Main Writing Instrument: Mechanical Pencil

[Emperor]

After a year of trying to main a writing instrument, dangling between the branches of fountain pen vs pencil, and what kind, I have finally chose to hook myself onto mechanical pencil, though probably not totally abandoning fountain pens. Mechanical pencils are just so much more low-maintenance and user friendly in contrast with fountain pens, and depending on what you buy both has a style of their own. Things like nibs are super subjective when it comes to maintenance and adjusting it personally, and it takes a lot of esoteric knowledge and equipments to do so. It's like a second car o.O It won't be like mechanical pencils lack all sophistication either though. Not mentioning the style and finish and aesthetics, there is a world to learn about mechanical pencil leads just like there is to learn about fountain pen inks! (and the year I spent becoming well versed in fountain pen inks, brands, and all about it I'd say was definitely an experience that I would not regret. It is such a timeless art, pen, ink and paper... yet as a college student...)

 

And there is that thing about if you had spent a fortune on a fountain pen and dropped it without the cap then you might as well just sky dive without a parachute

 

Wondering if anyone else here mains another type of writing instrument other than fountain pen

[RGH]

I'm a big fan of mechanical pencils, and I will use one in preference to a ball point, rollerball, gel pen etc when I need to grab something fast - for shopping lists, etc. It's also particularly useful in the car and on my bedside table, for those inconvenient thoughts that you get at a traffic light, or in the middle of the night. Grabbing a fountain pen in the middle of the night always ends up with me asking myself the next morning, "how on earth did I manage to get ink THERE?"

 

BUT graphite is not particularly permanent anywhere where you get a lot of abrasion (for example in a binder, or papers that are shuffled together frequently, or even in a notebook if your refer back often.) I also use relatively soft leads (say B/2B), and they tend to smudge (at least with my writing).

 

For that sort of permanency, or when I am actually trying to write prose (of any sort, I hate composing at a keyboard), I will use a fountain pen. I have relatively cheap fountain pens which I am not afraid to lose, and my favorite mechanical pencils cost about the same (~$20).

 

I am a 0.7mm lead fan, myself. I hated the 0.5mm, the leads were constantly breaking on me, and felt too hard. Then I transitioned to 0.9mm which I found can become too broad, or have problems with one sided wear (I know abut the auto-rotate ones, but they don't work with my hand-writing), the 0.7mm is a happy medium (pun intended).

Edited October 24, 2013 by RGH

[Randal6393]

For ruling, planning, lists, artwork -- nothing beats the old wood pencil. Love B and 2B weights, draft with 2H and up. But for writing -- particularly impressive, beautiful writing -- nothing beats the fountain pen.

 

Enjoy,

[orfew]

I have 2 mechanical pencils and they get used very often indeed. One is a Montblanc Mesiterstuck .7 and the other other os a montblanc 100 year historical .7. I use them for everyday tasks and for marking essays and exams.

[lurcho]

I use a Pentel P205 with Ain Stein leads (4B) more than I do fountain pens.

 

For me, the experience is comparable to that of using a FP. And, to be honest, even at that softness, smudging isn't much of an issue.

 

One even gets line variation.

 

When I mislay this MP, I worry as much about the cost of the leads I've placed in it as I do the MP itself, since the latter costs not much more than £3 in Britain (last time I looked).

 

I'm often tempted to believe that the P205 (pretty much the standard MP) is the perfect writing instrument. But not quite. Or maybe...? Then again...

 

 

And they write on nearly every kind of paper very well, and

[two2tone]

All my meeting notetaking is in pencil in Moleskin notebooks. Either a Montblanc 0.5 or Papermate Logo II 0.5 (that's about a 100:1 cost difference) depending upon venue. FB for journals, diaries and letters. I like pencils as they are fast, not fussy, earaseable and won't bleed if wet. They never leak in a suit jacket pocket. If I'm not writing with a FB, then it's a mechanical pencil.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I'm a very big fan of mechanical pencils. I think I have more mechanical pencils than I do fountain pens. I have pretty much picked what leads I use and know what leads I don't like to use. In some ways, they are similar. You can choose any brand of lead as long as it's the right size. They also don't really have stuff you throw out like with ball point pens. Theoretically all the lead can be used. There aren't plastic or metal cartridges that need to be thrown away, and if there are, you can usually refill them with whatever lead or ink you want. The differences are that the mechanical pencil often has more moving parts that are in motion much more often than the moving parts on the fountain pen and often wear out eventually. (I've written lots of nice mechanical pencils to bits).

 

Dillon

[flatline]

I don't know if I have a main writing instrument, or, more accurately, I use different writing instruments for different things.

 

I've been using fountain pens to take meeting notes because they're kind of fun to play with and provide some entertainment during otherwise unexciting meetings. Fountain pens require a different kind of care when writing (especially with an italic) and I get some amount of satisfaction out of it.

 

My goto writing instruments for working (especially anything mathematical) has, for almost the last 2 decades, have been 0.3mm drafting pencils. And were 0.5mm mechanical pencils before that. My handwriting tends to be rather tiny and I simply get the most readable results with these pencils. Plus I can erase and I don't have to slow down to allow the ink flow (or whatever) to catch up.

 

More recently, I've discovered 0.9mm drafting pencils and 2mm lead holders. The 0.9mm pencils are perfect for my puzzles (usually kakuro, but often other types as well) since I can write tiny with the edge of the lead or bold with the face of the lead. The lead holders are just plain fun. They have a simple and elegant clutch mechanism, I can tailor the point to be whatever I like, and I have a variety of leads to play with. I use 2B for all my drafting pencils, but with the lead holders, I've found uses for everything from 4H to in the shop to 4B in my drawing book although B and 2B are certainly the most comfortable to write with.

 

If I could only have one type of writing instrument for all things, it would be the 0.3mm drafting pencil, but I'm extremely glad that it hasn't come to that. I like playing with all of them.

 

--flatline

[MarcS]

though i don't have much use for them now, a good mp was a pleasure when i was an engineering student. simple, practical models made by pilot and pentel were my favorites; they were made to be pencils not companion pieces to pens in a set. i wonder if i would have progressed perhaps to a yard-o-led beauty by now had i remained in engineering. any technical people out there with a sterling mp pride-and-joy?

[flatline]

any technical people out there with a sterling mp pride-and-joy?

 

My current favorites are the Pro-Use II by Platinum (the fat stubby one), the Pilot S10, the Alvin Draft/Matic, and the Pentel a120, all in 0.3mm. The Pro-Use II was $25, the others were all half that (or less).

 

The Pentel a120 got me through school ("old faithful") and for $5 is one heck of a pencil. I've used it for almost 20 years. All the others are more recent acquisitions.

 

I keep hearing people praise the Pentel Sharp Kerry mechanical pencil, but I'd only consider it if it came in 0.3 or 0.9 lead sizes.

 

--flatline

[mirosc]

I have to admit it: The Lamy Scribble feels so much better in my hand than any fountain pen whatsoever. It's nothing short of perfect. Still I usually take a fountain pen, because it's too easy to erase the lead.

[Dillo]

I have to admit it: The Lamy Scribble feels so much better in my hand than any fountain pen whatsoever. It's nothing short of perfect. Still I usually take a fountain pen, because it's too easy to erase the lead.

 

I have two 3.15 mm Lamy Scribbles, and they are some of my favorite leadholders. They are the only pencils over $20 that I have two of.

 

Dillon

[Moshe ben David]

Every one of my sets includes a MP. In many cases, it is of the same model as the FP; in almost just as many it isn't -- all depends on what I can find. The sweet spot for me is the 0.9; my favorites are the Pentel 205 series and the Parker Duofold (when they had a 0.9 with a propelling as opposed to the now standard 0.7 'twist' mechanism). I also like the Retro 51 -- which were 0.9 but which they've now increased to 1.15.

 

I've always left a MP in the car; sometimes with a Fisher 'space pen' -- the object for each was that they neither leak in summer heat nor freeze up in winter!

 

Moshe ben David

[Nek]

I have a couple of mechanical pencils and I like them very much. I have a MB LeGrand pencil 0.9 and a MB Classique pencil 0.7. They both get a lot of use and are part of my pen sets that I carry around.

[two2tone]

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/two2tone/fu131024_zps00d9d049.gif

 

[Wahl]

All my FP´s have their matching mechanical pencil, I can choose either depending on the task at hand.

 

I also keep a buch of MP´s with different size leads on my desk.

[BrandonA]

I think you need to find the mechanical pencil network as I suspect most people on here will prefer fountain pens and may buy MP to compliment a fountain pen and use it occassionally but first choice is the FP.

[pajaro]

I have used Parker 51 pencils with .9 leads for crosswords and some drawing, I have used some WalMart 1.4 mm pencils and the Croquill 6B.

 

Generally I use a fountain pen, preferring the extra fine nowadays, and I use this for stuff at work that I want to stand out from printed forms.

 

For most everything else I use a Montblanc 164 broad ballpoint, a Parker Sonnet or Pelikan M4xx/M2xx broad ballpoint or a Jotter.

 

You don't have to use fountain pens at all to have a consuming interest in them.

[Dillo]

I think you need to find the mechanical pencil network as I suspect most people on here will prefer fountain pens and may buy MP to compliment a fountain pen and use it occassionally but first choice is the FP.

First choice for what exactly? I'm nearly equally as likely to pick up a pencil as a fountain pen. It depends on what kind of line I want on the paper. Many of us are here because we generally like nicer things to write with. From what I've been reading, there are plenty of people here who are passionate about their pencils. You can get a lot of opinions about what ballpoints and rollerballs people have tried and like as well as opinions on many pencils. If I want to get some opinions on the latest pencil to come out of Japan, I often search FPN for opinions. Yes, there are also people who purchase matching mechanical pencils as a necessary evil (or because they like them a lot and want a pair. Who doesn't like matching pairs?) and use them alongside their fountain pens, but a lot of people are passionate about what kinds of pencils and even the pencil lead they use as you can see by the many pencil threads here. I think that if anyone has questions about pencils, they should feel free to ask. Where else can you get this many passionate views and in-depth discussion about what makes a good pencil and what pencil is best for someone? I think fpn is one of the only forums with this much discussion. We not only look at the modern pencils that came out in the past few years, but we also look at vintage pencils, especially those that come with a pen pair.

 

Dillon

[elysee]

I enjoy all types of writing instruments -- ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, rollerball pens, and fountain pens.

 

Until I found broad ballpoint pen refills, I did not particularly enjoy my ballpoint pens: broad ballpoint refills (traditional ballpoint refills, those with water-based ink, and those with gel ink) are more enjoyable than both fine and medium ballpoint refills, providing a smooth rather than scratchy writing experience, with richer color and a solid line. Since finding broad refills for my pens using Parker-style refills, my Waterman pens, my Lamy pens, my Montblanc pens, and my Cross pens as well as broad gel ink rollerball refills for all but my Parker rollerball pens, my pen-world has grown to include many more options. If only Monteverde or Parker would make a broad rollerball refill for my Parker rollerball pens; Parker rollerball refills are the worst -- very scratchy and unworthy of use in my Duofolds.

 

Pilot's Neox Graphite 2B lead provides the smoothest and darkest writing lead, far better than any leads that I have found on the market.