A Guide to Metalpoint Styluses

Metalpoint drawings are created with metal wires. Those, in turn, need something that could be used for holding them. In this article, I’m going to explain what your options for wire holders are.

The most readily available and easiest to use wire holder is a mechanical pencil. Mechanical pencils are commonly made to hold 0.3mm; 0.5mm; 0.7mm; 0.9mm and 2.0mm leads. If you can get your metal wire in one of these sizes, congratulations, problem solved. Personally, I try to get my wires in 0.5mm and 0.9mm sizes. I have tried using 0.3mm wires, but, frankly, the difference between those and the 0.5mm wires is so small, that, in my opinion, it is simply not worth having two almost identical styluses. I also don’t use the 2.0mm size, which feels too wide for my taste. I use 0.9mm wires most commonly, those are my favorite. I also occasionally use 0.5mm wires for creating very fine details in a drawing. Of course, your preferences may differ from mine, for example, I know many other metalpoint artists who prefer using 2.0mm wires.

Unfortunately, sometimes the wire you want simply won’t be available in the right width. For example, my 24 karat gold and palladium wires are 1.0mm wide. Back when shopping for wires, I couldn’t find any European shop offering for sale 0.9mm wide precious metal wires. Now here’s where the real problem starts—what can you do with some wire that has the wrong diameter for inserting it into a mechanical pencil?

If you are willing to buy vintage mechanical pencils, the amount of wire sizes you can use is going to increase. For example, some Victorian propelling pencils were made for 1.05mm leads (and 1.0mm wires work in them nicely).

Alternatively, you can try using a pin vise (spelled “pin vice” in British English). You can tighten them so that they can hold wires of various diameters. Pin vises can be purchased from stores selling supplies for jewelers and watchmakers. Some art stores that offer silverpoint supplies also carry them. Unfortunately, the shapes of pin vises look like they could be uncomfortable to hold for prolonged periods of time (I have a preference for long and narrow drawing/writing instruments).

This is how a pin vise sold by one of the art supply stores looks like. It is too short and too wide. Many pin vises are also too heavy and too bulky. Watchmakers don’t hold their tools in the same way how an artist would hold a pencil, thus pin vises are manufactured in the wrong shapes.

This is a pin vise sold by naturalpigments.com, and this one looks much better, it would actually be possible to comfortably hold a drawing tool shaped like this stylus. That being said, I still don’t particularly like this shape, I’d rather have something that’s shaped more like a pencil.

Next, I’m going to explain what I’m using for holding my 1.0mm gold and palladium wires. This is how my styluses look like.

Here’s another photo that ought to illustrate what it is that you are looking at.

It’s a tiny pin vise (Starrett 162A model) with a separate handmade handle that elongates it. This pin vise can hold wires in the 0-1mm range. If you need to hold a wire that is wider than 1.0mm, Starrett also sells other larger pin vises. (As you must have noticed, I label my wires. I have used lots of different metals, and I don’t want to accidentally mix them up. Obviously, this one is gold.)

The problem with this pin vise it that it’s too short to use as a drawing tool on its own. See? It’s tiny. This is why I had to make the handle longer. Somebody with even basic woodworking skills could make a much nicer handle, but, for the sake of this article, I’m keeping it simple. You can make a prettier and fancier handle if you want.

For this stylus, I simply took a piece of paper (mine was 12x20cm large) and tightly rolled it around the pin vise. Of course, you have to do that with both hands, for this photo I was holding a camera in my other hand. Once the paper is tightly rolled, just glue it together with a little bit of PVA glue. Then tie it together with some thread. Once the glue has dried, you can remove the thread. I decided to just leave it there.

Now we have a stylus that’s shaped like a pencil and can be used as a drawing tool. Here’s another photo with my gold and palladium styluses placed next to a regular pencil and a mechanical pencil for a size comparison.

My pin vises are purchased from eBay. Of course, there are also other stores selling these things.

When it comes to metal wires, there are various art supply stores that offer metalpoint supplies. That being said, I don’t particularly recommend any of them. If you need precious metals (gold, platinum, palladium, silver), then you can get much better prices from online stores that cater to jewelers. I bought mine from cooksongold.com. They will cut a wire to whatever length you specify, and how much you have to pay will depend on how many grams of metal you bought. I can only recommend this store for my readers who live within the European Union, if you live in another continent, then you are better off looking for local stores.

My other metal wires are from wires.co.uk and metalclays4you.co.uk. I also bought a few wires from several sellers on eBay and aliexpress.com. I have tried using a lot of various different metals.

For cheap metal wires there won’t be very much difference in price, but if you are shopping for precious metals, I strongly recommend comparing prices before you buy. In some shops the same 24 karat gold wire can be a lot cheaper than in others. In general, art supply stores tend to have higher prices than stores that sell supplies for jewelers. Keep in mind that a few centimeters long wire will last you for countless drawings. I tend to cut my wires in 12 cm lengths, because that’s the longest length I can fit inside a mechanical pencil. Art supply stores tend to sell metalpoint wires that are approximately 6 cm long.

If you get your metal wires from an art supply store, they might come with rounded tips that are ready to use. Otherwise you will have to shape the tips of your wires on your own. If the tip of your wire is very sharp, it is likely to tear and damage the paper, therefore you should make it a bit rounder and remove any sharp edges. Personally, I use a piece of 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper. You don’t want to breathe in any metal particles while sanding the tips of your wires, and a wet/dry sandpaper can be used with water, which prevents metal particles from becoming airborne.

By the way, you can use a 0.8mm wire in a mechanical pencil that was made for 0.9mm leads. The wire won’t fall out; the tip of the wire will fit loosely, but that isn’t too disturbing while drawing. I have also tried inserting a 0.91mm wire into a 0.9mm mechanical pencil. It was a snug fit, but it worked. It may not work with mechanical pencils made by other brands though, so I cannot give any guarantees.