Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: The Search For the Ultimate Engineer's Pen
First time accepted submitter Laser Dan writes "I'm an engineer (robotics) who can't seem to find a pen that satisfies me. Most of my writing is just temporary "thinking notes" on random bits of paper, like diagrams, flowcharts, equations etc, but pens always seem to have one or more of the following issues:
1. They write too thickly — I write very small, and when I start adding extra details to diagrams it gets even smaller. A line width of about 0.2-0.4mm would be good.
2. The ink bleeds, making the lines thick and unclear.
3. The ink is slow to dry or the tip grows blobs of ink, causing smudges everywhere.
4. The first line drawn is not fully dark, as the ink takes a short distance to get going.
5. The lines drawn are faint unless you press hard (I don't).
I have been given several fancy pens (Parker etc) over the years but they all suffered from problems 1, 3 (blobs), 4 and 5. I'm considering trying a Fisher space pen, but it looks like even the fine cartridge writes rather thickly. Have any fellow Slashdotters found their ultimate pen?"
1. They write too thickly — I write very small, and when I start adding extra details to diagrams it gets even smaller. A line width of about 0.2-0.4mm would be good.
2. The ink bleeds, making the lines thick and unclear.
3. The ink is slow to dry or the tip grows blobs of ink, causing smudges everywhere.
4. The first line drawn is not fully dark, as the ink takes a short distance to get going.
5. The lines drawn are faint unless you press hard (I don't).
I have been given several fancy pens (Parker etc) over the years but they all suffered from problems 1, 3 (blobs), 4 and 5. I'm considering trying a Fisher space pen, but it looks like even the fine cartridge writes rather thickly. Have any fellow Slashdotters found their ultimate pen?"
It's called a pencil.
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Added benefit: clean revisions.
Anything less would be uncivilized.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
This should satisfy your needs: Inkless Metal Pen. I have one..... Somewhere in the mess of my desk. It works really well! I haven't had any long term results yet, seeing as I don't know exactly where it is, but I love(d) it!
Apparently 0.7mm is too thick for Mr. Writes-Really-Small.
I'd recommend a 0.2mm mechanical drafting pencil, but there's an even simpler solution: don't write so damn small.
As a bonus, your notes won't look like they were written by a serial killer.
Required reading for internet skeptics
Can't think of a better pen than the Pilot V5
I'll second that - the Palm Pilot V was great for taking notes. Once you learn Graffiti.
I bought one for fun thinking it was a gimmick. Nope it works. What it does is each time you lift the pencil off the page it rotates the lead a tiny bit to prevent a chisel tip. This keeps the line width from changing. Very nice.
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
1) Find a goose.
2) Pluck a large quill feather.
3) If the point isn't fine enough, keep plucking
Note: the goose will probably be annoyed after your first choice. Annoyed gueese have a way of convincing you that your current quill selection is good enough.
Cheers,
Dave
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
I have handwritten with Staedtler technical pens for years. The 0.5 mm size is my preferred compromise since it gives a thin writing line, but is easier to maintain than their thinest-diameter pens are.
My use is for writing notes, really small, in the margin of a Bible. The ink from a technical pen never bleeds through the thin paper, and the writing still looks fresh after 40 years.
A technical pen also makes fine works of art (pen sketching), if you have the talent for that.
To make such a pen last longer between cleanings, store it tip upwards. Mine resides on my desk in a shot glass.
The Pilot V5 breaks after I take it on an airplane(*). The pressure change must break a seal or something, because from then on it will bleed around the edges and leave ink all over my fingers. In general it is a great pen that is easy to find in shops, but for being called a "Pilot" pen, it sure doesn't handle flying well.
be warned, SpacePen ink never actually dries. It can impress on adjacent pages if pressed tightly or if you write double sided. It will easily smudge as well.
I've found that it will also form blobs on the end of the pen reasonably frequently.
That said, I still use a SpacePen half of the time. relatively bulletproof and reliable.
By preference, I use a fountain pen. With practice, I could write maths notes down to 2mm letter size for "you can bring a sheet of notes" style exams.
I realise it's not for everyone.
Buy them here
They pretty much are never going to wear out under normal use. If you get a refillable pen, be sure to buy the special ink intended to go in them. Regular india ink will make a huge mess if you try to use it in them.
If you use quality india ink, it works fine. My mom is a graphic artist who has spent probably collectively years working with those pens (classic rapidographs) and that's all she uses. Her work has won numerous awards. Also, the pens may not wear out, but under normal use, the tips go quick. That's why statistically nobody uses them for writing letters &c.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"