The Shop Notebook

[Ryan]

BTW, I found a multi-pen that would work great for our notebooks. Apparently, the bureaucratic sky jockeys flying under Uncle Sam’s banner needed a pen—a real ******* of a tool. Cheap enough to lose, tough enough to survive, and packed with just enough firepower: black ink, red ink, and a mechanical pencil for good measure. Enter Skilcraft, the unsung hero of government-issue gear:

Amazon.com

Apparently, the parts are sourced from Japan and each is assembled by blind people in Kansas City. Yes, blind people... But they have a pretty damned good reputation for quality...

 

[quadrcr87]

Taking notes has been engrained in me since grade school. That carried into college, business and my personal life. It’s amazing how much easier it is for me to remember things & think once I have written them down.

The Black & Red business journal has been my go to for the past 10 years. I burn through 1-2 a year at work. Hard cover, spiral bound and pretty tough. Small enough to be easy to carry to meetings but big enough to be easy to write in. My pen is a basic black Pilot G2 0.7mm.

Amazon.com

 

[Dixie_Flatline]

Taking notes has been engrained in me since grade school. That carried into college, business and my personal life. It’s amazing how much easier it is for me to remember things & think once I have written them down.

The Black & Red business journal has been my go to for the past 10 years. I burn through 1-2 a year at work. Hard cover, spiral bound and pretty tough. Small enough to be easy to carry to meetings but big enough to be easy to write in. My pen is a basic black Pilot G2 0.7mm.

Amazon.com

I had forgotten about those Black & Red notebooks! I do recall they had very nice paper when I bought one to experiment with.

 

[Ryan]

I had forgotten about those Black & Red notebooks! I do recall they had very nice paper when I bought one to experiment with.

If you ever go full nerd on paper, try a notebook with Tomoe River paper… A few different companies use it in their offerings. Here’s one example:

https://www.amazon.com/Tomoe-River-notebook-dotted-binding/dp/B09Y7T7LK2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I don’t know a ton about paper, but it’s pretty crazy how different the experience is over normal every day paper that I typically use. Thinner, but very smooth, and little if any bleed through even is you use a sharpie or some ****. I think it’s Japanese…

 

[Dave455]

A workshop notebook is essential.

I use reasonable quality, but relatively inexpensive, sketch books from a local stationers.


I record the dimensions of pretty much any widget or screw I make on a sketch, especially if I’ve had to copy an original, then I can reproduce another if needed.

Mostly classic bike or older machine tool parts. Here, part of a bike fork.

I don’t know a ton about paper, but it’s pretty crazy how different the experience is over normal every day paper that I typically use. Thinner, but very smooth, and little if any bleed through even is you use a sharpie or some ****. I think it’s Japanese…

The difference is in the “compression” - basically how hard it’s rolled at the mill. Good quality paper has a reasonable amount of compression and even a very wet pen won’t bleed.

There’s a lot of cheap paper out there, even in some surprisingly expensive notebooks, that’s really unacceptable.

I started my working life in government service as a draughtsman. Unsurprisingly, the paper supplied was first class!

 

[tenaciouscreations]

My grandfather kept shop notebooks and I am fortunate enough to have inherited them. I need to get in the habit of keep a shop notebook.

 

[bdbecker]

I've been very happy with these:

https://a.co/d/cFRmvrq

They are not as cool as some of what has been posted so far, but they suit my needs well. The paper is pretty good for the price, the plastic covers do an excellent job of protecting the paper, and I really like the lay-flat ability that the wire binding offers. The variety of colors has also been useful. I use the apricot and wine colored ones at work, the green ones are for my home shop projects, and the gray ones are used for collecting random thoughts and ideas that don't relate to anything in particular.

I had been using Moleskine for a long time, but for whatever reason I could not find the large Cahier Journals with grid lines in stock anywhere when I needed more in the spring of 2023. Online, in-stores... they were sold out everywhere for some reason. I'm glad I was forced to try something different because I've really grown to like these.

For something a little higher end, one of my coworkers swears by Rhodia.

Rhodia Notebooks & Writing Pads | Official U.S. Distributor

Rhodia Pads & Notebooks - French Orange & Black Notebooks with a cult following!

rhodiapads.com

 

[jives]

I thought of this thread when I started looking though my notes for summer projects. The porch swing with foot treadle picture was taken at a local park. It is my wife's favorite, but I need to make it work for my porch. Diagrams for an alternative hanging chain location are an attempt to figure out the chain geometry that enables the treadle to "push" the swing.

 

[Ryan]

Finished up my little pen stand... A bit silly looking perhaps, but it works quite well.

I used TPU and modeled each writing instrument into their respective inserts, so the pens stab into the block with a silky smooth action. Very satisfying and much more expensive feeling than looking... If that makes any sense at all.

 

[SilverJimmy]

That actually looks like something Eddie VanHalen would have had on his desk!

 

[PhantomEB]

Everyone asks me paper and pen when we out and about I got one of those little note books with pens in the truck and car. Fits perfectly in the cubbyholes of either or in the glove box.

18$ CDN for 3 on Amazon.

 

[FJ 432]

My go to for mechanical pencils:

JetPens - The Best Pens & Stationery From Japan & Beyond

Fine writing instruments, office supplies and art products imported from Japan and Europe. Bestselling brands include Pilot, Uni, and Zebra. Free US domestic shipping for orders over $35!

www.jetpens.com

 

[KFBR392]

This is such a great idea. I’ve just been taping stuff like this to the wall behind my workbench. I never, ever thought to compile it into a central database to keep on hand.

I went out and grabbed a notebook today and put it together.

 

[Ryan]

A package arrived from MeePlus yesterday—one personal-sized, the other A5-sized... and after a short, frenzied session of poking, prodding, and general manhandling, I can say two things with certainty:

1. The price suddenly makes a hell of a lot more sense. The build quality is top notch and the materials are fantastic.

2. A compact ring binder is about to completely upend how I take notes in the lab. This isn’t just a minor upgrade—it’s a fundamental shift in the way I operate, and I’m far more excited about that than any sane person should be.

That said, I need to actually live with these things for a few weeks before delivering a full report. Stay tuned—this could get interesting.

 

[T444e]

Ryan, thanks to this thread, I ordered the A-5 planner from Mee-Plus as well. Received it late last week. So far I am happy with the quality and should be much better than using notebooks, pads and loose paper I have used in the past for sketches and notes. Never happy with the notebooks or pads as sheets always ended up inadvertently getting torn out through use.

Used it a little bit so far, but seems like a better solution due to versatility. I like being able to have both graph and isometric paper in the same place.

Thanks for starting this thread as I didn't know something like this existed.

 

[Ryan]

Ryan, thanks to this thread, I ordered the A-5 planner from Mee-Plus as well. Received it late last week. So far I am happy with the quality and should be much better than using notebooks, pads and loose paper I have used in the past for sketches and notes. Never happy with the notebooks or pads as sheets always ended up inadvertently getting torn out through use.

Used it a little bit so far, but seems like a better solution due to versatility. I like being able to have both graph and isometric paper in the same place.

Thanks for starting this thread as I didn't know something like this existed.

I'm deep down a very dark hole - trying to decide which paper stock to go with... I've made progress and will report it when I do my review.

 

[T444e]

I'm not going down that hole, I just refuse to.

I ordered graph paper from Mee-Plus. It feels like a heavier paper, off-white with lighter grid lines. So far no complaints with this paper.

I ordered Lux Productivity iso paper off Amazon, white with gray grid lines, A5 iso paper is not the easiest to find. It is a heavier paper, but doesn't fell quite as heavy as the paper from Mee-Plus. I'm not thrilled with this paper, the grid lines are too dark and not enough contrast with the pencil I typically use. I could try some B or 2B graphite, which I may try. After having and using this paper a bit, I went looking for another option. I found that Plotter offers an A4 iso paper that they list as compatible with their A5 binders. I oredered a pack to try and should have later this week.

I attached a picture of each. The iso paper shows more contrast in the picture than there really is.

 

[Ryan]

I'm not going down that hole, I just refuse to.

I ordered graph paper from Mee-Plus. It feels like a heavier paper, off-white with lighter grid lines. So far no complaints with this paper.

I ordered Lux Productivity iso paper off Amazon, white with gray grid lines, A5 iso paper is not the easiest to find. It is a heavier paper, but doesn't fell quite as heavy as the paper from Mee-Plus. I'm not thrilled with this paper, the grid lines are too dark and not enough contrast with the pencil I typically use. I could try some B or 2B graphite, which I may try. After having and using this paper a bit, I went looking for another option. I found that Plotter offers an A4 iso paper that they list as compatible with their A5 binders. I oredered a pack to try and should have later this week.

I attached a picture of each. The iso paper shows more contrast in the picture than there really is.

My favorite graph paper in the past has always been:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007C0QDVQ?tag=atomicindus08-20

That being said, I've recently been given a ton of recommendations and I'm checking them all out - including some from Tomoe River which seems to be a favorite of paper nerds worldwide.

 

[Max]

My go to for mechanical pencils:

JetPens - The Best Pens & Stationery From Japan & Beyond

Fine writing instruments, office supplies and art products imported from Japan and Europe. Bestselling brands include Pilot, Uni, and Zebra. Free US domestic shipping for orders over $35!

www.jetpens.com

Thanks - I think? You are going to cost me a lot of money.

 

[duneslider]

I haven't found anything that beats my Pentel GraphGear 1000 mechanical pencils, very nice.
The Pentel Sharp Kerry is my second favorite if I need/want something that looks fancier.

I have moved to a ReMarkable tablet for most of my writing and notes. I would be hard pressed to go with out it now. I can also sync it with my phone, so even if the tablet isn't with me I can see what I had written. It is kind of nice to take my notes and make a shopping list then head to the hardware store and just open the list on my phone to reference. The remarkable isn't an iPad, so nothing distracting, it just works for taking notes and sketching. It doesn't do everything but what it does, it does well.

I do have a small pad of paper in the garage that I use for unimportant notes, like cuts I need to make, stuff that I don't want to keep forever.

 

[TriumphFan]

When I bought my daughter's truck in 2012, I figured I had better start writing stuff down. At the time, I was maintaining or working on several cars, motorcycles, a boat, tractor, yard equipment, etc. It has been a big help in determining oil change intervals, tune-ups, parts replaced, etc. I note the date, the vehicle or piece of equipment, what was done and any important facts like part numbers or concerns. It's been super helpful. I plan to reorganize it into a binder to make it easier to find things by vehicle.

 

[hobie18]

And it helps to know exactly what tools, and tips, for each car and task. A real time-saver! And memory space too

 

[cannuck]

I would love to have the whole world (well, the GJ world at least) think I am so organized that I keep a notebook of everything that goes through the shop. What I DO keep, though, is all of the working and final drawings for major projects I build. I normally work in B size (11x17) but once I have digitized by scanning in my final drawings, I will sometimes print it out on 13x19 card stock for better detail. Going forward I need to learn to use the megabux worth of Solidworks my engineering buddy put on my air gap work station.