rOtring S0699380 Isograph Technical Drawing Pens, Set, 3-Pen College Set (.25-50 mm), Brown

The only other pen that comes close to what this does is a Pigma Micron 005, and that pen can wear down to nothing in one drawing. And then you have to buy another Pigma. This rOtring Isograph 0.1 is perfect. The line quality is superb. It's very thin and fine and the flow never stops. You can hold it normally too. You don't have to hold this one vertically. You can tilt it just like a pencil and it flows fine.It is a bit scratchy...but that's inevitable given how thin the line is. Use good paper and this is a non-issue.I like that the pen lasts basically forever. No more throwing pens away when the nib wears down. I've had mine full of ink for a month. There is a rubber gasket built into the cap that keeps the ink wet. You don't have to clean them after every use. Because I've heard that this thinnest one can dry out if ignored for a while, I try to 'take it for a walk' every day. Dogs need to be walked, and I suspect this pen needs to have some ink moving in it every day. I might just be paranoid...but better safe than sorry. I basically just doodle. I can 'exercise' all 6 of my rOtrings in under two minutes.I have a 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8. I find that the 0.1 and 0.2 are so thin as to be basically the same. The 0.8 is so fat I don't really like it. The 0.5 lays down enough ink that the 0.8 is not needed. I did put rOtring white in the 0.5 and 0.8 but it flows brokenly unless you draw really slowly, so I use Gellyroll pens (white) instead.I did clean them a couple times when switching between white and black ink, and once when I was away from my pens for a month. I have not yet completely taken them apart (don't want to bend the wires)...but I like that you can if needed. I just soak them in water until the ink dilutes to nothing. It's possible that a high end fountain pen might have enough variable line width to match these rOtrings, but I can't afford to spend $200 on a gold tipped fountain pen. For now I love these rOtrings. For more of my pen work, search for: markhwebster

Now THESE are real technical ink pens. They feel solid in your hand, and the build quality is, or rather feels, like quality materials. They retain smooth quality of ink-flow from the beginning right until the ink runs out. There's no semi-clogging, then being okay, then clogging again.They're a breeze to clean, and they don't leak ink all over your fingers when you're using them.Bought a set like this in August of 1983, and the fine-tip pen lasted me four years, without ever cleaning it! (I did re-fill it, of course). The two heavier-line pens lasted eight and nine years respectively, before I dropped one point down onto a concrete floor. The other I lent to a friend for something, and never saw it again.Been buying the rapidograph Koh*i*noor pens since then (1992) because no one in the humble berg of Milwaukee sold anything like the rOtring pens. But a month or so ago, I look, and Lo! And behold! They're right here! Still made in Germany!So, thank you Amazon, for carrying this product. I am well-pleased.Update: Just researched manufacturing of these pens, and learned they are being made in Japan now. They still perform admirably.

I love the Isograph pens and have owned many of them. I've also owned many Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens over many years and ultimately gave up on them, finding that they're much more prone to problems with jamming and becoming unusable, even with vigorous cleaning, which has never been an issue with the Rotring Isographs. However, if you're not used to technical pens, you do need to be aware of a few things:First, don't buy an expensive technical pen unless you're going to use it regularly. These barrels are fine and ink will dry up if you let the pen sit without being used for very long. If you're only occasionally in the mood to draw or write, you're going to get frustrated with your expensive technical pens that will have dried up during your absence.Secondly, the finer the point, the more fragile the barrel at the tip. Unfortunately, I had to give up on using this particular .1mm pen, whose tip broke the first time I used it. It requires a delicate pressure to use, which can be a battle given that you need the ink to flow. That also depends on the paper you're using, which brings me to the last point:Your choice of paper is crucial. Normal drawing paper or anything with a rougher texture tends to create problems with these very fine points digging into the paper and interfering with moving the pen. The more smooth the paper surface, the easier these pens work. Hyper-smooth synthetic paper like the Yupo is terrific (although it's very expensive and smearing is problematic, as the ink takes longer to dry); your everyday drawing paper or paper journal, not so much. If you like the Moleskins, the sketchbooks with the thicker 111lb paper work pretty well, at least with points .25mm or thicker, but the thinner papers are typically unsuitable, as the pen point is constantly getting stuck in the paper.

Used these pens for year without problems. Great design.