PENCILS

[jlabrasca]

Also got one of these...

View attachment 361234

What is that?

Since we are talking about being old: A couple of years ago I mentioned drafting film in front of a class of engineering students. One student (an aerospace engineering student and rocketeer, as it happens) noticed the unfamiliar combination of words and asked me about it. Her eyes got wide when I explained that there was a time when machinists and folks in the building trades would use dividers to take measurements directly from a scale drawing, and that paper might stretch and distort the measurement...

That conversation reminded me that I had a box of water damaged film in my attic, some of which I then used to paper the fins on an upscaled Gyroc...

Edit: pointless anecdote

 

[Alan15578]

What is that?

Since we are talking about being old: A couple of years ago I mentioned drafting film in front of a class of engineering students. One student (an aerospace engineering student and rocketeer, as it happens) noticed the unfamiliar combination of words and asked me about it. Her eyes got wide when I explained that there was a time when machinists and folks in the building trades would use dividers to take measurements directly from a scale drawing, and that paper might stretch and distort the measurement...

That conversation reminded me that I had a box of water damaged film in my attic, some of which I then used to paper the fins on an upscaled Gyroc...

Edit: pointless anecdote

So... Velum, why would they use streamer material? (I have never personally used drafting film for drawings.)

OK, my favorite pencil would be the 0.5 mm upscale Pentel with the floating sleeve.

I'm surprised that no one has shown any love for the classic carpenters pencil. That bulky flat thing that you sharpen with a knife and that will not easily roll off inclined surfaces.

 

[tim cubbedge]

Held together with duct tape.

 

[Woody's Workshop]

I still have all of my drafting goodies including a 24" x 36" board w/ 2 self healing mats for it.
I'd still be using it if not for DeltaCAD!
If it wasn't for drafting, Shop Classes and PE...I would have never graduated.
I'm a hands on type of person. It's hard for me to learn from books.
Finally, late in life I find out why. I have stacked double vision.
And now...I can't drive...

 

[rharshberger]

So... Velum, why would they use streamer material? (I have never personally used drafting film for drawings.)

OK, my favorite pencil would be the 0.5 mm upscale Pentel with the floating sleeve.

I'm surprised that no one has shown any love for the classic carpenters pencil. That bulky flat thing that you sharpen with a knife and that will not easily roll off inclined surfaces.

When I hear drafting film, I think of the mylar film textured for inking (shiny smooth on one side and textured matte on the other). It was pretty heavy stuff and would probably have made good streamers.

 

[rharshberger]

Held together with duct tape.
View attachment 361243

Use them all the time in the shop, along with the good ole #2 pencil, and for real precise lines a marking knife.

 

[Peartree]

Held together with duct tape.
View attachment 361243

I haven't regularly used a pencil since I finished grad school, but my weapon of choice was always a Staedteler 0.5mm with HB lead and a click eraser. Since then, I've used a carpenter's pencil more often (including last week) but still fairly infrequently.

Oh, and as an undergrad, my eraser shield was an absolute necessity. It still has a place in the very front of my desk drawer.

 

[jlabrasca]

When I hear drafting film, I think of the mylar film textured for inking (shiny smooth on one side and textured matte on the other). It was pretty heavy stuff and would probably have made good streamers.

The stuff I have is acetate, predates mylar (it predates me). It is translucent, with textured finish on both faces. Most of it is discolored. It was trash from a cupboard in a classroom being converted to lab space.

 

[Winston]

Gentlemen,
Show us your favorite pencil/graphite based marking object !

I've owned many mechanical pencil brands. This is my favorite by far, both for operation reliability and feel. The large lead diameter eliminates breakage:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047CP6SI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[jqavins]

Seems like there are lots of us Pentel fans, even though several different models.

 

[Blackleaf99]

The Blackwing 602 works for me. I am so old school that the smell of finely shaved cedar wood is quietly satisfying.

 

[jqavins]

Are you sure those are cedar? Original Ticonderoga pencils, from Ticonderoga, NY, were made with Hemlock, which is common in the Adirondacks along with graphite.

 

[matthew]

Pentel 120 0.5mm with 2B lead. I find the 2B doesn't shine so much under fluorescent lighting, and I prefer the grip of the 120 over the P205. I must remember to look for a 0.3mm version.

 

[Blackleaf99]

Are you sure those are cedar? Original Ticonderoga pencils, from Ticonderoga, NY, were made with Hemlock, which is common in the Adirondacks along with graphite.

Here is the back side of the box.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

What is that?

It's a pen holder/stylus for a Kueffel & Esser Leroy lettering set. It's used with a lettering guide that is the outline of the letters cut into a plastic strip. The first picture is an adjustable stylus (adjust height/slant). The second picture is a non-adjustable stylus. These hold the little stubby K&E pens rather than the longer Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens. I've got an old set of that type of pen in different sizes, too.

https://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KELeroy/3245-15L/3245-15L.htm

 

[jlabrasca]

It's a pen holder/stylus for a Kueffel & Esser Leroy lettering set...

Thank you. I would never have guessed. I have a couple of lettering guides (in addition to my grandfather's 3031 Rapido-Guide, I've got an Ame's Adjustable like the one you show in post #27 and a couple of fairly useless Staedtler templates) but I have never seen a Leroy Lettering guide.

I suddenly want one. <g>

Did you use it? Do you use it?

 

[Sooner Boomer]

Thank you. I would never have guessed. I have a couple of lettering guides (in addition to my grandfather's 3031 Rapido-Guide, I've got an Ame's Adjustable like the one you show in post #27 and a couple of fairly useless Staedtler templates) but I have never seen a Leroy Lettering guide.

I suddenly want one. <g>

Did you use it? Do you use it?

I haven't used mine in a while. There are plenty for sale on Ebay and other places on the internet.

 

[jlabrasca]

I haven't used mine in a while. There are plenty for sale on Ebay and other places on the internet.

<smile> I have enough drawing tools. I am trying to think of a word that means to covet something without actually wanting to have it cluttering up your house.

I guess I wish that I already had a set.

I hope that nobody starts a thread about pens. I've got way more "favorite" pens than I have pencils.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

<smile> I have enough drawing tools. I am trying to think of a word that means to covet something without actually wanting to have it cluttering up your house.

I guess I wish that I already had a set.

I hope that nobody starts a thread about pens. I've got way more "favorite" pens than I have pencils.

With computer drawing/drafting/printing, there's not a lot of reason to keep stuff like this. I inherited it, plus it's what I used when I took Vo-Tech drafting in high school. I've got a lot of stuff like that, unfortunately. Obsolete, but important only to me.

Like the pen sets I've got. For everyday writing, scribbling, or drawing, I don't care what I use. I heard they weren't teaching cursive writing in schools anymore, so I bought a cheap fountain pen and wrote a few letters to family in cursive. But the pen sets I have are either technical pens or for calligraphy. That's something I hope a machine never gets good at!

 

[jqavins]

I am trying to think of a word that means to covet something without actually wanting to have it cluttering up your house.

Oggle?

 

[CoachSteve]

no Alvins? - I love the knurled barrel and the quality of the pencil. Used my .5 all through engineering classes. Still have it today and use it for every rocket build.

 

[GlenP]

This always paired well with either the wooden or mechanical kind...

 

[Sooner Boomer]

View attachment 361589 This always paired well with either the wooden or mechanical kind...

Yeah, but people like to fidget with them, and a lecture hall full of students taking tests with these sounds like a herd of angry crickets. Had one professor that banned them at test time because of this.

 

[CzTeacherMan]

I use one of two mechanical pencils... I'm picky. I'm an English teacher, so my writing is always just writing, not usually drafting. I always use a .5, though I'm thinking of switching it up because when I do drafting work, I like the idea of the heavier line.
1) Uni KuruToga Roulette, gunmetal barrel is my everyday use, love that pencil. Super sharp lines, fantastic hand feel
2) Rotring 800 when the pencil will be in my pocket a lot, like at chess tournaments... The retractable tip prevents my leg from getting poked.
Both good investments, highly recommended. Definitely go with the KuruToga if you're a shirt pocket pencil holder.

 

[HASTE]

Hope this works.