Cool Mechanical Pencils

[TZ250]

Since there are a lot of engineers on this forum, and engineers tend to like high quality mechanical pencils, I wondered if anyone here likes mechanical pencils.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxc-Shel6Ro


[YOUTUBE]xxc-Shel6Ro[/YOUTUBE]

My wife rolls her eyes at my 'toys'. I like them so much that I even made a YouTube review of them.

Although I prefer 0.3mm pencils, I break the small lead. All of these listed are 0.5mm, except for the Pilot S5 which is 0.4mm. The rotating leads writes with a much sharper line than any other 0.5mm. I used a magnifying glass and looked at the lead after writing for a short time. The lead was a very nice cone shape. No more spinning pencils every few words to keep a decent point!

Recently, I bought a Uni-Ball Kuru Toga (rotating lead), Uni-Ball Shift Pipe, Staedtler 925 Regulator, Kuru Toga Roulette and a Pilot S5 0.4mm mechanical pencils.

The Kuru Toga lead rotates 6 degrees every time the pencil lifts from the paper. The basic one that I have is all plastic. The Roulette model has an aluminum lower section. The Uni-Ball shift pipe has a sliding sleeve that allows the guide pipe to retract. The Staedtler 925 Regulator has an adjustable lead advance.

My new Kuru Toga Roulette 0.5mm and Pilot S5 0.4mm pencils should be here tomorrow.

Sooo, let's see your cool drafting pencils!

 

[troj]

I'm a big fan of quality writing implements, I will admit!

For cheap, I've had pretty good luck with Zebra mechanical pencils, but now you have me intrigued.

Years ago, I bought a pretty nice Waterman pen. I love the pen, but their refills suck. I found some Quill brand refills that fit it and make it into an awesome pen -- nice heft, and it writes smoothly.

-Kevin

 

[CPUTommy]

I personally love a great pencil. The problem I have is once I find the one I like it usually ends up missing..

Right now I have a school pencil that was sharpened with my razor knife...

A New pencil is a must....... Looks like thats on my list for this weekend.

A Decent mechanical pencil..

Tom

 

[GDJ]

Best mechanical pencil I've ever had was a Statler 0.7mm. Wish I still had it. Good writing, lead was tough as nails.

 

[Aksrockets]

I'm a big fan of quality writing implements, I will admit!

For cheap, I've had pretty good luck with Zebra mechanical pencils, but now you have me intrigued.

Years ago, I bought a pretty nice Waterman pen. I love the pen, but their refills suck. I found some Quill brand refills that fit it and make it into an awesome pen -- nice heft, and it writes smoothly.

-Kevin

I'm a fan of zebras too.However, their uses extend beyond writing. I used the tip of one for a nozzle in some small micro rocket engines (reloadable). I used zebra peices, and an old aluminim flashlight case to create the casing. The reloads are different types of firework fuse. Not really air worthy but still fun to mess around with.
[YOUTUBE]A8JgA9IYEtM[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Stymye]

I'm an ME all my pencils are Rotring, mainly 0.5, not sure why ,, just what I have always used.. I have half a dozen , tho I'm not a collector by any means.

most are this type and rapid pro ..kinda pricey but built solid and last forever

 

[BABAR]

I'm rough on mechanical pencils. I really like the Bic 0.9mm ones, I break a lot fewer leads that way.

Plus if I lose it, it's cheap to replace.

 

[Ford Prefect]

I use the sharpie liquid pencil. Not great but works pretty well and no lead to break.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

For my job I keep a journal. I document my work times, and stuff I work on. I also draw a lot of sketches and schematics. I've tried using several different mechanical pencils, but they either break, get lost/stolen, or they're just too expensive. I'm not about to bring any of my good drafting pencils to work! So I buy and use "normal" wooden pencils. My problem has been in finding a good, decently priced sharpener. I've tried several of the cheap plastic thingies, but they either don't sharpen the pencil well, or sharpen at the wrong angle and break the lead, or some other problem. Right now I'm using a small folding utility knife to whittle the tip, but that's not good either...
(I tried explaining my problem to my high-priced MBA brother. He replied "Who the * uses a pencil nowdays?".)

 

[foamy]

Good 'ol Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2. They're magic.

 

[mikecamerota]

i go to 'rockler' buy a kit. some exotic wood and turn my own. one year i made my pens. pencils. letter openers. and magnifying glasses for my family at christmas

 

[troj]

For my job I keep a journal. I document my work times, and stuff I work on. I also draw a lot of sketches and schematics. I've tried using several different mechanical pencils, but they either break, get lost/stolen, or they're just too expensive. I'm not about to bring any of my good drafting pencils to work! So I buy and use "normal" wooden pencils. My problem has been in finding a good, decently priced sharpener. I've tried several of the cheap plastic thingies, but they either don't sharpen the pencil well, or sharpen at the wrong angle and break the lead, or some other problem. Right now I'm using a small folding utility knife to whittle the tip, but that's not good either...
(I tried explaining my problem to my high-priced MBA brother. He replied "Who the * uses a pencil nowdays?".)

No way, no how would I use a wooden pencil again -- I always hated how fat and smudgy the tips get.

But then, I'm a programmer, and with a good pencil, I used to be able to write two lines of code between two lines of code on a printout.... Eyes aren't that good anymore.

0.5mm mechanical for me, thanks!

-Kevin

 

[ufj]

rotting makes a great mechanical pencil. But if you really want the full pencil experience, try a lead holder. You can get any point you want with it. https://dataprint.com/Store/p-14102-staedtler-mars-technical-2mm-lead-holder-wclip-780-c.aspx

 

[powderburner]

I'm an ME all my pencils are Rotring, mainly 0.5, not sure why ,, just what I have always used.. I have half a dozen , tho I'm not a collector by any means.

most are this type and rapid pro ..kinda pricey but built solid and last forever

I had one of those, probably still do....somewhere around here. Is that the solid steel one? I think I paid $30-40 for it back then, what are they going for now?

 

[foamy]

rotting makes a great mechanical pencil. But if you really want the full pencil experience, try a lead holder. You can get any point you want with it. https://dataprint.com/Store/p-14102-staedtler-mars-technical-2mm-lead-holder-wclip-780-c.aspx

Yup. That Staedler is very nice. I have one. And about half a dozen other varieties of mechanical pencils. They're all quite competent.

I'm a drawer. I appreciate the varied width and density that a conventional pencil gives you. Particularly the HB, which the Ticonderoga No. 2 is. I've got bunches of other drawing pencils—from very hard to very soft leads. The DT#2 is still my favorite and probably always will be.

 

[ndzied1]

I must have a hard touch as I always break 0.5 lead. I'm a 0.7mm HB lead man. I haven't seen a lead holder in a long time. You need the little board with sandpaper on it to sharper it and the bag full of eraser crumbs to really be "official"

 

[chrism]

I have a Pentel .7 Twist Erase III with a nice L-O-N-G eraser

 

[skybuster]

Since there are a lot of engineers on this forum, and engineers tend to like high quality mechanical pencils, I wondered if anyone here likes mechanical pencils.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxc-Shel6Ro


[YOUTUBE]xxc-Shel6Ro[/YOUTUBE]

My wife rolls her eyes at my 'toys'. I like them so much that I even made a YouTube review of them.

Although I prefer 0.3mm pencils, I break the small lead. All of these listed are 0.5mm, except for the Pilot S5 which is 0.4mm. The rotating leads writes with a much sharper line than any other 0.5mm. I used a magnifying glass and looked at the lead after writing for a short time. The lead was a very nice cone shape. No more spinning pencils every few words to keep a decent point!

Recently, I bought a Uni-Ball Kuru Toga (rotating lead), Uni-Ball Shift Pipe, Staedtler 925 Regulator, Kuru Toga Roulette and a Pilot S5 0.4mm mechanical pencils.

The Kuru Toga lead rotates 6 degrees every time the pencil lifts from the paper. The basic one that I have is all plastic. The Roulette model has an aluminum lower section. The Uni-Ball shift pipe has a sliding sleeve that allows the guide pipe to retract. The Staedtler 925 Regulator has an adjustable lead advance.

My new Kuru Toga Roulette 0.5mm and Pilot S5 0.4mm pencils should be here tomorrow.

Sooo, let's see your cool drafting pencils!

Love .3mm leads!!!!! I have an old Japanese Koh-I-nor .3mm drafting pencil I love and got used to pretty fast. .4mm, that's gotta be rare! maybe as rare a .2mm like this German made one
https://www.staedtler.com/Mars_technico_780_C_gb.Staedtler

have to get one of these next year for college! Made in Germany, it'll outlast me LOL

 

[troj]

I have a Pentel .7 Twist Erase III with a nice L-O-N-G eraser

I prefer the Pentel Clic Erasers. I have several -- I find the erasers on most mechanical pencils suck.

-Kevin

 

[H_Rocket]

For me - Pilot Logo II in 0.7mm

Not a high end one, however it just feels right.

I do keep a 0.9mm one for filling out range cards.

 

[mIcahel]

What does everyone use to keep their shirt pockets from fraying? I prefer the model pictured from Esselte.

 

[Stymye]

I don't carry my more expensive pencils around , I draw with it at a desk, so it stays at the desk pretty much ,
I have a couple at home , one in the computer desk and one that I keep around the modeling bench.
and a couple very old ones in other drawers here and there
for me to loose one of my more expensive pencils is like misplacing my glasses , it' doesn't happen often
that's what the cheapies provided on the jobs are for, general stuff

the most used rotring I have cost me $30. small expense for a work tool I figure

 

[bjphoenix]

I started using Pentel 0.5mm in college and used them for a long time. Then I moved up to 0.7mm for a little while, but for the past 10 years or more I've used 0.9mm.

Working in a big office I had trouble keeping track of them, it seemed like I never had the pencil with me when I needed it. I finally bought extras, then I had one that always set on my desk, one that was always in my pocket, and one that was always at my desk at home.

 

[Woody's Workshop]

I'm no engineer, but in my woodworking I like fine clean lines because I like to get things to within 1/64".
I favor the Pentel FORTE 0.5 mm A55, and not the ones with the stupid rubber grip at the end that always expands and fumbles away.
I also use the Zebra 0.5mm M-301, but the smaller than tinny eraser with the cover is a real pain, and the finner knerels at the finger tips are slippy at times.
But I do favor the Zebra F-301 fine point pens over any others. Even when lefft in the car in the winter, they don't gum up, or run out the ball in the summer. That's a huge plus.

 

[TZ250]

This has been a fun thread.

I snapped a couple of pictures for everyone here. The closeups show the wear patterns of the lead.

From top to bottom: Kuru Toga, Shift Pipe Lock (retractable guide pipe) and Staedtler 925 Regulator

This view shows the Uni Shift Pipe Lock with the guide pipe retracted

Kuru Toga lead wear pattern

This is a conventional wear pattern

 

[troj]

Okay, I just checked, and readily available at my desk I find...

Pentel 0.9mm
Pentel 0.5mm
Pentel 0.5mm
Zebra 0.5mm (M-301)
Zebra 0.5mm (M-301)
Staedtler 0.5mm (925-05)

All of them work fairly well; I tend to buy the Zebras for every-day use, because they're relatively inexpensive and I don't mind so much if I lose one. The Staedtler is probably my favorite of the bunch, but being more expensive, I'm less likely to haul it around.

If I were to go rummage through the disaster (workbench) in the basement, I'd find several more, from 0.5mm to 0.7mm.

There's at least one Zebra, possibly two, in my car, as well.

What I really need is one with a little more "heft" than any I have, at the moment.

-Kevin

 

[Stymye]

here's a pic for tz250
this is the one I always use at my home computer,
I 've been starting to inventory some rockets the last few days, I use mech pencils for everything..hehe

It's a rotring esprit 0.7 double push .it's pretty old ,and no longer made
I traded a very old rapidomatic for it with a coworker/collector who was bigtime into pencils

 

[Sooner Boomer]

I prefer the Pentel Clic Erasers. I have several -- I find the erasers on most mechanical pencils suck.

-Kevin

A chem prof in a class I had about 20 years ago said she H-A-T-E-D click erasers. The intro chem classes are large, 50-75 or more, and on test day, with everyone clicking the erasers out of nerves, the lecture hall sounded like it was full of giant crickets!

 

[chrism]

For you pencil fans, here is a link to Levenger. They have some neat stuff including a $180.00 pencil!


https://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/NAVIGATION/Preview.asp?Params=category=8-911|level=2-3

 

[TZ250]

here's a pic for tz250
this is the one I always use at my home computer,...

It's a rotring esprit 0.7 double push .it's pretty old ,and no longer made
I traded a very old rapidomatic for it with a coworker/collector who was bigtime into pencils

That is a very nice mechanical pencil. In the near future, I would like to buy a Rotring.

For you pencil fans, here is a link to Levenger. They have some neat stuff including a $180.00 pencil!

That is a lot of money for a mechanical pencil. However, some people with LOTS of money will consider some of these! :y:

$12,350 from https://www.kenroindustries.com/M-Alfa-Romeo.html