pens

[dashDustin]

Maybe it’s not haute enough, but I’ve been using Rotring stuff for years…. 600 series pens, 600 and 800 pencils. Prefer the 800 pencil. I think I still have the original pens from years ago, use them every day. I’ve lost a couple of the pencils, but have never broken one. Bombproof. Good weight. Good texture. Parker Quink gel cartridges in the pens… Rotring leads in the pencils.

Big fan of my Rotring pencil. It shares time with a Uni Kuru Toga.

[j44ke]

Maybe it’s not haute enough, but I’ve been using Rotring stuff for years…. 600 series pens, 600 and 800 pencils. Prefer the 800 pencil. I think I still have the original pens from years ago, use them every day. I’ve lost a couple of the pencils, but have never broken one. Bombproof. Good weight. Good texture. Parker Quink gel cartridges in the pens… Rotring leads in the pencils.

Yep, they are nice and dependable. I really like the pencils.

[Matthew Strongin]

On the TWSBIs, various parts of the body just kept cracking. As I'm looking at it now, more crack have developed. On the Lamy, the nib. Really like the Lamy, but really don't want to be concerned about nibs failing. Maybe it's a combo of lefty writing and lower tier nibs? I don't know. I'd by a roller ball Lamy Safari, though.

Interesting. I have a couple TWSBI Eco that I'll start keeping an eye on. Wouldn't want them to crack and leak in my desk. My one Lamy has been solid, though I admittedly don't use it all that often as I much prefer other pens in my collection. Mine is the Aion, which is a step up from the Safari / All-Star range. It's a nice pen with a decent nib, but I prefer my pens with Jowo nibs for steel. And once I picked up a Sailor with a 21K nib I was in trouble.

[Matthew Strongin]

Yep, they are nice and dependable. I really like the pencils.

Same here. My Rotring pencil was a gift from my dad when I went to college. I still use it regularly 23 years later. It's also still my only pencil. Pretty good deal in the end.

[Mabouya]

Maybe it’s not haute enough, but I’ve been using Rotring stuff for years…. 600 series pens, 600 and 800 pencils. Prefer the 800 pencil. I think I still have the original pens from years ago, use them every day. I’ve lost a couple of the pencils, but have never broken one. Bombproof. Good weight. Good texture. Parker Quink gel cartridges in the pens… Rotring leads in the pencils.

+1

I have a silver Rotring 600 pen as my daily driver at work. (I'm an enginerd.) At first the skinny bit at the end (hold-over from the original mechanical pencil design) looked out of place on a pen, but I've gotten used to it. One of these days, when I'm getting my next order of stuff from Jet Pens, I'll probably get a black one too.

Edit: I'm still looking for a "Parker style" refill for the Rotring that's as good as a Schmidt P8126 / 8126 capless rollerball. (Best ever IMO!!!) I've tried the Quink and it just didn't work for me.

(I probably shouldn't have opened the "best refill" can of worms - it's sort of like the "best chain lube" thing...)

[Drew]

+1

I have a silver Rotring 600 pen as my daily driver at work. (I'm an enginerd.) At first the skinny bit at the end (hold-over from the original mechanical pencil design) looked out of place on a pen, but I've gotten used to it. One of these days, when I'm getting my next order of stuff from Jet Pens, I'll probably get a black one too.

Edit: I'm still looking for a "Parker style" refill for the Rotring that's as good as a Schmidt P8126 / 8126 capless rollerball. (Best ever IMO!!!) I've tried the Quink and it just didn't work for me.

(I probably shouldn't have opened the "best refill" can of worms - it's sort of like the "best chain lube" thing...)

Engineer here also… let me know if you find a better refill! The black Quink refills have been great. The blue ones are hit and miss… sometimes they just stop after a few days. But the blue refills that make it past infancy run forever.

[Bingissimo]

Despite all my Sheaffer love above, I am seriously looking at a Conway Stewart Churchill. It fills the same handmade British niche as a curly stays Hetchins would.

[j44ke]

We went to a bar mitzvah this weekend, and our friends' boy evidently asked for a fountain pen (he is a manga/anime-crazed drawing maniac) for drawing and of course because it was his own suggestion it was rejected entirely by his parents. Oy these parents. So my wife and I went to a fountain pen shop in Toronto (Laywine's) and bought him an excellent Pelikan M400 with a fine nib (they were willing to switch out nibs at no extra cost) and a bottle of Pelikan ink. There's an old joke about bar mitzvah's and fountain pens, but this somehow seemed like a modern present. Anyway, he was pretty excited about it. He wanted to figure out filling it on his own, which is admirable. I expect there will be spillage and bent nibs, but if so he'll be able to get it fixed and get lessons on how to do it correctly at the local shop.

[72gmc]

Good work! Support your local artist.

[dgaddis]

Maybe it’s not haute enough, but I’ve been using Rotring stuff for years…. 600 series pens, 600 and 800 pencils. Prefer the 800 pencil. I think I still have the original pens from years ago, use them every day. I’ve lost a couple of the pencils, but have never broken one. Bombproof. Good weight. Good texture. Parker Quink gel cartridges in the pens… Rotring leads in the pencils.

I had one of the pencils. First time I took it out of the office on a surveying trip I dropped it and bend the little thin tubular tip. Never worked well again. Before that it was great, but I don't recommend them if you're using them away from a desk haha.

[dgaddis]

I've gone all in on the Tactile Turn bolt action pens. The bronze and titanium model are both from 2019 (I forget when exactly), the copper is a newer pick up. The bronze is fully patina'd out, and has been for a long time haha. The ti and copper models both get carried when doing surveying trips for work, I usually take them both to have a spare if I drop one (they seem to always land right on the tip of the cartridge...).

It's interesting how the texture on these changes with use. New the 'ridges' feel sharp, not cut-you-sharp, but they have some bite. But that bite is gone on all of them now, the texture is still there, but it's not as aggressive.

The ti pen has been carried the most, and it's often right up against my pocket knife clipped to my pocket, so pulling in/out over the years has scratched that side up and it's essentially smooth now.



Titanium - trying to get a pic of the scratches and smoothed out section is hard....


Bronze - full patina


Partial patina from way back when


No patina from even further way back when


Copper - a flat spot that resulted from a drop.

[j44ke]

I had one of the pencils. First time I took it out of the office on a surveying trip I dropped it and bend the little thin tubular tip. Never worked well again. Before that it was great, but I don't recommend them if you're using them away from a desk haha.

The Rotring 800 pencil is fully retractable.

[Matthew Strongin]

I've gone all in on the Tactile Turn bolt action pens. The bronze and titanium model are both from 2019 (I forget when exactly), the copper is a newer pick up. The bronze is fully patina'd out, and has been for a long time haha. The ti and copper models both get carried when doing surveying trips for work, I usually take them both to have a spare if I drop one (they seem to always land right on the tip of the cartridge...).

It's interesting how the texture on these changes with use. New the 'ridges' feel sharp, not cut-you-sharp, but they have some bite. But that bite is gone on all of them now, the texture is still there, but it's not as aggressive.

The ti pen has been carried the most, and it's often right up against my pocket knife clipped to my pocket, so pulling in/out over the years has scratched that side up and it's essentially smooth now.



Titanium - trying to get a pic of the scratches and smoothed out section is hard....


Bronze - full patina


Partial patina from way back when


No patina from even further way back when


Copper - a flat spot that resulted from a drop.

Have you paired those with one of the Tactile Knife offerings? The Rockwall thumbstud is awesome and so is the Bexar if you dig slipjoints.

[Matthew Strongin]

We went to a bar mitzvah this weekend, and our friends' boy evidently asked for a fountain pen (he is a manga/anime-crazed drawing maniac) for drawing and of course because it was his own suggestion it was rejected entirely by his parents. Oy these parents. So my wife and I went to a fountain pen shop in Toronto (Laywine's) and bought him an excellent Pelikan M400 with a fine nib (they were willing to switch out nibs at no extra cost) and a bottle of Pelikan ink. There's an old joke about bar mitzvah's and fountain pens, but this somehow seemed like a modern present. Anyway, he was pretty excited about it. He wanted to figure out filling it on his own, which is admirable. I expect there will be spillage and bent nibs, but if so he'll be able to get it fixed and get lessons on how to do it correctly at the local shop.

13 year old me would have loved you. Not to say current me doesn't, but that's an awesome gift. I had fountain pens as a kid because my grandfather had them and I would do anything he did.

[Drew]

I had one of the pencils. First time I took it out of the office on a surveying trip I dropped it and bend the little thin tubular tip. Never worked well again. Before that it was great, but I don't recommend them if you're using them away from a desk haha.

This is why I prefer the 800 pencil. The “nib” is retractable.

[Ras72]

No patina from even further way back when

Dustin, Those pens are cool and all but I'm curious as to why there's no domestic hot water serving the P-10 lavatory - adjacent to Toilet 1125. And are you guys required to put ball valves at every branch if it's serving only one fixture? Curious minds...

[dgaddis]

Have you paired those with one of the Tactile Knife offerings? The Rockwall thumbstud is awesome and so is the Bexar if you dig slipjoints.

I have not, I've got a Waypoint which is similar in so many ways and has a few things I prefer over the Rockwall (hollow grind and washers) so I haven't tried a knife (yet).

Dustin, Those pens are cool and all but I'm curious as to why there's no domestic hot water serving the P-10 lavatory - adjacent to Toilet 1125. And are you guys required to put ball valves at every branch if it's serving only one fixture? Curious minds...

That's a sink in a teacher work/break room and it did get HW as well, I just hadn't hooked it up yet. As for valves, we show 'em everywhere because that's what the owner wants, every kick off meeting the maintenance guys tell us they want lots and lots of valves.

This is the school FWIW, tho that P-10 didn't make the video lol ::

[NYCfixie]

I finally picked up something from Schon Dsgn. It's a new model, THE MACHINED PEN V2 - THE ANNIVERSARY EDITION, in limited metals for now so I went with the Aluminum version.

It ships with the Uni Jetstream SXR-600-7 ParkerG2 style refill which is a really nice writing (for a ballpoint) newer-style low-viscosity oil based ink. It writes on anything. I would say it is tied with the Fisher pressurized refill for an EDC ballpoint refill that will write on anything. The Fisher probably writes on more things but the Uni refill is a better writing experience (again, for a ballpoint.)

@Matthew Strongin is correct that the aluminum versions are very light. Too light for me to use for an extended writing period but great to keep in the bag or pocket for writing quick notes.

@dgaddis is correct that having the cap is annoying because you have to uncap it every time you want to write a quick note. For me, that is what makes it a great pen for my bag because I have never had good luck with non-capped pens in bags and pockets.

Ultimately, it was a great purchase and I am glad I have it but for me it does not work as an everyday "desk pen" though that was probably not the intent of the original design.


photo credit - schon dsgn

[Matthew Strongin]

Looks good! My pen collection has ballooned, not surprising to anyone who knows me, and Schon still features prominently. Now that I'm going back to the office with some regularity the Schon P6 gets a ton of use. I love the Tactile Turn Side-click for quick notes where I don't want to be bothered to uncap/recap a pen. But for long writing sessions I've started to used Sailor fountain pens almost exclusively. Different nib sizes and styles for different uses or occasions.

[NYCfixie]

Mine has too. I even created a spreadsheet so I can keep track of them and the refills they need. Interestingly, when I think I have too many pens I purchase another storage case to keep them all unlike watches which I tend to sell when I acquire too many.

I have never been a fountain pen user and still love my rollerballs (Lamy 2000, Al-Star, Safari, Studio and Montblanc Classique, LeGrand) but it has been fun lately experimenting with all the Parker G2 sized ballpoint refills. I use the Schon I recently purchased and a Tombow Zoom 505 ballpoint which also takes ParkerG2 refills. I have been trying out refills from Fisher, Jetstream, Parker, Schmidt, Schneider, and Uniball in several kinds of ink: ballpoint/oil, ballpoint/low viscosity-oil, Hybrid, and Gel. So far, I like the Uni Jetstream SXR-600-7 in the Schon for EDC quick notes and the Schmidt 9000 EasyFlow in the Towbow for longer writing periods. The Schneider Slider 755 in XB is another good option and writes very smoothly similar to the Schmidt EasyFlow. The Parker QuinkGel and Schneider Gelion are great too but I am not yet sure I am sold on Gel ink. It is very similar to rollerball ink so I might as well just use one of my many rollerball pens.

Looks good! My pen collection has ballooned, not surprising to anyone who knows me, and Schon still features prominently. Now that I'm going back to the office with some regularity the Schon P6 gets a ton of use. I love the Tactile Turn Side-click for quick notes where I don't want to be bothered to uncap/recap a pen. But for long writing sessions I've started to used Sailor fountain pens almost exclusively. Different nib sizes and styles for different uses or occasions.