Best Mechanical Pencil?

[Rafal]

I tend to gravitate to vintage stuff but two pencils I really seem to like are Pilot Vanishing point and Eversharp.

[UezeU]

A £500 mechanical pencil can use the same lead a cheap disposable one. To me they are all much of a muchness and paying more means you are buying because you like the brand or style.

 

People say the same thing about my pens to which I usually reply, "You just don't understand." I thought people around here would be a little more understanding.

[ajcoleman]

I have several favorites, but I restrict myself to two:

 

Best fine point: the Pentel Sharp Sliding Sleeve PS535. The sliding sleeve, 0.5 mm. It is comfortable, reliable, and very cool looking. It is a classic.

 

Best vintage/general writing: The Autopoint, esp. the Jumbo size, preferrably with "Real Thin Lead" as it was then called, or 0.9mm, now sold as the Jumbo All-American. Solid, fool-proof, and ultra-dependable.

[seres]

.....Best vintage/general writing: The Autopoint, esp. the Jumbo size, preferrably with "Real Thin Lead" as it was then called, or 0.9mm, now sold as the Jumbo All-American. Solid, fool-proof, and ultra-dependable.

 

I remember using the standard Autopoint in the 1960's (I think it used 1.1 leads), and I bought a new one the other day..... and it hasn't changed one bit. Still a solid, dependable pencil. Well done, Autopoint!

[joeahearn]

+1

 

Pentel Sharp Kerry, 0.5mm. The blue is nice. Compact design. Cap protects the point in your bag. Very classy design, well engineered.

 

http://www.pentel.com/catalog_product.php?id=690

[Anne-Sophie]

A £500 mechanical pencil can use the same lead a cheap disposable one. To me they are all much of a muchness and paying more means you are buying because you like the brand or style.

 

The same could be said for "precious resin".

[Chrontius]

Faber-Castell E-Motion. I have one in black and pearwood purchased on clearance at Office Depot.

 

Their B lead at around 0.9mm is just the best.

[ClassicHippie]

I'll be looking into getting a nice mechanical pencil for one of my next purchases. Thanks for the great suggestions here.

[milkb0at]

I have been using an old Pentel something-or-other for years. Recently I cracked and bought a Uni Kuru Toga and a Pentel Kerry, both in 0.5mm.

 

They are both nice in their own way, but the Kerry is by far my favourite. It is a lovely pen to hold and to use. The Kuru Toga is meant to keep the lead sharp but I can't say I've had any success with that. Perhaps I'm not pressing hard enough or something.

[chomann]

+1

 

+1

 

Pentel Sharp Kerry, 0.5mm. The blue is nice. Compact design. Cap protects the point in your bag. Very classy design, well engineered.

 

http://www.pentel.com/catalog_product.php?id=690

 

 

I have to say I love the cap mechanism. I absolutely love Rotring, but their retracting point (ie pocket safe) pencil runs about $80. That's about 3-4 Pentel Kerry's. Which even if lost will last longer than losing 1 Rotring. Pocket=Pentel Kerry, Desk set= Rotring. imho

 

I say for the money go with Pentel Kerry in 0.5. Its kinda like Honda vs Bentley. They both get you there and use the same gas (not mile Per Gallon), but the sheer number of Honda's to Bentley cost is a huge factor. 1 wreck will make you car-less regardless, but with Honda's you can rebuy multiple times before you come anywhere close to the cost of the Bentley.

[torstar]

For practical use I have the Pilot that is sold at most reputable supply chains.

 

I have a large MB Meisterstuck and it is very good but I don't take it out in public or use it that much.

[TrinityTam]

For sketching I use a Faber-Castell E-Motion or a Lamy Scribble depending on paper/sketch size.

 

For all-around pencil, my favorite is the discontinued Yasutomo (Y&C) Grip 500. It has a wonderful retractable point. They still pop up periodically on ebay as NOS.

[Nokin]

I have a Pelikan but prefer to use my Yard-O-Led Retro:

 

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/NokinPhoto/British%20Blades/retro_pencil.jpg

 

I like the thicker 1.18mm leads, as well as the actual pencil!

[Penny Lane]

I use mechanical pencils mainly for work these days, and working in an outdoors environment, my mechanical pencil needs to be tough & cheap enough to not be a problem to replace when lost, stolen or just broken.

 

Therefore I've sworn by the Pentel P205 for years now. It's incredibly tough for the price. Mine's been eating sand, used/left out in the rain for whole days and whatnot and it only ever stops working when the leads become soaked (I load whole tubes of Pentel P1 or P2 leads at once; the leads in he pencil are then twice as expensive as the pencil itself). When dried, it'll resume business as if nothing ever happened.

 

There undoubtedly are better mechanical pencils out there, but at the price & availability (at least over here), it's hard to beat for being stupid reliable.

 

Derk

[coleam]

I use mechanical pencils mainly for work these days, and working in an outdoors environment, my mechanical pencil needs to be tough & cheap enough to not be a problem to replace when lost, stolen or just broken.

 

Therefore I've sworn by the Pentel P205 for years now. It's incredibly tough for the price. Mine's been eating sand, used/left out in the rain for whole days and whatnot and it only ever stops working when the leads become soaked (I load whole tubes of Pentel P1 or P2 leads at once; the leads in he pencil are then twice as expensive as the pencil itself). When dried, it'll resume business as if nothing ever happened.

 

There undoubtedly are better mechanical pencils out there, but at the price & availability (at least over here), it's hard to beat for being stupid reliable.

 

Derk

 

+1

 

My mechanical pencils have to deal with the same sort of treatment, and the P205 can't be beat. I also like the Graphgear 500, which is a P205 with a couple improvements - thicker textured metal grip section that doesn't get slippery, and a lip in the eraser cap that makes it easier to pull off (especially with your teeth).

[Pemako]

Rotring Rapid Pro.

 

http://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/rotring-rapid-pro-mechanical-pencil.html

 

I have the 2mm and love it.

[MrFP]

Hands down, the Lamy AL-star - ergonomic grip, lasts forever, elegant and somewhat futuristic design. I bought it with my AL-star fountain pen which was resurrected lately, but I did use the pencil contantly since I got it, and it replaced any pencils I had before. It might be surpassed in by the Lamy 2000 in terms of design, but that's a whole different price category.

http://www.thepaperie.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/l/a/lam-302-102.jpg

 

There is also cheaper plastic version, the Lamy Safari pencil, but I wouldn't consider any of them except maybe the matte charcoal one and the translucent Vista, because of the bold colors - but this is personal taste.

http://static.jetpens.com/images/a/000/021/21557.jpg

 

Even though I bought an Aurora Ipsilon De Luxe recently, I won't buy the pencil, because I doubt that it will give the same great experience of the AL-star/Safari/Vista. Nor did any Staedler or Rotring, as far as I am concerned.

 

What's more problematic are the leads. I found that Rotring hi-Polymer are prone to breaking, and I am using Faber-Castell Super-Polymer, which are a little harder to erase. I will try the new Pentel AIN Stein leads next, according to the marketing, that should be the holy grail of leads, but I want need to see that first-hand.

 

As far as eraser go, there a two peaces of experience I can give you:

1) Use the eraser tip on the pen

As far as the Lamys go, they are replaceable. Also, if you're constantly erasing things, this screws up your handwriting with an FP, as you get used to erasing, which isn't possible with most inks. Using the eraser tip is a bit less comfortable and thus, you tend to somehow make less mistakes in the first place.

2) Don't bother with anything but a plastic eraser

The old style erasers will grind the paper rather than removing the lead. The two best erasers I've found are the Pentel AIN Black, because it doesn't look nasty after using it and Pentel erasers are the best in general, and the Staedler Mars plastic, which is about equally great but tends to become gray over time.

Don't bother erasers like the ones from Staples or Office Depot, compared to Pentel and Staedler, they are rubbish as they don't erase as easily which is not a great experience and for a $1.50 item not even worth considering.

Edited January 9, 2013 by MrFP

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

This is a year-old thread, but here are my picks for pencils: Dillon's Pencil Picks

 

About leads, I like the Pentel Ain/Super High Polymer. I use Pentel Pro-Use for leads 0.4 mm and under. These seem to have a good balance of darkness, break resistance, and erasability. For 2.0 mm leads, I like the Staedtler Mars Lumograph and for 3.15 mm leads, I like the Lamy ones. They seem quite good.

 

Dillon