Do you have a good notepad? I won’t say it’s essential towards keeping track of project plans, notes, and sketches, but it can be extremely helpful.
Maybe you prefer digital notes, and that’s fine, but I tend to prefer paper for certain things. Oh, I do keep track of a lot of things digitally on my computer and “in the cloud,” but it’s a complement to what I do on paper and not a replacement.
You don’t really need a notepad – I’ve used envelopes, post-it notes, printer paper, and well anything at reach. But a notepad provides consistency. Loose pages can be kept together in a folder, and bound notebooks can be organized for future reference.
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Veritas Workshop Pads
Above is Lee Valley’s Veritas workshop pad, available in different sizes. These notepads are available in 3-1/2″ x 6″, 8-1/2″ x 11″, and 11″ x 17″ sizes.
In letter-size, you can choose between 48 or 96 page capacities, and 1 or 5 pad packages. In the smaller size, each pad is 50 sheets and sold in a package of 5 pads. The largest size is available in 48 sheet pads and 3-pad packages.
The grids are 1/4″ wide (4 squares per inch), and with dots spaced 1/16″ apart, and this works out well for laying out woodworking projects.
You don’t need grid lines or graph paper, but it helps with sketching, making tables, lists, diagrams, or quickly visualizing the scale of different dimensions.
Lee Valley prices these Veritas workshop notepads very affordably, and they’re made in Canada.
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The smallest size is a bit too narrow for my liking, but their economy, quality, grid lines, and handy ruler markings on every page make them great scratch-pads.
Rhodia Dot Grid Notepads
Rhodia notepads are made from 80g vellum paper, and are super-smooth. They work great with pencil and ink alike, and are much-loved for how well they behave with fountain pen inks. I have had good experiences using them with technical pens as well.
You can choose between many different sizes and styles. A5 is a middle size, around the size of a hardcover book, and A4 is approximately letter-sized.
I am a fan of Rhodia’s dot grid layout, which gives you enough structuring to write neatly but also higher visibility for sketches. They also make lined and graph paper.
You get 80 sheets per pad, and can choose between staples and wirebound tops.
A5 is a good size, at least to start out with, due to its convenience and lower cost.
Buy Now: Stapled Top via Amazon
Buy Now: Wirebound via Amazon
Roaring Springs Engineering Pad
I can’t put my finger on who or when, but someone here turned my attention to engineering paper, and I’m glad they did.
I’ve been using Roaring Spring’s 5×5 grid engineering pad with 15 pound buff paper, and recently ordered their green-colored pad as well to try out.
The front of the pad is unlined, and the back has a grid with medium brown lines.
The paper itself is light cream-colored, but far from the glaring yellow of standard legal pads.
With a sheet of paper on the pad, the rear grid lines stand out, giving you structuring to lay out your sketch. Removed from the pad, and the grid lines almost disappear, reducing their visual distraction from your sketch, diagram, or writings.
Or, you can use the back as you would graph paper.
I wish I had been introduced to these beige buff engineering paper pads earlier.
Cheaper Options
There are some less expensive notepad options, such as:
Amazon Engineering Computation Pad
Amazon Graph Paper Pad 2-Pack
Tops Legal Writing Pad 12-Pack
Or, you can always get a cheap ream of paper and an inexpensive clipboard or pair of binder clips.
Notebooks vs. Notepads
I like using both notebooks and notepads. Notebooks are better where project planning might progress or involve multiple components, while notepads are more versatile and accommodating of day to day needs. I’d feel bad about jotting down something random and unrelated in a notebook, where it’ll remain in that book forever, with notepads feeling more casual and permitting.
Keeping track of things is important, and there’s no right way to do things. I’ve made booklets out of printer paper, and often use post-it notes and the backs of envelopes to work things out, although I’ve tried to be better about using notepads since their pages are easier to store and refer to.
I don’t always keep good notes, and then I find myself either duplicating planning efforts or working backwards as I try to decipher past actions based on unrecorded plans.
Page Sizes
Veritas’ smaller notepad size is a little taller than a paperback book, and Rhodia’s A5 is about the size of a hardcover. I’m sure you know what letter-sized looks like, and A4 pages are slightly taller than letter-sized paper.
I tend to use A5 notepads and notebooks most, and while I have an A4 pad or two, I prefer letter-sized pads since they pages store more conventionally. Letter-sized pages can be liberated from a notepad and stored in a standard-sized folder, or punched and kept in a standard-sized binder.
Cost vs. Quality
The Veritas notepads hit a sweet spot, where they’re inexpensive enough you can rip off a page and use it as a glue shield or folded into a dust-catcher when drilling into a wall or other vertical surface.
The Roaring Springs notepads are also fairly inexpensive, and they’re pre-punched for easy storing in a 3-ring binder.
Rhodia offers better paper quality, but you spend a bit more for it. There are even more premium options, but at “why would you buy that for workshop use??” pricing. Even the Rhodia might be a bit much, but their paper is smoother and thicker than cheaper paper, and it handles technical pen and marker ink a lot better than printer paper without feathering or bleeding.
Notebooks?
If you must have a notebook recommendation, I currently like the Leuchtturm 1917 in A5 size with dot grid paper. The paper is of similar weight to the Rhodia, but with a slightly different texture.
I used to buy Moleskine notebooks from the bookstore (with coupons) and then from Amazon. I’ve had very good experiences with the brand.
You can also go with traditional marble or spiral notebooks, but they don’t tend to be anywhere as durable.
Buy Now: Leuchtturm 1917 via Amazon
Buy Now: Moleskine via Amazon
Buy Now: Marble Notebooks via Amazon
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Frank D
I like square grid paper and often print some extra “ millimeter paper “ for drawing details, or working out some angles, lengths, … on paper.
Evadman
I use an aluminum clipboard with alternating sheets of wide ruled paper and graph paper. The primary tool I use though is a camera.
For example, was helping a buddy last weekend put in a front brick walkway where I sketched it on paper, and took pictures of areas I thought would be issues, marking them on the sketch with numbers in order. From there, figuring out the BOM was decently easy, and I could do it inside at a computer instead of outside in 100 degree weather.
I have used dot grid paper before, but I apparently have issues following the dots from one side to the other, because I would often screw up the layout on dot grid. So for me, I need graph paper, lined paper, or plain copy paper when needed.
schill
I spent many years in school using engineering pads and good quality ones are still some of my favorite notepads. However, cheaper ones often have rough paper that isn’t pleasant to write on.
The campus bookstore sold green pads. They were referred to as “toad paper” – a “toad” was someone who studied all the time. And since we were mostly engineers and scientists, you used the “engineering” paper to feel like you were a real engineer. Toads used toad paper.
fred
I’m old enough to have used drafting pens with India ink – even freehand. Not a skill that I became terribly proficient with. I still have my old K&E drafting set along with my K&E slide rules. At a point in my business life my partners and I acquired a business that employed some draftsmen who actually knew what they were doing – but their work mostly transitioned to CAD. Today – with laser measuring devices getting better and more capable – with dxf output – there may be less need for precision sketches – but old school still works and is often quicker, cheaper and all that’s needed. I’m also reminded that in our remodeling business – for things like countertops – we did glued-up templates not measured drawings – avoiding many potential measurement transfer errors.
Peter Fox
KISS
I like plain unruled 4″ x 6″ note cards. Durable enough for a shop, easy to write on, and cheap.
I am also kind of partial to the generic promotional 5″ x 7″ graph paper note pads that many distributors and suppliers hand out.
I have never been much for cocktail napkins however larger disposable paper placemats at restaurants work quite well in a pinch.
My notes and sketches are seldom pretty however they get the job done. I am much more picky about my writing implements than the substrate I use them on.
Stacey Jones
Those look like they would be great for mapping dungeons in pen and paper Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, or any computer-based RPG where they don’t auto-map for you. Alas, I’ve not played pen & paper based AD&D in ages. Those were the good old days, back before all this ridiculous adulting ?!
JoeM
They are. Gary Gygax was pretty brilliant, and definitely had the mind of an engineer, just as much as he did a storyteller. Engineering pads, Dot Graphing Paper, and whatever paper doesn’t have a ruler printed on it, is often used as standard RPG map making/tracking paper by almost every TTRPG player I know. At one time, even the local Comic Shop used boatloads of the stuff to make expansive maps for their RPG nights. As the game went into new chapters, and further adventures, they’d just use some 3M Magic Tape (Scotch 3M Magic Tape it’s now called.) to add the new map areas that were drawn to the ongoing campaign map, and just roll it up when they were clearing out at the end of the session.
I think they even still have their old campaign map rolled up at the back of the store, but they haven’t had a campaign in years. I tried lifting the map at one point, and it had to weigh at least 20 pounds, if not more. Generic Graph Paper is pretty ideal for making these things. I say give it a try, if you get curious enough.
James Madara
One of the perks of working for an engineering firm is we have branded grid paper. Not that I would use them for personal use.
fred
Its the same with the folks who worked for us. Over the years I probably could count on my fingers the number that we found to be actually thieves.
But many would appropriate (aka borrow) various “consumables” for their own use. We expected and lived with a modicum of inventory shrinkage – and had a pretty liberal policy about lending out tools to our employees for personal (not side-business) use – or providing items as charitable contributions. What I learned over the years was that borrowing and lending (especially heavy equipment or potentially dangerous tools – not notepads) sometimes had insurance/liability implications that needed to be appropriately covered. Sometimes this fell under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished.”
TonyT
Sometimes it’s a two way street.
I believe machinists are expected to have a lot of personal tools. Auto mechanics too?
I sometimes use personal stuff at work, and vice versa (not stationery – I’m too much of a stationery geek for that, but we do have a very extensive supply of screws and such), but make sure I keep it reasonable
fred
I think that’s so. The Tool truck guys who cater to the auto mechanics – make their business selling based on not only quality tools but “easy” financing. Our fabrication business was close to a batch of Auto places – and the trucks would stop by on the hope of selling stuff – but when they understood that the business bought the tools and we were not interested in revolving credit plans – that made their visits less frequent.
In the plumbing business where I started out – the tradition was for the business to buy the tools. When we acquired a remodeling business and cabinet shop – we extended that philosophy to that business – even though it is not always the practice in that business.
I’ve also encountered machinists (some of them with the skills of precision instrument or watchmakers) who closely guard their personal tools – knowing their upkeep and precision. As metrology instruments have become more sophisticated and costly – it may be getting hard for machinists to now own everything they now need – stored in their machinist’s toolchest .
TonyT
Our machinist also makes his own tools (not sure if they count as personal or work, but since his been with the company for >25 years I don’t think it matters). But if he needed something expensive to do his job, the company would buy it. For example, on the electrical side, we’ve bought ~$250 Molex crimpers (which, btw, isn’t expensive for Swedish-made crimpers; I’ve seen $900 manual crimpers – which we didn’t buy).
Bob
Anybody else using old school dot matrix continuous form printer paper? I acquired a couple boxes for free. Its the fancy heavy grade paper with micro perf edges. Has a cool green color to it. The boxes smell of aqua net and excessiveness just like the 80’s
Koko The Talking Ape
I use graph paper in a clipboard. Then I save the drawing in a 3-ring binder. I use postits to separate and label projects.
The 4- or 5-square to an inch paper is too coarse. If each square is an inch, then you can get only a 40′ or 50″ project on one page. You can condense lines with those double slash marks, but sometimes you need to see a project overall.
So I use 10 square per inch graph paper. If one square to an inch is too small, it’s easy to make two squares an inch, or five.
And when the design is becoming firmed up, I add dimensions, even if I could count squares. Saves time later.
Also, when I’m working out a design, and reject some idea, I don’t ball it up and throw it away. I draw a large diagonal through it and write NO at the top. Then I save the page. It can be useful to see how I arrived at some design, and sometimes an elements of a rejected design can be used later. Anyway, why not? Paper is cheap.
And it’s a good idea to date your drawings too!
Tom H
These basic grid notebooks are awesome. Nice smooth paper, perfect size, and pretty cheap. Only problem is I can’t find mine now…
https://www.jetpens.com/Apica-Blank-Cover-Twin-Ring-Notebooks/ct/2440
Gordon
Gone are the days of a notepad tucked next to the phone. But I carried that over and bought a bulk pack of little 2×3 memo pads. I leave them in the corner of the kitchen “junk” drawer. Even if they travel around, there is often one still there to grab when needed.
For projects I’m a fan of a spiral bound notebook and folder for loose leaf stuff. You’re almost always going to have some loose papers, like permit applications, spec printouts, plans,manuals, receipts, ect. Eventually the folder becomes the important stuff that gets filed after the project is complete. (not that I know what that actually means)
In college I was a huge fan of 3 ring binders with 3 hole punched graph paper. You can even slide the cardboard backer of a notepad into the clear pocket on the front for a scratchpad. With a few dividers, you can organize many projects in one place. But I find I don’t have the time for organization like that any more.
Leonard
I’m left handed. Since most of left handed people were taught to write by right handed teachers. Our hands are usually curled around over the top. So clip boards are hard to use. Spiral bound, binders, my hand is always over the rings or spiral.
So I typically use loose sheet pads. I’m required at work to use a bound book for design/patent reasons. I do but I flip them so the spine is on the right side. It drives the other designers and engineers nuts. Yes, I have left hand scissors and my mouse is also left handed.
Mister Physics
Some years ago my daughter’s employer (semiconductor fab operator) went bankrupt. When she left on her last day she brought home a box of clean room notebooks, made up of special paper that would not shed fibre, and could be written on by almost anything. They had a nice 5mm grid printed as well. Wish I could find more of them. I probably couldn’t affort do buy them.
TonyT
A quick search shows clean room notebooks are readily available – and not cheap.
I’m happy to have avoided clean rooms for the last decade or so.
Ken
I go to an office supply store where they also do binding and such and grab several eye ease green engineering pads. I take them to front and have them make them into bound notebooks of about 100 sheets each.
Brian Hanna
I’m a huge fan of Rite in the Rain” all weather, soft cover, green notebooks. Check it out. https://www.riteintherain.com/4-625×7-25-soft-cover-book#cover-colors_green_page-patterns_universal#974
Toolfreak
I just get the lined notebooks when they’re like 10-35 cents for back to school, or a ream of looseleaf. Graph paper is cheap after school’s out for the summer. The pages are usually already punched for three ring binders so multiple projects in the same notebook can be torn out and put in binders instead.
Copier/printer/multipurpose paper works ok too, if the reams are cheap.
I spend the money saved on the actual project materials instead.
Plaingrain
I agree with you. The deals on BTS & clearance notebooks, filler paper, folders, etc. can’t be beat. As far as project paper, I like the paper that’s already printed. They have a picture of Ben Franklin, and the number 100 in the corners. Stacks of these can really boost any project.
David Zeller
There is a site that has hundreds of paper layouts in PDF form that let’s you print your own. As someone above noted, you can take a stack of paper and have them turned into a notebook or pad.
https://www.printablepaper.net/
Using a laser printer or copier, you can print these off and have no concerns about the grid/text smearing if you use highlighters or wet inks or spill.
You can print with an inkjet printer, too, but lose that safety and it’s generally more expensive. It’s not bad if you just want a few sheets for a specific task or project, though.
You also have the option of printing different patterns on the front vs back. You can pick your paper, too. It’s great for flexibility. Grids, lines, estimation forms, scales, etc. Thick paper, thin, cardstock, white, yellow, blue, etc.
JAYoung
As a retired newspaperman, I’ve got to put a word in for reporter’s notebooks.
Spiral bound, 4×7.5 inches, they’re handy and fit in a back pocket.
Even cops use them.
JSBson
https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=graph-ruled-solid-composition-notebook
Not the best paper but works for me.
Grady
When i was in college i got addicted to the green engineer calculation pads. They were light green on the front with isometric lines. The back side was a darker green with with a square grid withe five squares per inch. The back side was visible from the front. It was very useful to make a sketch in the isometric style and a standard three view drawing on the front, and to scale to boot.
Sadly they went away with the drafting machine. I have not been able to find them since the turn of the century. There is something satisfying about producing a working drawing with pencil and paper using only a T-Square, two triangles , and a compass. Much in the same way that some woodworkers prefer to use only hand tools.