Whats Your Choice Of Mechanical Pencil?

[TheDane]

You first have to ask yourself several questions before you can begin deciding what's right for you.

 

Here goes:

 

What is my pencil going to be used for?

A pencil that's being used for precast lettering and often used with templates for making flow charts and other sorts of diagrams will probably work better if it has a longer fixed guide pipe for the lead whereas a if you prefer to write boldly or do rough sketches a simple cone type point would work better, and if you're heavy handed with a pencil a cushion point may help.

 

What's you style?

Traditional or technical? Do you want a pencil that matches your pen?

 

Is 'pocket safe' important?

Pencils with retractable tips. sliding sleeves, fairly blunt models with fixed pipes e.g. some 2mm mechanical pencils and capped models like the Pentel Sharp Kerry or the Tombow Zoom 505sh won't poke be likely to holes in your shirt pocket or you and even more importantly the fragile guide pipes are much less likely to get bent out of shape.

 

What are your ergonomic preferences?

Thick or thin? Light or heavy? Long or short? What type of grip do you prefer, knurled or smooth, rubberized, gel, faceted?

 

What lead thickness do you want?

You've got a choice of from 0.3mm to 5.6mm with 0.5mm being the most common.

 

What lead hardness do you want to use?

Unlike wooden pencils there is a more limited range of hardnesses available for mechanical pencils though 0.5mm has a pretty wide choice of hardnesses and colours available but the broadest choice is in 2mm and there are click advance 2mm and twist propelling 2mm pencils out there not just clutch lead holders.

 

What sort of advance mechanism do you prefer?

Standard click, twist propeller, shaker, side click, automatic feed, gravity clutch, bend click and I'm sure some others are all available.

 

But don't worry, pencils generally cost far less than fountain pens and there is a wide range of functional pencils of all sorts for less than ten bucks.

 

My daily carry pencils are usually the extremely light and sturdy Caran d'Ache Metal series 0.7mm click pencils and often a 2mm Caran d'Ache fixpencil along with a matching ballpoint. They are sort junior partners of their Ecridor series. I also like the Ohto Promecha 1000 pencils which have the 4mm long fixed sleeve but have a knurled aluminum grip which rides back and forth on a large brass screw and can covet the guide pipe for transport, just be sure to disassemble the pen and apply a generous amount of beeswax or paraffin wax to the screw threads and on the support spring under the grip. The aforementioned Pentel Kerry and Tombow Zoom 505 are also favourites of mine, the TSBI precision impressed me greatly, I prefer it to my Rotring 600, I also like the Pentel GraphGear 1000s, they have a really cool retro-futuristic look about them and a comfortable and unique grip, for a pure writing pencil the 0,7mm Ballograf Opus with its firm rubberized grip and retractable cushioned point mechanism as well as really robust construction and superb balance. can't be beat, the ballpoints are also among the best available—and of course the venerable Lamy 2000 mechanical pencil. I have a lot of mechanical pencils;)

I also like the Tombow! And I'm probably going to buy one more for backup.

I have a question regarding to the Sharp Kerry: what is the diameter of the grib section ?

I hope it's approximately the same as the Tombow... I can't write with thin pens for long periodes.

- The Dane

[RyanM]

Being an Architecture student, I have been through quite a lot a mechanical pencils.

The Rotring 600 is hard to beat, as well is the Retro 51 Hexomatic (in the pencil). They are both built very well.

Lamy does some cheap, but quite good Mechanical pencils, such as the Logo and the Safari pencil.

I would avoid brands like Parker for their pencils. I have had a few, and they don't work very well. I have had a Sonnet, which I eventually gave away, as I got sick of the twist mechanism, and I have had both an Urban and an IM, both of which had had the problem of lead retracting into the barrel.

Another thing to think of, how the lead is inserted into the barrel. Most pencils have a removable end piece, but others, such as Parker and Waterman make you take the entire end apart just to add more lead.

On top of this, my Lamy Logo in the twin pen only allows you to add one piece of lead at once, which is very annoying.

Have fun!

[shudaizi]

My stable of MPs. I like them all and have no significant issues with any of them.

 

Lamy 2000 0.7mm (had a 0.5mm but it seemed to break leads often so I upsized to 0.7)

Rotring Rapid Pro 0.7mm

TWSBI Precision MP 0.7mm

Mitsubishi Pure Malt 0.5mm

Caran d'Ache Fixpencil 2mm

[NinthSphere]

Cheap Bic .7mm when I need a pen I don't have to worry about getting dirty or destroyed. Cross .9mm or Wahl-Eversharp 1.1mm twist pencils when I want somthing cooler.

[WetNoodle]

-Pentel Kerry

-Kaweco Special

-Lamy Scribble

[dex138]

My collection of mechanical pencils is very small, but it has substance. Consists of a full set of Pentel p200s (p203, p205, p207, p209), a rOtring 600 series 1 - 0,7mm in silver, and my favorite, a Faber-Castell 9725 L TK-matic - 0.5mm in stainless steel.

[Tasmith]

Used to use cheap plastic Bic and Pentel mechanical pencils. The problem was that they would break when I needed them the most. The body would crack and come apart or the lead would no longer extend out. I now have the Rotring 600 .5mm and just love how well it's made. Being mostly metal, it's built like a tank and I don't worry about it breaking.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Tasmith

[Bemo]

Pentel p207. They've been making it since 1965 I believe. I would also recommend the Pentel GraphGear 1000. Stouter than the old p200 series and is retractable.

[fountainpagan]

Graf von Faber Castell, guilloché, 0.5mm lead, is my daily mechanical pencil. Very nice touch in hand, very well balanced.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/NkxtCf.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/540/7P2aq9.jpg

Edited November 22, 2014 by fountainpagan

[shawndp]

I am partial to Cross pencils - most of them came with the matching BP. A friend suggested the Kurutoga pencil - I rather like that one too.

[Princeps Anglorum]

My personal favourites are Cross Solo and Waterman Expert I both with 2b lead.

[allebannep]

I have just ordered this last week

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/378180828/l3-the-new-pen-and-mechanical-pencil-from-loclen

 

It resembles the Rotring 600 but I like this better.

[mirosc]

Lamy Scribble - more comfortable than many fountain pens.

[Dimitri]

If you're working with them and have the typical issues of work writing supplies getting lost, breaking etc. I'd go with the Zebra M-301 pencils, as another poster mentioned, they are between disposable (under $3 each) and not disposable (they are built rather well).

[aderoy]

My daily carry is a Faber Castell TK-Fine Vario 0.5 has been in hand now for little over 10 years. Work requires a fine line, not shirt pocket safe due to lead shaft

 

The Caran d'Ache Ecridor 0.7 is the desk/agenda pencil

 

Staedtler 2.0mm 780c is the the old workhorse when it come to updating CAD drawings.

[wastelanded]

-My grandfather's A.W.Faber "Goldfaber"

-Staedtler Mars 782 I've had since fifth grade

-My favourite, a Koh-i-noor 5311 5.6mm

-Rosetta 5.6mm in black with dark green leads

[shudaizi]

My daily carry is a Faber Castell TK-Fine Vario 0.5 has been in hand now for little over 10 years. Work requires a fine line, not shirt pocket safe due to lead shaft

 

The Caran d'Ache Ecridor 0.7 is the desk/agenda pencil

 

Staedtler 2.0mm 780c is the the old workhorse when it come to updating CAD drawings.

 

Someday I want to try an Ecridor. Delicious MP.

[RNHC]

What's a pencil???

 

 

 

A device with a long history that makes marks on the paper using a soft form of carbon called graphite? I heard that some of them require you to remove the wood casing with a blade or a device called a sharpener to expose the carbon. Others have a permanent casing with some mechanism that moves the carbon outside of the casing. Some odd types don't use carbon but instead some other materials to make marks on the paper.

 

 

Oh, snap! Don't get all winky winky about people's love for a good pencil if you don't want to be "told."

[Kuhataparunks]

Pilot S20 has the most natural feel of any writing instrument I've ever used, and many of the reviews remark this specifically. It contours so well to the hand and long writing sessions aren't even noticeable because it feels like an extension of the hand. I have the red finish and it is very modest. Wonderful mid priced pencil, I like it a lot

[Kuhataparunks]

Pilot S20 has the most natural feel of any writing instrument I've ever used, and many of the reviews remark this specifically. It contours so well to the hand and long writing sessions aren't even noticeable because it feels like an extension of the hand. I have the red finish and it is very modest. Wonderful mid priced pencil, I like it a lot