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STAEDTLER Liquid Point .3mm Pen Review

Gel and Roller Ball Pens Liquid Ink Pens Pen & Pencil Reviews — 01 June 2009
STAEDTLER Liquid Point .3mm Pen Review
STAEDTLER liqid point 7 .3mm pens in black, blue, green, and red.

STAEDTLER liquid point 7 .3mm pens in black, blue, green, and red.

In a recent trip to Staples to see what office supplies might be begging to be reviewed, I came across the STAEDTLER liquid point .3mm pens and was very interested in them.  Liquid ink pens that were German engineered with .3mm points, whats not to like?  With much anticipation, I threw these into my basket with a few other things and headed for the checkout.

The sleek design of the STAEDTLER liquid point pens

The sleek design of the STAEDTLER liquid point pens

The STAEDTLER .3mm liquid point pens have a very appealing design with a sleek gray and silver body, and a large smooth metal clip that extends over the top of the cap where you will find a large colored oval that makes it impossible to miss what color the pen is.  Once you remove the cap on the STAEDTLER pen, you will find more of the vibrantly colored plastic in the grip section to indicate what color the ink is, and although the grip lacks any texture or coating to make it easier to hold onto, its still quite a comfortable and good looking grip.

Close up of the STAEDTLER grip and cap. Notice the green cap topper on the left, and the bright red grip section.

Close up of the STAEDTLER grip and cap. Notice the green cap topper on the left, and the bright red grip section.

Now that I’ve found myself mostly impressed with what is proudly advertised as “Precision Engineered in Germany” I thought that it was time to get onto the writing samples where I would likely be even more impressed.  I usually like pens with a smaller (.5mm or less) tip, so finding a .3mm pen that I had not used before was exciting.  I was ready to write with something that I assumed would pose a challenge to my previously reviewed Uniball Signo DX .38mm and the Pentel Slicci in a .4mm.

STAEDTLER liquid point writing sample.

STAEDTLER liquid point writing sample.

With my first stroke of this pen (on my Doane paper) I was surprised at how wide of a line it put down as compared to the Signo and the Slicci pens that I have reviewed before.  The writing sample above shows the width of the line as compared to these two pens, and you can clearly see that the Signo .38mm is narrower and the Slicci .4mm is pretty close to the same size line as the supposed .3mm line of the STAEDTLER.  Also in the writing sample, you will notice that there is a small amount of feathering with the ink, but for some reason the black doesnt seem to do it as badly or as frequently.  The two good things I can say about the writing performance of these pens is that they did dry relatively quickly, at about 3 seconds or so, and the tips wrote very smoothly with no drag or friction against the paper.

One last picture of the STAEDTLER pens and the bright grip section and tip.

One last picture of the STAEDTLER pens and the bright grip section and tip.

Overall it is not the first time I have been disappointed by “Gernam Engineering” but this is the first time it has happened with an office supply such as a pen.  My other huge letdown was with a 1999 German engineered VW Jetta that made me insane with its poor build quality, lucky for me this was just a pack of pens that I will never use again, and only cost about $7.00, not a $20k car that I was stuck with for years.  I guess thee STAEDTLER liquid points might be ok for some, but if you are looking for a .3mm that compares well to the Uniball Signo .38mm or the Pentel Slicci .4mm, then you might want to look elsewhere.

© 2009 – 2011, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

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OfficeSupplyGeek

  • Alberto

    Thanks for the thorough timely review and saving the rest of us from experiencing a disappointing product first hand.

  • http://www.officesupplygeek.com OfficeSupplyGeek

    @Alberto – No problem, glad you found it helpful. For as often as I might encourage someone to buy something, I am happy that I can also help to make decisions the other way around too…so that they have money to spend on better items. ;)

  • http://slywy.blogspot.com/ Slywy

    I love these pens myself!

  • http://www.officesupplygeek.com OfficeSupplyGeek

    @Slywy – Thats why I always try to say my reviews are just a sample size of one. :) Im glad that you do like the pens, Im sure that my picky needs are different than yours. :)

  • Peter Parker

    The pens are actually produced in China or in Korea. So the finishing of the tip is not done precisely. Push the tip slightly, at the angle of writing, against a glass surface and rotate it several times. But do not apply big pressure, be careful, start at light pressure. After completing this procedure the tip will tighten and the line will become really 0.3 mm. If not – repeat the procedure at slightly different angle or add little more pressure. But be care full – if you apply too big pressure the point may become too tight, and will skip.
    In the factory there is very precise lathe that does this job, but it requires to be regularly adjusted very carefully. Since in the fast rate of the mass production there are variations in the material, the shape produced by the previous lathe etc. And when the staff is not qualified enough and/or does not bother about the precision – you see the result. Sometimes the problem is that in the factory is not have the right lathe tools for such a rapid rate of production, or they use tools that are worn out and need replacement, etc., etc.
    In the past, when they were produced in Germany, the quality was great. But now you must do the job that was not done in the factory. :)

  • http://www.officesupplygeek.com OfficeSupplyGeek

    @Peter Parker – Wow, that is a lot of great information, thanks for sharing all of that. Im glad to know it wasnt just me being overly picky, but it saddens me that what used to be a high quality product has taken a turn for the worst.

  • Peter Parker

    It’s not only Staedtler, but many other brands are going this way.
    Why remedy the tip? That’s because almost every pen with similar construction is refillable. Here is an article exactly about Staedtler liquid point 7:

    “DIY: Staedtler Liquid Point 7 with Waterman Blue-Black”
    http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=82476

    But you don’t need pliers at all. Just hold the tip section and rotating left-right-left-right… pull out slowly.
    Why doing that at all? It’s cheaper. Can use water-proof fountain pen ink (the original ink isn’t water-proof). It’s suitable both for writing and drawing, whether fountain pens are suitable only for writing, but rapidographs only for drawing. Buth fountain pens and rapidographs are precise, but expensive instruments.
    Gel based rollers write great, but are not refillable and almost all of them use non-water-proof ink.
    How to measure the line width? That’s pretty simple – just draw 10 vertical lines close to each other, so the result is solid ink block. Measure it’s width with a metric ruler, divide by 10 and that’s it.
    I will be glad to see some 0.3 mm water based ink, “refillable” roller that does not need tip remedy.
    So thats it. :)

  • http://www.officesupplygeek.com OfficeSupplyGeek

    @Peter Parker – I should give this a try, funny too that you posted that link because I’m a big fan of blue black ink myself, so that got my interest even more now.

    Thats a good idea regarding the way to test the width of the line, Ill have to give that a a try as well. Again, thanks so much for all of the great information….VERY helpful.

  • http://doesthispenwrite.wordpress.com Does This Pen Write

    I love blue black ink. I like these pens a lot. But then I like a thicker line. I write fairly big and get fatigue when using a pen that kind of forces me to write very small. Anyway, in my opinion this is one of the worse products in Staedtler’s line. I grew up with them (living in Germany as a kid/teen) and have a soft spot for their products.

  • http://doesthispenwrite.wordpress.com Does This Pen Write

    Peter Parker – that was the coolest thing I’ve seen. I want to try that with a couple of dead pens I have around here. Thanks for that comprehensive info!

  • http://www.officesupplygeek.com OfficeSupplyGeek

    @ Does This Pen Write – Good to know that they were at least good at one point in time. :)

  • DaviD

    Good morning, Geek!
    Great review. The problem is, I can’t find anyone who sells these pens. Any help? Thank you.