Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

shellshore.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 206 posts

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#181

Post by avian »

radicalbyte wrote: post #83
avian wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a counter example, I'm left handed and write hundreds of pages per year in a left-to-right language and don't have issues with smudging lines with my palm. Maybe the inks I use dry fast enough (Parker Quink or Pelikan 4001) or it's the way I learned to write back in school.

You're probably doing the lefty-handed-curl. If you adopt a really weird writing position you can write without smudges. Depending on your body-type it's either easy and obvious or very uncomfortable. I'm in the latter group so I just use a pencil.

I looked up some pictures of this lefty-handed curl and I suddenly feel immense gratitude towards the people from my childhood that taught me how to use my left hand to write in a practical and comfortable manner.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#182

Post by perks_12 »

CharlesW wrote: post #171
munificent wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. Something like "reputational arbitrage" or perhaps "sentiment stickiness". The basic idea is that a business can change its quality much faster than its reputation changes. If the business rapidly cuts costs and quality, their…

> This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. I thought we'd collectively decided on "enshittification"? Or is that different?

No, it should be the same. In software you can't really lower quality. Instead, stuff your product with ads and raise prices. In hardware you can lower production quality, but you can't really put ads on it. The outcome is the same.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#183

Post by lozenge »

mk_stjames wrote: post #68
radicalbyte wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're also horrible to use if you're left-handed and writing English or any other left-to-right language.

There was this article posted here on HN about the geodemography of left handedness in the US, and all sorts of discussion about past culture of eschewing LH'ded children in schools and such... and I was surprised that no one brought up the very real downsides of being left handed in a left-to-right writing system region of the world (which is most of it). Most comments were leaning towards backwards conservatism and…

Making left handed people write right handed doesn't make them right handed.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#184

Post by edwinjm »

0x_rs wrote: post #121

There's no mention of this in the article, so be aware there's multiple posts online about QC issues. Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. Current generation of 600s especially suffer from: cracking of the body (0, 1); but most importantly for pens, the joint part that screws into the bottom and upper part of the pen is extremely susceptible to w…

I have such a pen and it’s not my favorite. The grippy part doesn’t feel nice, it’s too rough. Also, the top button makes an abrasive, squeaky sound.

It’s not made to be kind to humans.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#185

Post by bikenaga »

mrob wrote: post #75
christophilus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or if you occasionally spill coffee or any other liquid ever. I sometimes hand-write recipes. Fountain pens + sloppy kitchen meal prep are a bad combo.

You can get fountain pen inks that chemically react with cellulose for complete water resistance (there may still be a little smudging from unreacted ink washing off the paper). Noodler's Black is a famous example. I like this kind of ink, although it's not without its drawbacks, because cotton/rayon/other plant fiber clothing is also mostly cellulose and will be stained just as permanently.

I've used only Noodler's Bulletproof Black for years (in a TWSBI Eco piston-fill) - it works great, and I realized if I was going to take the time to write extensive notes it was worth having some protection against water.

I previously used Waterman Black - it flows really smoothly, but it isn't waterproof. Also, it doesn't seem quite as dark as the Noodler's.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#186

Post by deltarholamda »

LaffertyDev wrote: post #143
deltarholamda wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps a silly question, but would something like a Mahl stick help with left-handed writing? Painters and old-school draftsmen use them to keep their grubby mitts off the surface. I suppose in today's public school you wouldn't be allowed one because it could conceivably be used as a weapon, but it would seem to be helpful.

Left handed person here. Writing is already a chore, tying up both hands just to use a fountain pen without smearing seems to cross an effort/reward boundary. Maybe useful if you were really committed to the tool. I've been casually interested in fountain pens for a while but the downsides seem to stack up whenever I actually look into it.

You don't have to hold the stick, generally. For painting, yes, but you wouldn't have to when writing. It would just hold your hand up a little bit.

Maybe try a dowel with a glob of clay or something on the end and see?

The biggest crime to lefties is the fold-away half-size writing desk you see in lecture halls.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#187

Post by bayindirh »

criddell wrote: post #139
bayindirh wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have multiple pens which are a decade old, incl. a Metropolitan and Safari, and write like day one despite being used frequently. I also have a couple ones older than 50. They also work. Clogged ones generally need a good flush with a fountain pen flush.

I have a Metropolitan and the only reason I don't use it is because the cap doesn't seal well and the ink evaporates quickly.

Yes, metropolitan is not a “super sealer” which you can leave for a period, then pick up and write. It demands to be used regularly. It also doesn’t like to stand nib-up for long periods.

Because of it, I generally EDC it with a good, low maintenance inks, and try to use it very regularly. As an EDC pen, the nib balances its quirks.

Lamy 2000 and Pilot Custom 823 are two of the most patient pens I have ever used in that regard.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#188

Post by deltarholamda »

hydrogen7800 wrote: post #125
deltarholamda wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps a silly question, but would something like a Mahl stick help with left-handed writing? Painters and old-school draftsmen use them to keep their grubby mitts off the surface. I suppose in today's public school you wouldn't be allowed one because it could conceivably be used as a weapon, but it would seem to be helpful.

>Mahl stick Thank you for using its name. I first saw it on TV showing someone hand painting a design on a car (probably a Rolls Royce on Top Gear) and thought it was brilliant in its simplicity, but didnt know its name.

I just made one with a dowel and a big superball, but I've seen one that they put a skateboard wheel (with bearings) on the end so it rolls.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#189

Post by amelius »

munificent wrote: post #172
amelius wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful to not love your tools more than the things you create with them. It's all in your mind. Simple tools are king. They allow you to be creative anytime, not just when holding the "right" tool.

Everyone has a complex relationship with their muse. Fetishizing gear such that you use lack of the right gear as an excuse to not create, or spend all your time acquiring gear and not using it is definitely toxic. But, also fetishizing minimalism such that you end up with a process that is all self-flagelating toil and misery is also toxic. Everyone's gotta navigate the boundary between those themselves.

In any case, being evangelical is by definition toxic behavior.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#190

Post by wilkystyle »

nabilhat wrote: post #158
0x_rs wrote: post #121

There's no mention of this in the article, so be aware there's multiple posts online about QC issues. Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. Current generation of 600s especially suffer from: cracking of the body (0, 1); but most importantly for pens, the joint part that screws into the bottom and upper part of the pen is extremely susceptible to w…

Oh, that's a very specific crack. This is an extrusion error. The extrusion temperature is dropping too low while it's still over the internal die. The thicker peaks cool more slowly than the thinner flats, remaining at a weaker temperature longer, and they're pulled apart by accumulating contraction. These cracks usually aren't obvious until they meet a conflicting load. For example, tapping threads up the end witho…

These are the kind of comments I come to Hacker News for.
Post reply on HN