A Different Type Of Col-O-Dex Swatching For Pens And Typewriters

Posted on by Derek

About a year ago, I found an old 2 wheel Rolodex, and I planned to use this for my fountain pen ink swatches. What I did not realize at the time, is there is no way that I would ever be able to fill both sides, as my measly collection barely fills enough of one side, and I have no aspirations to have the largest ink collection or anything like that. This left me in a predicament of what do I do with the other side of the Rolodex.

My vintage double roll metal Rolodex. Ink swatches go on the right, and the left will be typewriters and pens.

A while back, Lisa of OliveOctopus.ink gave me the idea of doing a pen inventory on the other side. I liked this idea, but I hadn’t done anything with it. I was not sure of the best way to make it happen, but it did have me thinking through how that might work. Once I started to get into typewriters, I found myself with something else that I wanted to have a good inventory of, especially the typefaces of the various machines. I thought about using my Instax printer for images, but that was just too bulky, and I didn’t think that it would work well with the Rolodex setup.

I saw some people talking about the Canon Ivy printers, and that is when everything seemed to come together to make what had been in the back of my mind come to fruition. The Ivy prints on ZINK paper, and each photo is a peel back sticker. These happen to be the perfect size to fit on a Col-O-Dex card from The Well Appointed Desk, so once all of these factors combined, I had everything that I needed to start to populate the other side of my Rolodex.

The Canon Ivy printer and a 10 pack of the sticker print media.

Once I got all of the pieces in place, I got to work at creating what had been brewing for over a year. I went through all of my typewriters and took photos, and then did a typeface swatch on the opposite side of the cards. This will allow for a visual reference of the machine, as well as the typeface that comes on it. This will be handy to take with me to events where I might be talking about typewriters as well if people have questions. It took some time to get them all compiled, but here is what I came up with.

My Typewriter Swatch Cards

My typewriter swatch cards on the Col-O-Dex cards printed with the Canon Ivy.
I used the typewriters to do typeface swatching on the other side of the cards.

The typewriter cards ended up great, so now I am starting the process of working through my pens.

I will create a complete pen inventory to go alongside the typewriters in the Rolodex.
On the back I will note the make, year I got it if I can validate that, the material that it is made from, and what nib size and filling mechanism.

This has been a fun project, and will continue to go on for quite some time as I work on creating cards for my entire pen collection. The Rolodex turns out to be a great solution for organizing collections like this, so now the question is, what other collections need a similar style set of cards in the future.

I Am Really Loving Curated Mystery Boxes

Posted on by Derek

Ever since Joe from The Gentleman Stationer announced his first ever Patron mystery box, or as he describes it, Curated box, I knew that was something that I wanted to try out. I am a terrible person to try to get gifts for, as my wife can attest to, as if I see something that I want to get, I will research all of the options and get whatever version I feel like will be the right fit for me. The idea of receiving a box and having no idea what is in it, that is a way to bring back some of that mystery associated with opening up a gift.

I have now been a part of almost every box that Joe has offered aside from one on this last round, as he added it after I had already picked up the couple that I talked about in this latest video and I really can’t think of a single item that I have either not given an honest try, or in some cases, they have become staple items that I use all of the time. I have also found that items from past boxes really come to be useful for future boxes. A great example of that is the NJK long reach pencil sharpener from the very first box, I have used that to sharpen future wood case pencils that have come in later boxes.

These boxes are normally offered to Patrons first, so you might consider signing up for the Gentleman Stationer Patreon if you want to be able to get one of these when they next come available, but for the last few, there have been some left over that have been released to the general public as well.

Here are some of the past curated box videos to check out as well.

May 2026 Update

Posted on by Derek

So updating the website seems to be one of the things that go to the bottom of the list, but I am trying to get things better updated. I have been creating pages for the various typewriters, and also working on both a typewriter and pen inventory that I will be putting here in various ways as time allows.

I have all of my inks up to date on Fountain Pen Companion, so that is available if you want to see what inks that I have in the collection.

I have still been actively sending letters and postcards, so if you would like to receive something, you can submit your address via the google form found here.

Be sure to check Youtube for weekly Livestream links for the Thursday night livestreams at 6PM CST.