Engineers?!?!

[markiv]

My preference - Fords Patent Pen.

http://i.imgur.com/fqZWE.jpg

[risingsun]

Somehow I missed this thread back during its first run, but this engineer rotates through a lot of FP's. I have to agree with those above, though, that in my office full of engineers, the Snorkel (Valiant) gets oohs and aahs every time... Just from its 'action'. I only wish my fine nib were a little bit finer...

 

My favorite signing pen for sealing plans is a good medium CI nib, ground by Mike-It-Work, mounted to a Franklin-Christoph 02.

[mcg1355]

Still in school studying aerospace engineering, so more notes and problem sets instead of a job environment. I find the pens I always go for to be the following:

 

Visconti Homo Sapiens bronze with a dryish tuned ef nib.

-very cool material; hygroscopic, extremely durable, feels good, patina develops on trim with use

-power filler; large ink capacity, easy and fast filling, easy cleaning, few moving parts

-cam style cap; fast uncapping / capping, secure without having to worry about tightness or good seal, spring clip offers more flexability

-custom initials insert on cap; nice personal touch, doesn't hurt resale value (god forbid I ever have to test that claim)

-nib; offers some line variation for writing flair and emphasis

 

Noodlers Jade ebonite Konrad, clipless and polished (sometimes one of my other ebonite konrads stands in)

-ebonite construction; nice feel, not slippery / sweaty, polishes nicely, awesome color and pattern, can be heat set, resists damage from drops and bumps

-flex nib; ef to bb lines possible, very smooth (tuned by me), good for flair and emphasizing heading/titles/answers etc

-piston fill; reliable, super easy and fast restoration (far in the future), ink window, fully disassembles, large capacity

 

Either black matte or my gun matte VP, ef, or f, or m ground to an italic for the nib

-click mechanism; very cool for a FP, convenience factor, super fast, nib doesn't dry out during calculations / thinking

-nib units; swap out bodies or nib units without fuss in a few seconds, easily replaceable and customizable, easy to clean, carts or converters

-body; durable brass (not so durable matte finish), texture of matte finish isn't slippery / sweaty, nice understated design

 

Finally my m600 white tortoise, ef nib

-no real reason other than its dead reliable and I absolutely love writing with it. A little too flashy feeling for some university environments, but that's ok.

 

Can't forget my rotring 800 2mm lead holder/pencil of course!!!

 

I have several safaris, twsbi 540s/530s/700s and micarta, kaweco sports and ac, a p51, and a small (ok maby large) army of noodlers pens. But I find they rarely see any action these days... They are either uncomfortable, finicky / unreliable, or too troublsum to clean and change inks with.

 

I have a few nice flex pens that I love, but I haven't used them much for my engineering work so far.

 

-Nick

[mmahany]

Am I the only one thinking "What kind of engineer are we talking about?"

 

My father is an Electrical Engineer. The type of people he works with are the people I'd expect to carry around a Lamy or something modern and simple.

 

My sister and her boyfriend are both Chemical Engineers. I'd expect them to use something like a Pelikan or Mont Blanc

 

My garbage man is a sanitation engineer. I would expect him to use all the advertising pens I throw in the trash.

[amberleadavis]

A Schnell pen - it's so geeky!

[humsin]

I'm studying Mining...

[Shuggy]

I'd say two pens minimum (more if you need colors or multiple nib widths)

 

One would be a Pilot VP. Engineering is mostly like note taking, a lot of thinking, only occasional and intermittant writing. The retractable nib would be most important feature. Only limitation is somewhat small ink supply.

 

The second pen would be more suited to bulk writing. I would choose a P51, the hooded nib wouldn't dry out if writing wasn't continuous enough, but it would support extensive writing better than the VP. Probably a lot of other choices for the second pen, pick what you like but ideally a fairly large ink supply, feels comfortable and is still performing after pages of writing.

 

 

Agree with comments that engineering is about performance, not bling. Both pens are very functional in their own ways and not bad looking.

 

I have to agree with this, in particular for the P51. As a mechanical engineer myself, one has to respect the fact that they took no less than 11 years to perfect such an utterly functional design.

[akustyk]

I'm not an engineer, but a scientist. For work, the TWSBI Mini is ideal. Portable, well-made, good ink capacity, excellent EF nib. Good price, so even if you lose it, you can replace it. I use Noodler's Black ink in my Mini, but MB Midnight Blue would be perfect, too.

[BrandonA]

Hi all engineers!!! What is the ideal pen for engineers?

 

 

It's the same pen as that used by a doctor, teacher, office worker or bin man.

 

Seriously, there is never a "best thing". If there were the manufacturer that has that thing would advertise towards that market.

[JasonF]

As an engineering student I look for:

1) Immediate starting

2) Dry flow

3) Fine lines

4) High ink capacity.

 

 

Jack.

 

So basically...Lamy 2000

 

Not quite. The Lamy 2000 fails dismally at numbers 2 and 3... (especially 3)

 

I've tried so many times to get along with the L2K... It's just not practical for serious work. But it sure is nice to look at

 

Jack

Agreed.

 

I love my Lamy 2k, but it's completely unacceptable in many situations. If Lamy made a true XF nib, I'd buy that pen the second it hit the streets. Unfortunately, Lamy's EF is more like an F at best, and probably closer to an M.

 

Pilot VP is much more practical. One handed operation, extremely fine lines (but scratchy nib). The low ink capacity isn't really a big deal because it puts so little ink down anyway.

Edited March 9, 2013 by JasonF

[raging.dragon]

I'm studying Mining...

 

Geological Engineering?

[humsin]

I'm studying Mining...

 

Geological Engineering?

 

Mineral and Mining Engineering.

[Simon Templar]

Yard o Led