Poll: At what angle do you hold your pen?

[thibaulthalpern]

Everyone should be aware that the only time you get a 45 degree angle by folding apiece of paper corner to corner is when the paper is a square, not a rectangle.

 

Yes...origami paper ;-) They're typically square.

[Slush99]

I'm average, alright.

[mstone]

In going with their criteria, I apparently hold my pen at a low angle and it is because I grip my pen higher up in the section. I never realised this.

 

This might explain why several months ago when I had a Lamy EF nib grinded for me to an even FINER extra fine from Pendemonium, I could see no difference. When I traded the pen with Kurt ((bleep)) he wrote back to say something like, "Hey, it is a true EF". I looked at the images he produced (and there was also a shot of his hands holding the pen in writing position) indeed the line was quite fine. He was also gripping the pen very close to the nib whereas I would grip it further up.

This could also explain why the italic ground lamy nib I got from pendemonium only likes to be used at a high angle...mental note, in future specify low angle from pendemonium.

[eilu]

60 degrees- I held a pen and checked with a goniometer. Heh.

[ethernautrix]

70 degrees or greater.

[Goodwhiskers]

The low angle is the most comfortable for me.

In fact, a ball pen scratches the paper when I hold it at that low angle because the socket edge touches the paper. This is true for pasty-ink regular ballpoints, thin-liquid-ink rollerballs, and gel rollerballs. Therefore, I still hold ball pens at much higher angles like I always have, and I use ball pens only in situations where I cannot use a fountain pen or fiber-tip pen (availability of pen at the moment, type of paper or plastic material I must write or mark on, etc.).

[RevAaron]

This could also explain why the italic ground lamy nib I got from pendemonium only likes to be used at a high angle...mental note, in future specify low angle from pendemonium.

 

Not to say it isn't the case with yours, but my cursive italic Kaweco Sport from Pendemonium works great at a high and a low angle, which is why I love it. Much more forgiving than most of the non-German factory stubs I've used.

[Gran]

Interesting point about the nibs and the angle. I do have a couple pens that don't write as well at the high angle. I write with a dip pen at a higher angle than a fountain pen, and draw at a higher angle than I write.

 

Thanks for the thread!

[rwilsonedn]

+1 for what ianan said. Some pens are just ask to be used for everyday cursive, which for me is around 60 degrees, and some want to be held at a low angle to get the most out of the flexible nib. As I remember lettering pens want to be vertical, so there's another extreme.

ron

[Paddler]

My natural inclination is to hold the pen at a low angle. If the sweet spot is somewhere else, I hold it there.

 

Paddler

[MadAmos]

Usually between 45 and 60 degrees only more for occasional detail work

[bernardo]

I'd say around 60 degrees.

 

I wanted to attach a picture, but it was not possible; maybe it's because I'm using the newest Internet Explorer of Windows 7...

Edited November 25, 2009 by bernardo

[gyasko]

45˚

 

I often find that vintage pens want to be used at a higher angle than my 45˚.

[eaccents]

I voted for 50-45 degree angle.

 

I hold my pen in a tripod hold at the highest part of the section. With extra fine Japanese nibs, a steeper angle makes my pens feel more scratchy.

[duki92]

Somewhere between 50 and 60. I do have a habit to change the way I write and the way I hold the pen for multiple times on lets say, one full page of written text. Don't know why I'm doing that.

[Cepasaccus]

I would like to point out, that in the inital drawing the angles are 35°, 47° and 63°. So If you compare your writing angle with the drawing you get wrong numbers. My writing angle is around 45-50°, i.e. like the middle line.

[Cepasaccus]

That is 70°, 60° and 45-50°.

[me116]

Usually around 65 degrees, but it depends where I am. If I am at my school desk, I hold it at, maybe, 60 degrees, but if I am scrawling a note on my coffee table, I hold it at a really high angle.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

 

QUOTE (knitwit1912 @ Dec 9 2008, 01:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Also show of hands--how many people, on reading the poll, picked up a pen just to see what their writing angle is as they'd never paid attention to it before? /default/biggrin.gif

 

Not only that, I folded a piece of paper -- opposite corner to opposite corner -- to get a 45 degree angle and then looked at where my pen angle was. It's lower than 45 degrees ;-)

 

 

Well of course. But then I realized that I'm very poor at judging angles by sight. I briefly wondered where I'd put my protractor, then realized that it didn't matter that much.

 

Considering that I hold my pens moderately far back from the nib, and using Nakaya's assumptions, I'm probably in the 60º range. Certainly I'm confident that it's greater than 45º. I also tend to rotate the pen to the left, and rotate the paper to the left as well.

 

I have noticed that when I use a ballpoint or rollerball, the angle that I'm used to doesn't work very well, and I have to make it steeper.

 

It's very improbable that I'd ever buy a Nakaya, but the idea of a pen customized for how I hold it is interesting. I wonder if I'm really that consistent, though.

 

P.S. Yes, of course I realize that I'm replying to a post that's over six years old. Or at least, I realize it now.

Edited March 1, 2015 by ISW_Kaputnik

[Kataphract]

I would like to point out, that in the inital drawing the angles are 35°, 47° and 63°. So If you compare your writing angle with the drawing you get wrong numbers. My writing angle is around 45-50°, i.e. like the middle line.

I looked at that first illustration and thought it was off. Did the whole paper folding trick (you can do it with a non-square piece of paper, just not corner to corner) and placed it against the illustration and that "60 degrees" was actually very close to 45, so I'd say your numbers were closer to the truth. Anyway, then held my pen with the folded paper behind it - 45 degree grip. And while I vary things a lot doing art, my actual writing angle doesn't really change that much unless I'm trying to do something very specific.