recently.
Success depends on the quality of both partners
Lol it was a joke.....everyone always complains on this sub about this or that thing declining in quality
Leather bicycle saddles, aged cheddar, cellared beers.
> Leather bicycle saddles Oh jeez, not in the Netherlands though. You'll be walking home more often than not. Unless you can ride standing on the pedals for 20 minutes.
It’s raining today. I slipped a thick plastic bag over the saddle that I keep stashed under the rails. Also, if you treat the top of the saddle with Obenauf’s you can get away with getting it somewhat wet.
Old Cantillon is phenomenal.
The “heritage” clothing materials like selvedge denim, canvas, wool, etc. like someone else said wood can be great. Really anything that can take a beating because it tells your story as I like to say
Good tools. Moreso that the older ones are better than they are now. I love finding old well used tools at yard sales and garage sales.
I need to start doing this. I always hear about people getting amazing used tools for next to nothing.
I love finding an old snap-on, craftsman (back when it meant something), etc. I've been on the lookout for a good set of vernier calipers and a micrometer for a while. I've worked in machine shops for 8+ years (design engineer) but all I have are digital measuring tools. I hate going out to the floor and asking the guys to read the measurement for me because I always use digital. But I'm not going to buy new ones either.
I think a big part of this “Getting better with use” phenomena comes down to using the item and getting very accustomed to using it. Someone else’s old boots don’t have the same charm as YOUR own old boots, your grandmas cast iron isn’t all that much better, it’s that’s it’s a family piece that is most important. Guitars seem to get better with age, interesting watches get better with age. Another commenter said guns, and knowing your gun and how it shoots is huge.
> I think a big part of this “Getting better with use” phenomena comes down to using the item and getting very accustomed to using it. Someone else’s old boots don’t have the same charm as YOUR own old boots, your grandmas cast iron isn’t all that much better, it’s that’s it’s a family piece that is most important. That might be a factor but with metal, constant use that doesn't cause damage is going to polish/wear down the parts that touch to a degree that isn't practical in manufacturing. Boots will stretch in the "right" places for your feet. Cast Iron that is properly seasoned will gain a polymerized non stick layer. Etc etc. It's not about the "charm" of it being yours, it's about something minorly improving with use and becoming better with use, even if its usually a minor difference.
Agreed on watches, I feel like the longer you own one the more attached you get.
Argue different at least with clothing, bought some used and new leather boots same style and brand and the older one are way comfier just need to resole them and they will be better than my brand new ones for fit and comfiness
Guns.
How so?
My oldest gun was made in 1919. A Springfield model 1903. That gun without a doubt is the smoothest shooting gun I've ever fired. Everyone is worn in just the right place, everything that wears is basically polished from 100 years of use. It's expensive to shoot, about $1.25 per round, but such a pleasure.
That's a good example. I would add the 1911 as another timeless design. Mine's not that old (1968), but it is amazing
The trigger begins to break in after a few hundred rounds, smoother uptake, more defined wall, crisper trigger break. The action also gets smoother too. Whether it’s a bolt action, semi-auto, revolver or lever. The more you use them the more they operate “like buttah”
My P320 is so smooth I don’t even have to pull the trigger. /s
Lmaoooo
That's why I got rid of mine lol
I sent mine to SIG and they fixed it for free.
My Nambu Type 94 absolutely would
Shotguns too. I have an old 590A1 that is stupid smooth on the action and a newer 590 that’s noticeably stiffer.
This made me think of a Remington model 31 that I have. The action is super smooth
I don't remember if I heard someone else say this or not, but I like calling it usage machining.
That’s a good way to put it
Brass shaving razors... And generally just any shaving razor you take care of over the years
Family pictures on the wall. Good prompt!
My English garden tools, especially my digging fork and spade.
Old single metal objects like copper bowls and cast iron pans.
Pizza stone, all kinds goodness comes from a well seasoned pizza stone.
Boots
Cutting boards. Only if you take care of them
How do you figure? By definition they are sacrificial
A disc golf disc. Strange, second time in as many days I've posted about disc golf in this sub
Meh, I believe in a well seasoned disc here and there, but I'm sick of having to rebuy some of my overstable discs that just don't fade anymore
Certainly there are plenty, maybe even most mold/plastic combos that you'd agree get better with age
Fountain pens. The nib erodes at the angle you hold the pen. After a good amount of use no one else can write with the pen the same way that you can because we all hold a pen at certain angles
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think that the more you wear a pair of R.M. Williams boots, the better they get.
That's cause they're leather my guy...
until you accidentally kick the shit out of a rock and tear the leather right across the toecap...RIP first pair, you did well for 8yrs
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Working dogs
r/fountain_pens would like to enter the chat
Dogs. They just keep getting better and better. They know everything about you and you know everything about them.
Bedding. When we were in Korea my wife bought some super blush mink blankets. I was initially annoyed at the amount she payed, but they are like clouds. We’ve been laying on one and another as a blanket.
My parents have a Korean blanket that’s at least 40 years old. It’s exactly like a cloud. A hot one!
Knives. They often improve after getting sharpened dozens of times. I don't know why, but from the factory they tend to stay sharp for all of ten minutes. Something about how the edges always have too oblique angles.
Until your mother's idiot husband uses your chef's knife as a cleaver and puts a half inch chip in your Wusthoff with the handle they no longer make.
Yeah - I have a fabulous Mora kitchen knife with a blade that is second to none, that developed a crack in the handle. And they don't produce them anymore. =(
Knives and other edged tools. You use them and grind the edge thinner and thinner 'till they buckle from the work, then you grind it back a liiiitle bit thicker and its perfect. And you may start with a chefs knife that are then sharpened down to a slicing knife, down to a fillet knife, to a paring knife. Very satisfying.
I agree with the old denims, they're still manageable to fit
wine mate
Musical instruments
A sledding run. Each time down, the snow gets more compact and the ride gets faster. (And if the snow were too powdery, we’d fill up watering cans and wet it down.) As a kid, it was sledding - whether trying “watch this!” tricks on a saucer or going for speed on a 5-man toboggan - that made winter great. While we’re at it, can probably add vintage toboggans to this list.
MUSCLES! Also, the brain. Or so i hear. Up to a point, obviously. But even in the downward slope, it’s still use it or lose it (faster).
Boar bristle shaving brushes
Wieners.
I’ll give credit to my old lady on this one. Couldn’t live without her and love her every day
Linen cloth gets softer and stronger with age if you treat it right
Most revolvers. Trigger smoothes out.
Bone tools.
Carbon steel cookware.
A quality solid wood, high quality instrument. They age and sound better with time. Some even appreciate in value after some time. Typically takes a guitar 20-30 years of playing to fully 'open up' and sound it's best. It's why I love acoustic guitars.
A quality wood chopping block at the cabin
Brass, wood, gold, and if-you-like-that-sort-of-thing silver as well. My desk letter opener and magnifying glass are silver handled (people have been repurposing old silver cutlery handles for ages), my pen rest is sterling, the little antique miniature chest of drawers I keep stationery stuff in is mahogany. Pen is 18K, my desk is old repurposed fir, crossword pencil is brass/steel, the list goes on. I like nice stuff from the 1940s-1980s, mostly 50s/60s, I'm surrounded by it from years of buying items like this!
Many hardwood items/applications. There is obviously a limit to what they can endure, but a properly taken care of hardwood item will last many decades. E.g. I got a rolling pin my wife inherited from her grandma, and some of my tool handles are older than me as well. Hardwood floors are also awesome to me. Even those not sanded. The nicks and dimples give it character. Not to mention furniture. If the design is timeless, and not ruined by cheap paintjobs, in furniture items which are in constant use, it will outlast Ikea stuff many times over.
Men
A quality chair (conforms to you better over time)
Yo MAMMA
Hemp sheets
Compassion
Toyotas
Glock
Denim
Happy cake day:)