Drafting with a fat grip vs a slim grip - which side are you on?

I've been drafting for about 8 years now and I always used those slim 0.5mm mechanical pencils. Last week I tried one of those thick ergonomic drafting pencils with the rubber grip. My hand cramped up after 20 minutes and I had to switch back. But then I saw a guy at my shop who swears by the fat ones and says he can draft for 6 hours straight. I'm wondering if I just need to get used to it or if slim is really better for precision work. Has anyone else dealt with hand fatigue switching between grip sizes?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah8801mo ago

@mason847 Gotta hard disagree on this one. Fat grips feel like holding a marker, kills all my fine motor control for precise lines. Dropped $40 on a fancy ergo one and went back to my $3 Staedtler within an hour. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

mason8471mo ago

Oh man I totally feel your pain on that. Your hand just needs time to adjust to the different muscle engagement, if you stick with the fat grip for a week or two it'll stop cramping up.