Pens for AxiDraw
Contents
Pen choices for AxiDraw
The pen holder on the fits pens up to ⅝ inch (16 mm) in diameter. The maximum recommended pen weight is 1.6 oz (45 g). The design is such that the pen rests on the surface by its own weight. That allows it to ride over surfaces that are textured or otherwise uneven, however it also means that the pen holder does not apply significant downward pressure.
Good choices for pens to use include fountain pens, permanent markers, rollerball pens, technical pens, automatic pencils (particularly with soft lead), (small-bodied) whiteboard markers and other writing and drawing instruments that do not require significant downward pressure. While we will refer to writing and drawing instruments as “pens” to be concise, other instruments such as automatic pencils, chalk, charcoal, and brushes can also work well in many cases.
Ball point pens (and perhaps certain other writing instruments) that require a substantial amount of downward pressure to operate may work inconsistently because of that requirement.
Some fountain pens that we have enjoyed using with the AxiDraw
- Lamy Safari, with medium or fine nib. We really can't say enough about how good this pen is-- and it works wonderfully in the AxiDraw. Extraordinarily consistent ink flow at a variety of speeds; never seems to jam or clog. With blue ink, really shouts "this was written with a fountain pen."
- Pilot Metropolitan, medium nib. Also readily available, with a clean neat line. After spending many hours writing demo files with this and the Lamy, we find that the Pilot is slightly less reliable in terms of consistent ink flow. We tend to see slightly more variation in ink flow as a function of writing speed -- an artifact that occurs when writing by hand as well. Seems to "dry out" a little more readily than we would like.
- Rotring ArtPen
Some roller ball pens that we have enjoyed using with the AxiDraw
- Pilot Precise V5 -- our preferred choice for multicolor plots
Additional resources
- Pen tests by Jenslabs
- Pen Choices for EggBot
