Who Else Thinks That A Mechanical Pencil Is The Next-Best Thing To A Fountain Pen?

[Chthulhu]

Question for anybody: Do you prefer a 0.7 mm or a 0.9 mm lead for general purpose writing?

 

0.9 if I'm writing at length, 0.7 for glosses and marginalia.

[RobertP]

Question for anybody: Do you prefer a 0.7 mm or a 0.9 mm lead for general purpose writing?

 

Still sticking with my 2 mm clutch pencil

[Kugelschreiber]

the bottom is an Eagle MP.

 

 

Ah, okay. You do have quite the collection.

[attika89]

Pterodactylus & Kugelschreiber,

Thank you very much!

There is a few on my flickr account.

edit: Adding something on topic
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1416/5303973833_611959d623_b.jpg

Edited September 16, 2013 by attika89

[smiorgan]

I like mechanical pencils too. I have a Kaweco pen case in my pocket with one Al Sport FP and one acrylic sketch up 5.6 mm clutch pencil.

[flatline]

Question for anybody: Do you prefer a 0.7 mm or a 0.9 mm lead for general purpose writing?

 

My preference is 0.3mm. I'll settle for 0.5mm if I have to. I like 0.9mm for doing puzzles since it's easy to erase and I can control the shape of the tip by rotating the pencil.

 

I have no use for 0.7mm except as loaner pencils.

 

--flatline

[jonveley]

If you're interested not just in contemporary mechanical pencils but also vintage ones, this blog is fascinating: http://leadheadpencils.blogspot.com/ (No affiliation, as they say -- just a fan.)

 

Indeed, there are those of us who think a fountain pen is the next best thing to a pencil. "Some of my best friends are pen collectors," I like to say -

[Jadie]

Question for anybody: Do you prefer a 0.7 mm or a 0.9 mm lead for general purpose writing?

 

Another 0.5mm advocate here! Translates to fountain pens as well, where I prefer the F to EF nibs (flex nibs aside, of course). Even my cursive italic stops at 0.7mm, max.

 

I used to have multiple MPs; now that FPs have taken over my life, there's only one: a limited edition plastic Kuro-toga pencil in pink with white cherry blossoms. XD

 

I don't like to use the little erasers that come with MPs though (being a perfectionist), so I buy separate ones. Anyone else do this?

[WirsPlm]

I love mechanical pencils, and for years they were almost the only thing I would write with. I always stuck with larger leads though, since I press heavily (FPs are finally curing me of this!).

 

 

 

Another 0.5mm advocate here! Translates to fountain pens as well, where I prefer the F to EF nibs (flex nibs aside, of course). Even my cursive italic stops at 0.7mm, max.

 

I used to have multiple MPs; now that FPs have taken over my life, there's only one: a limited edition plastic Kuro-toga pencil in pink with white cherry blossoms. XD

 

I don't like to use the little erasers that come with MPs though (being a perfectionist), so I buy separate ones. Anyone else do this?

 

I do! Trying to use the tiny erasers has always seemed like a bad idea to me - there's several pencils I was given because people had worn away the eraser enoug they couldn't reload the pencil anymore (front-loading works if you're patient, though). I love the long click erasers, much easier to use than big blocks.

 

I've tried the Kuro-toga pencils recently, and wasn't all that impressed. The line was too faint for me. Maybe that's because of the lead that comes with them though, it's supposedly extra hard and that will make for fainter lines.

[NedC]

I have a HUGE assortment of mechanical pencils from vintage to modern, 0.3mm to 1.1mm and clutch pencils from the standard 2mm to 5.6mm. Many I bought, some were gifts, many were sales samples. In a studio I prefer using wood cased pencils but anywhere else a mechanical pencil or lead holder is usually far more more practical.

[NedC]

I prefer 0.7mm for general writing and sketching. I find it the most versatile, you can get finer or broader lines with a little point manipulation - changing angles, burnishing and making a wedge point if necessary - and it is far more break resistant than 0.5 or 0.3 leads.

[guilhermejf]

Question for anybody: Do you prefer a 0.7 mm or a 0.9 mm lead for general purpose writing?

 

.5 mm with 3B or 4B lead. Sometimes 2B or B when I want it to be neater.

[The Blue Knight]

+1 just ordered my first decent one (rotring 500 0.7)

[RMN]

I like MP's. But I did not use them much for a while.

 

I have several nice ones.

 

My current favourite is the Porsche Design P3120. I like the tripod grip on it.

 

I also have an older one I don't know the name of. Could be an old Tombow. Has a narrow metal shaft and a wide rubberised grip.. This is even better, apart from the fact it has no eraser. But I use a separate eraser most of the time at home. Only on the road I use the on-board system.

 

I like a .7 lead most. If you tilt it 45 degrees and keep it that way you get a nice line variation after a while, a bit stubbish...

 

D.ick

[Sandy Fry]

My mechanical pencil collection started by accident. I bought a Parker 51 set and a Sheaffer Snorkel set that had matching pencils. I thought they were pretty cool and decided I would buy a few more. The collection is growing and has overtaken the FP's!!! Most of the pencils were less than $5 and so far the most expensive was $70.

I use pencils exclusively at work so I usually carry a different one each day. Most are vintage but I have a few modern ones just because they were 'interesting".

Nothing beats a fountain pen though!

 

David

[BT-7274]

Definitely. When I don't want to risk damaging a nib, I usually lend out my Sheaffer Snorkel Valiant pencil, loaded with .9mm 2B (still trying to find 4B) lead. Said pencil is also a life/hand saver on any pencil-only exams.

[The Good Captain]

I'm still using the Pentel P205 I got in about 1973. Also a slightly new one plus the 207 & 209 versions. The 209 is probably the one I go to most frequently as I love the 0.9mm line with a B or 2B lead.

[amk]

Like Sandy Fry, I found my pencil collection began accidentally. I use pencils for taking notes - in archives, you're often not allowed to use (or even have in your possession) a pen.

 

The lovely thing about MPs is that often, they're going for a song - I've picked up some lovely Conway Stewarts, a Waterman 92, a couple of Eversharps and Yardoleds, for almost nothing. And if you look around the sales, you can pick up heaps of old leads for next to nothing, too.

[legume]

I discovered fountain pens while amongst the Asian stationary crowd. I can't say I've had a collection as much as an accumulation, and really not even that since I always lost or broke my mechanical pencils at a frightening rate. When I was younger I got most of my pencils as bulk gifts from older relatives. Those were the cheap kind which were sold at neighborhood stationary stores (in Korea). I was always dazzled by the array lined up on shelves. There would always be at least a dozen different kinds available. The US doesn't have stores like that and so once I moved I had to make do with the substandard things sold at Office Depot or Staples unless I had an aunt visiting. They always brought fantastic candy and stationary for my siblings and I. Once we were older we received a few higher-end drafting pencils which turned out to be poor quality, and these days I suppose we're too old to be given pencils.

 

Other than that, for many years I coveted the alpha line of squishy grip mechanical pencils but the prices seemed extraordinary for my fourteen year old self and I never dared asked by parents to buy me one. I think I did find one someone lost once, though, and took it. I was so excited, but the gel grip ripped not long after and I was as depressed as a fourteen year old could be. Karmic retribution, I suppose.

 

I'm not nearly as excited about pencils as I used to be. I used to obsess about having the best mechanical pencil, gel pens, erasers, etc. in the best pencil case in the perfect arrangement. Still, the fire hasn't completely died out.

[Pterodactylus]

My favorite pencil is one I got at least 25 years ago.

It´s a retractable Staedler Retro 0.5.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img18/8661/lq8v.jpg

It lost its clip more than 20 years ago, but beside that it´s in good condition