Favorite pens/pencils?

[Senthura]

I've used a Zebra M-402 mechanical pencil for years.  Eraser is crap, but that's just encouragement to not make mistakes. 

Oh I have to agree all around. The erasers they put on mechs are either too small... or too small and very crappy.

That's why I use these:

Staedtler Mechanical Eraser:

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Pentel Tri-Eraser:

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Staedtler Eraser:

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Staedtler Kneadable Eraser:

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The rectangle white ones are what I use and sometimes a cheaper brand I find at Walmart by Pentel or something. Great erasers. My Zebra M-301 has that tiny useless eraser problem.

[The Mad Professor]

I've used a Zebra M-402 mechanical pencil for years.  Eraser is crap, but that's just encouragement to not make mistakes. 

Oh I have to agree all around. The erasers they put on mechs are either too small... or too small and very crappy.

That's why I use these:

Staedtler Mechanical Eraser:

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Pentel Tri-Eraser:

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Staedtler Eraser:

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Staedtler Kneadable Eraser:

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The rectangle white ones are what I use and sometimes a cheaper brand I find at Walmart by Pentel or something. Great erasers. My Zebra M-301 has that tiny useless eraser problem.

I use the first two when I'm just doing writing or quick sketches in pencil. The third one is great for heavy erasing (I love the fact that they have a very low rate of crumbling), and the last one removes graphite without leaving any eraser residue (perfect for instances where extraneous marks and smears are undesireable).

I used to use the old Pink Pearl erasers, but I found a much better use for them. I occasionally will grab five or so and make custom stamps out of them. Just carve out your stamp, spray a nice fixative, and epoxy a handle, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than getting one made.

[Tiramisuu]

I am partial to a Parker rollerball but being left handed they are a bit messy.

[do_Og@n]

Just upgraded...



It's a good pen but it's supposed to be a medium nib.

[terrpn]

Just upgraded...

(Attachment Link)

It's a good pen but it's supposed to be a medium nib.

nice pen and yea it looks a little beefy for medium- has a big chunk of iridium on it for sure, but looks pretty smooth.

great candidate to have smoothed into a med-fine italic though

[Tiramisuu]

Damn fountain pens just don't make us lefties happy.

A nice heavy mont blanc and a gel ink refill although I love the feel of a roller ball.

[CPTBadAss]

I picked up a CH and a purse pen in pastel pink

how  are the threads on the barrel? many are usually stained pretty bad from old ink and hard to get back to the original plastic.

also.............did they come with any uncommon nib units on them?

The pink Purse pen cleaned up fine and didn't have any cracks. It had a 1551 nib. I haven't cleaned the CH yet. But it came with a 2314B nib which I'm really excited for.

My Stipula Etruria. It's a celluloid model. Has amazing depth and a beautiful shimmer in the light. My pics don't capture it.

Wife got it for me after I finished a grueling Theology of Jonathan Edwards class. Over 1000 pages of sermons and theo from the 1700's!

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Damn that Stipula looks great :D

And now I want a fancy pen too. Damn this forum.

Not super expensive but, get yourself a twsbi. Great first pens imo

I think they're a bit pricey for a first pen, especially considering there's great options like the Pilot Varsity/Metropolitan. But I've really grown to like the TWBSIs and I really can't wait for the 580USA and perhaps pick up a Mini as well :D.

[demik]

yeah but you dont need to upgrade from it. unlike the metropolitan. and you get choices of nibs, and a normal grip area (unlike the weird **** safari has that i can't use for the life of me)

[CPTBadAss]

Why do you need to upgrade from a metropolitan

[demik]

nibs

[iri]

unlike the weird **** safari has that i can't use for the life of me

safari's grip area is perfect.

[ComradeSniper]

Dropped my Rotring 600 today and bent the nib. 

Guess this is my chance to give the 800 a try.

[dorkvader]

Dropped my Rotring 600 today and bent the nib. 

Guess this is my chance to give the 800 a try.

Wait, I know there's a rotring 600 FP and pencil (which I have: sweet pencil), is there a rotring 800 FP or did you bend your rotring 600 pencil tip?

Either way it's a tragedy. Have you contacted them, maybe there's a way to get a replacement part? I think replacing the nib on the FP can be done without too much effort, and rebending it might be a possibility there too.

[mreverything]

My daily pens are a Micron and a Sailor HighAce Neo Beginner's Fountain Pen.

I love vintage pencils. I have some Blackwing 602s, a Blaisdell Special Grade Calculator 600 (yeah, just one), and Blackfeet Indian pencils. The Blackfeet are the least expensive to pick up on ebay.

[ComradeSniper]

Dropped my Rotring 600 today and bent the nib. 

Guess this is my chance to give the 800 a try.

Wait, I know there's a rotring 600 FP and pencil (which I have: sweet pencil), is there a rotring 800 FP or did you bend your rotring 600 pencil tip?

Either way it's a tragedy. Have you contacted them, maybe there's a way to get a replacement part? I think replacing the nib on the FP can be done without too much effort, and rebending it might be a possibility there too.

Whoops, I mean the pencil tip.

I tried gently rebending it but it fell out, and I made the mistake of doing so over carpet so now I can't find it. It still writes okay but it's pretty wobbly. I'm not sure if the tip can be replaced, but I'll contact them and see what they say.

[demik]

unlike the weird **** safari has that i can't use for the life of me

safari's grip area is perfect.

nope, feels horrible. round grip > that 3 point crap

[inteli722]

Dropped my Rotring 600 today and bent the nib. 

Guess this is my chance to give the 800 a try.

Wait, I know there's a rotring 600 FP and pencil (which I have: sweet pencil), is there a rotring 800 FP or did you bend your rotring 600 pencil tip?

Either way it's a tragedy. Have you contacted them, maybe there's a way to get a replacement part? I think replacing the nib on the FP can be done without too much effort, and rebending it might be a possibility there too.

Whoops, I mean the pencil tip.

I tried gently rebending it but it fell out, and I made the mistake of doing so over carpet so now I can't find it. It still writes okay but it's pretty wobbly. I'm not sure if the tip can be replaced, but I'll contact them and see what they say.

Ive seen replacement tips on jetpens, so you probably can replace the tip.

Keep the dream alive

[iri]

unlike the weird **** safari has that i can't use for the life of me

safari's grip area is perfect.

nope, feels horrible. round grip > that 3 point crap

a-ha.

[yasuo]

What... people still use pens...? 

People still use keyboards? I thought everybody used those fancy touch screens now

no one wants to use a touch screen, it's only cuz they have to....

mouse and keyboard... all the way....

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right, touch screen is annoying :confused: for Handphone keypad better ;D

[TacticalCoder]

I never paid much attention to this thread and always have been using crappy pens but then the other day I had to sign some legal paperwork and I had no pen with me so someone gave me his (ballpoint ?) pen so I could sign.  I immediately how "nice" and "sweet" this thing was, both the feeling in the hand and the feeling while writing.

So I said "Nice pen!" (well, in french) and looked at the thing: apparently it was an Dupont / S.T. Dupont one.

So I'm convinced: I want something like that. Not necessarily something in the hundreds and hundreds or euros / dollars and not necessarily a Dupont but something of quality. A (ballpoint) pen that you can take in your hand and immediately notice the quality. I care about the look and the feeling when I hold the pen as much as the quality of writing: I don't want something looking "cheapo-plastic", no matter how good it is at writing.

So I'm asking the oracle here: which ballpoint pen should I buy, knowing that it's mostly going to be to sign legal paperwork (so no heavy use, although I do tend to have to sign quite a lot of papers)? 

[tp4tissue]

I never paid much attention to this thread and always have been using crappy pens but then the other day I had to sign some legal paperwork and I had no pen with me so someone gave me his (ballpoint ?) pen so I could sign.  I immediately how "nice" and "sweet" this thing was, both the feeling in the hand and the feeling while writing.

So I said "Nice pen!" (well, in french) and looked at the thing: apparently it was an Dupont / S.T. Dupont one.

So I'm convinced: I want something like that. Not necessarily something in the hundreds and hundreds or euros / dollars and not necessarily a Dupont but something of quality. A (ballpoint) pen that you can take in your hand and immediately notice the quality. I care about the look and the feeling when I hold the pen as much as the quality of writing: I don't want something looking "cheapo-plastic", no matter how good it is at writing.

So I'm asking the oracle here: which ballpoint pen should I buy, knowing that it's mostly going to be to sign legal paperwork (so no heavy use, although I do tend to have to sign quite a lot of papers)? 

get one of those milled universal pens from kickstarter...

they can use any cartridge form any manufacturer.. and they're really solid..  tactical ready.. !!


But...  fair warning....


If you write with a nice pen..  and your writing looks like **** and suck ass... 


you'll be THAT GUY...

you know THAT GUY..   the guy who shows up with a really expensive guitar, but can't play worth a damn..


So.. with great pens, comes great responsibility...   


Conversely,   there's always THE Guy, you know The Guy who can bust-a-groove using any pen...   the guy that plays 100x better on his $50 guitar, and make you feel like an ass even on your beginners $200 guitar..

[terrpn]

Of course if you ask me I will tell you to go for a vintage ballpoint of some sort............

I don't really use many ballpoints, mostly fountain pens-- however I do own a few Aurora, Mont Blanc, Rotring, Lamy, etc. ballpoints that are very nice and have great balance to them,

Parker'esque pens are nice because there are so many options with a pen that will accept a Parker refill

Good luck........

[iri]

I never paid much attention to this thread and always have been using crappy pens but then the other day I had to sign some legal paperwork and I had no pen with me so someone gave me his (ballpoint ?) pen so I could sign.  I immediately how "nice" and "sweet" this thing was, both the feeling in the hand and the feeling while writing.

So I said "Nice pen!" (well, in french) and looked at the thing: apparently it was an Dupont / S.T. Dupont one.

So I'm convinced: I want something like that. Not necessarily something in the hundreds and hundreds or euros / dollars and not necessarily a Dupont but something of quality. A (ballpoint) pen that you can take in your hand and immediately notice the quality. I care about the look and the feeling when I hold the pen as much as the quality of writing: I don't want something looking "cheapo-plastic", no matter how good it is at writing.

So I'm asking the oracle here: which ballpoint pen should I buy, knowing that it's mostly going to be to sign legal paperwork (so no heavy use, although I do tend to have to sign quite a lot of papers)? 

montblanc 146


aurora oceania


aurora optima


caran d'ache whatever, they are all good


monteverde intima


delta prestige

[mr.squishy]

My spoke inverse
Anodized aluminum .5 2013 limited edition mechanical pencil

[TacticalCoder]

montblanc 146

aurora oceania

aurora optima

caran d'ache whatever, they are all good

monteverde intima

delta prestige

Thanks a lot iri, several of these seems to be very enjoyable to hold: I'll check how much they're worth and pick one which ain't going to cost and arm and a leg 

[CPTBadAss]

A (ballpoint) pen that you can take in your hand and immediately notice the quality. I care about the look and the feeling when I hold the pen as much as the quality of writing: I don't want something looking "cheapo-plastic", no matter how good it is at writing.

I'm very partial to the Fisher Space Pen. I think it's the only ballpoint I have left that I actually use.

[ynrozturk]

My spoke inverse
Anodized aluminum .5 2013 limited edition mechanical pencil

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Wow that's gorgeous.

[TacticalCoder]

I'm very partial to the Fisher Space Pen. I think it's the only ballpoint I have left that I actually use.

I'll go either with a Space Pen or with a "Caran d'Ache" model "Alchemix", which seems both reasonably priced, good looking and seems to be enjoyable to hold.  Heck, I may buy both and see which one I prefer.

Anyway: thanks a lot for the tips to the pencil noob that I am ^ ^

[CPTBadAss]

I'll go either with a Space Pen or with a "Caran d'Ache" model "Alchemix", which seems both reasonably priced, good looking and seems to be enjoyable to hold.  Heck, I may buy both and see which one I prefer.

Anyway: thanks a lot for the tips to the pencil noob that I am ^ ^

I couple months ago, I tried a Caran d'Ache fountain pen and was smitten. I think if the ballpoints are as good quality as their fountain pens, you'll be happy.

But like I said, I'd happily recommend the Fisher Space Pen to anyone looking for a good ballpoint. Mine's sitting on my desk next to my Pilot Vanishing Point.

[iri]

caran d'ache is particularly famous for build quality of their writing instruments. also for how they can distort a russian word.

[ezrahilyer]

My favorite pen for every day use is the Zebra Sharbo X.
http://www.jetpens.com/Zebra-Sharbo-X-ST3-Pen-Body-Component-Black/pd/4236

I have the orange one, and carry it just about everywhere. I have a 0.3 pencil, and 2 0.4 gellpen refills in it right now.

GREAT PEN!

[luisbg]

I used to have a Faber Castell pen I loved, until I lost it. Now I can't get myself to buy a nice pen because I know I will lose it.