Review on OHTO Graphic Needle Drawing CFR 150GL005 by Amy Mcleod

These are good pens but you need to know what you are getting. Actually, I got them through Massdrop; I've never heard of them and I have a dozen of these .005s. The nibs are metal, somewhere between a typical pigment liner (Micron, Stadtler, or Copic) and a ballpoint pen. Line quality varies more than with these pens depending on the angle and speed you draw at, but it's possible to get thin, smooth lines (e.g. hatching) in a consistent way. I had no trouble with line quality control once I got used to it. Paper plays a big role. Because they have a metal needle tip, they seem to work much better on higher quality, heavier paper. I didn't like using them on thinner carbon paper, newsprint/tracing paper, or on a toothy cold press. If the paper is soft and/or thick, you must handle it very lightly to avoid scratching it. They spread very little on ultra-thin paper. I haven't had any problems smearing the paper used, but depending on the paper and point thickness, this could be an issue. Overall I am very happy with the grips. I still mainly use my existing props, but they fill in the gap well, becoming regular hatch and feather pens.