Hello

What type of pen do you recommend to draw the finest possible lines on ordinary paper & tracing paper?

Important factors:
– Low maintenance
– Must reliably draw dark/black lines, of constant width
– Must dry fairly quickly

Major bonus factors:
– Being erasable
– Should not smudge easily (e.g. once dry)

Minor bonus factors:
– A nice smooth action ==> easy to write as well as draw with
– The darker the better ==> easy to read
– Different colours of ink

Doesn't matter:
– Fade proof
– Waterproof

Use:
– High precision "life size" drawings of extremely small objects.
– The precision required is hard to quantify, but to give you an idea, I am using +5 reading glasses.

THINGS I'VE TRIED

A) Indian ink pens
When they work they are great at drawing jet-black ultra-fine lines.
BUT
– They are massively high maintenance. i.e. The block up easily
– They can be messy & ink can easily leak out & get everywhere

B) Unipin Fine Line pens (e.g. "0.05mm" )
Low maintenance, fairly smooth action, fadeproof, waterproof
BUT:
– I am hoping to get finer lines!
– Also not erasable

C) Propelling pencils
Erasable
BUT:
– I have a 0.3mm propelling pencil but the leads break easily
– I hoping for a finer line than 0.3mm
– Pencil lines are not very dark.

Thanks

Donald

PS This is what I currently use: (0.05mm Uni Pin Fineliner drawing pens)

Edited By Donald MacDonald 1 on 17/04/2022 15:35:48

Speedy Builder
1. > Draw 2 x size and photo reduce to size.
Yes, I already do that where I can, but in this case I can't.

2.
Link
> DÉSOLÉ
> cette page n’existe pas (plus).

Are you suggesting search for "mapping pens" on Amazon?
If so can you recommend anything specific that is finer than my "0.05mm" pens

Dave – To be fair some, the injet papers I am using seem to only barely blot – if at all. Ideally I need a paper that I can print (using inkjet) on as well as write on, which is why I specified ordinary paper/tracing paper.

Re "Mapping Pen"
Frome what I can see this is a generic term for a type of "dip pens"/"dipping pens", yes?
If so, like I say I'm trying to avoid the hassle & maintence & potential for spillage of dipping pens.

Hmmm… I don't know anything about ultrasonic cleaners. It seems a little excessive just to get a pen that works. What other stuff do you use your ultrasonic cleaners for?

In terms of "Technical Drawing Pens" it depends what you mean. Different websites seem to mean different things!

Re Rotring/refillable Technical Drawing Pens (what we used to call Indian ink), about 20 years ago I used to own some Staelder Marsmatic Technical Pens, which I think we found to be slightly less scratchy than Rotring but both types clogged up quite quickly if not used and I also found they had to be used very vertically to the paper. So I threw mine out many years ago.

That said, I see Rotring also make a "Rotring Tikky Graphic 0.10mm Black Fibre Tip Pen". However the thinnest one they make is that "0.1mm", whereas other manufacturers seem to much thinner (?).

e.g. It turns out that Uni Pin (Mitsubishi Pencil Co) now make a "0.03mm" version. Sound tempting although it does not seem particularly well reviewed.

But I'm extremely confused about "0.05" Uni Pin Fine Line pen that I have.
The official website has the "pen nib size" as "0.05mm"
(see **LINK**)
However I just measured mine, and metal jacket/pointy bit seems to be 0.78mm and the actual felt measures 0.5mm and not "0.05mm"!

Maybe they mean the line thickness…(??)

However IME, if you are pressing hard enough to get a reasonably consistent black line, I still seriously doubt it is "0.05mm" thick. I mean 0.05mm is thinner than the nominal thickness of human hair which is 0.075mm (75 microns).

Mike: Yes, I use Pilot Frixxion pens too whenever I will need to erase the lines. If you try hard enough you can find them with "0.38mm" nibs. The immediate problem is that – esp with those finest nibs – they don't lay down a very dark line. "0.5mm" nibs are very much darker. Either way I am really hoping for a much finer line, if possible.

JasonB – Thank you, but I am asking for suggestions for a pen, not a re-think of my process.

(And for the record, yes I am using CAD etc etc, but there are times such as marking up card/bookcloth/certain plastics/other materials and/or annotating printouts… including ones that are required to be life size… when one needs an actual pen. And please don't anyone start telling me about Dykcem Steel Blue Layout Fluid, because I am already using that on steel too!)

Have any of you tried the Copic Multiliner SP-0.03mm?
Not cheap for what I think is a fibre tipped pen, but looks tempting. Nibs can be replaced.
**LINK**

Or what about the "Art-n-Fly FineLine Drawing Pens" which have an "Ultra Fine Tip 003" – and claim to draw a "0.15mm" line, which claims to use Archival Japanese Ink, which they claim work well on non-porous surface and "won't feather or bleed through most papers"
**LINK**

As ever, thank you for all your suggestions. 

Don

Edited By Donald MacDonald 1 on 18/04/2022 00:54:38