Favourite mechanical pencil

[ajcoleman]

I would heartily recommend the Autopoint pencils. I have been very happy with both new "all-American" pencils from www.autopointinc.com, as well as vintage pencils I have acquired from ebay. I use the 0.9mm, but their standard pencils are also available in 1.1 mm lead, in both jumbo and regular size pencils. Note also that the erasers and lead currently sold on the web site still fit the vintage pencils.

[Mr. Pen]

Easy, Sensa 0.5mm. So comfortable.

[welch]

Try the Parker 51 pencil. All are .9mm, and good to handle. Some are twist mechanism; the "regular" 51 pencils seem to have been larger than the 51 Special pencils. I've found that the twist-pencil caps can be put on each other, so I've put an elegant gold-filled P51 vac pencil cap on a reliable 51 Special pencil body.

 

The 51 "repeater" pencil has a nifty mechanism that opens the barrel, lets you slide a lead down to the bottom, and then grips. When you put the cap, just like a "modern" Pentel .5mm, the lead advances.

 

One warning: if bidding for a P51 pencil on eBay, ask directly if the pencil still works. It appears to me that almost all P51 pencils were sold as part of a fountain pen / pencil set. If you see just the pencil, there is a good chance that it become separated from its pen because it broke. For instance, I have two P51 vac pencils with rotten mechisms...beautiful caps, though.

 

By the way, the P51 pencil is quite a bit larger than the classic Cross .9mm twist pencil.

 

...and, of course, ignore the Liquid Lead pencil except as an example of a good idea that did not quite work. Someone here -- I think Tom "Old Griz" Mullane -- has a Liquid Lead with some of the filler. He said he can easily see why nobody wanted to use them.

[mejdrich]

+1 for the Sharp Kerry - why mess with perfection...(ok, it wasn't designed by pininfarina)

[seanpooh]

The mechanical pencil that has never failed me since the 6th grade is my Stanford PhD.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I inherited some German ones. A Kawico 50's, an other few colorful no name ones from the early 50's and light brown flat top with brass trim, from the 20's-30's no name, but was a Ad pen, for a Pharmacy with only 4 telephone numbers.

The last one is my favorite, because it looks so old fashioned.

 

It's bad enough collecting fountain pens with out trying to collect mechanical pencils.

 

Forgot I have a Silver Cross hatched Parker "75".

Edited February 4, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[rdh]

I really like the Faber-Castell E-motion, but you said you didn't like the looks. The 1.4 mm lead never breaks and you twist to advance it. It is really an interesting and rather unique mechanism. The fat lead can still give a fairly thin line if you rotate the pencil as you use it. Those fat leads last forever, too.

 

I also like the Lamy Scribble. I have a 0.7 mm one that is really comfortable. You can also get one that is a 3.14 mm leadholder!!!! These are obviously for the artists and I would think you would need to use a pointer to occasionally put a point on the lead. It looks a bit like the 2000, but is a bit shorter and has clip that looks like something that would appeal to an engineer.

 

A number of years ago, I got a Tombow Zoom (505sh) when I was in Japan. It takes a 0.9 mm lead. It has a cigar-like shape, if that appeals to you. One problem is that you have to unscrew the barrel if you want to use the tiny eraser, so that is fairly worthless.

 

You might also look at Retro 51 pencils. They come in 0.9 and 1.1 mm widths and have nice big erasers. My wife has one and likes it.

 

Dave

[RLTodd]

I have a couple of the Retro 51 mechanical pencils in the 1.1/1.2 width and find them quite satisfactory. For close on the last year I have been carrying the all black one on a daily basis.

 

If we are talking favorite mp, then it is the Pentel Kerry Sharp 0.7 pencil. But as a practical matter it is not really important so I have been carrying the other one.

 

Of course, favorite pencil of all, would probably be a cedar cased #3 (not a #2) pencil but I don't want to go to the extra hastle of clipping one of my pencil sharpners on my key ring or shaving new points periodically with my pen knife.

 

Least favorite mp is most likely the UNI KURU TOGA 0.3, followed by the 0.5 of the same brand. My negative bias is because it is a costly, complicated gadget that I see no practical use for at all. The rotate mechanism migh actually be of value with a 1.1mm lead, but I have no way of finding out as they don't make one that large.

 

Carry on..........

Edited February 5, 2010 by RLTodd

[Pippin60]

Faber Castell emotion 1.4 mm, Grip Plus .7mm, and my rotring 600 .5mm series 1 old style.

[dapv]

With out a doubt ... Pentel's Sharp Kerry, .7mm, black. Simply a superb, elegant, comfortable writing instrument. Got my first one [a blue .5mm] in 1982.

[lovemy51]

i got a few of the vintage and like them in spite of the thick lead (some 1.1 or .9). among these i have Parker Vac, Sheaffer Snorkel and Craftsman and the Wahl Eversharp Symphony. i also have an Autopoint with both ends pencil that i use for highlighting in blue and red.

 

of the moderns (i have quite a few), i like the Koh-i-noor .7 lead and the Faber Castell .7 triangular body (the model number was mentioned in an earlier post). a few Rotring Tikky II in .5 that i like mostly for their color (yellow, pastel green). i have yet to acquire a Caran D'Ache... next in my wish list:

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/CaranPencilWhite600.jpg

 

well, i have a Montblanc Meisterstuck... never use it!!

[amateriat]

My all-time favorite MP was a Niji X-10, which was truly "automatic" by way of a self-propelling lead mechanism. It broke on me after several years, and I've been pining for another one ever since, but the pen, and the company that made it, seem to have vanished.

 

By all-time second-favorite is this:

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/bwbenton/Pens/rotringTP01.jpg

 

This allows one to switch instantly between 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 leads, on-the-fly, with a gravity-based system similar to my Lamy 2000 four-color BP. Solid, handy, nice-handling. Other than my beloved Niji, I'm not wanting for anything else. (Anyone know where I might somehow score another X-10?)

 

 

- Barrett

Edited February 5, 2010 by amateriat

[beluga]

I like Faber-Castell's triangular Grip 2011 (and 2B leads), but with a 0.7 mm lead size, it's probably too fine for your taste. Funny, I never thought of 0.7 mm as particularly fine...

 

 

 

For someone who looks for a fountain pen with matching pencil, Faber-Castell is indeed a good choice.

They have a long tradition of manufacturing pencils, including mechanical ones, and tend to offer in their middle and upper market segment complete sets where fountain pen, ballpoint, mechanical pencil and rollerball match.

In the lower cost segment they, offer many innovative pencil and ballpoint combination (e.g "Grip") plus the venerable TK pens like the TK4600 clutch pencil that used to find a home of the desks of most European engineers.

 

 

I consider .7 mm pencils almost perfect. Leads thicker than .7 mm are not particularly suitable for general technical drafting, since they need to be frequently sharpened, and thinner than .7 mm (even the once ubiquitous .5 mm) leads tend to break off to easily.

 

 

 

 

B.

Edited February 5, 2010 by beluga

[gyasko]

I lost an old 1950s Pelikan etui in which i had a Parker 51 demi and a tortoise Pelikan 450. I miss the 450 and the etui much more than the 51! I have a bunch of vintage pencils -- one acquires them in the process of pen acquisition -- but i haven't found one that i like as much as that Pelikan. I have a lot of Sheaffers (meh -- their pens are nicer) Eversharps (better), and a lot of no namers. Of these, the Eversharps & Parker 51 pencils are my favourites. Some of the old Duofold and Balance/Flattop era pencils are lovely, but they're generally too expensive for someone like me who isn't really into pencils.

 

The thicker lead is great. 0.5& 0.7mm lead is always breaking on me. I've found a lot of vintage lead at flea markets and the like. It's not that hard to come by.

 

I once had a 0.3mm pencil which i used to connect the bridges on CPUs and unlock the multiplier.

[impossiblebird]

The basic Faber Castell TK-Fine 9717, £4, comes with a 1.0mm lead, pocket-safe retractable lead sleeve and conical nose (not the TK-Fine "Executive" only goes up to 0.7mm, or the TK-Fine "Vario" which isn't pocket safe).

 

It's remarkable how relatively few current model pencils there are which fully match your brief of larger lead size in a truly pocket safe MP.

[amateriat]

Speaking of "interesting" mechanicals: While wandering through Kinokuniya in Manhattan (yes, worth wandering around in, but your wallet might not survive the trip), I came across a very odd pencil setup, slightly reminiscent of Faber-Castell's system, but with the ususal "twist." I'll have to go back and screw up the courage to buy one and spill the details here...

 

 

- Barrett

Edited February 6, 2010 by amateriat

[fpman]

I actually moved from collecting mechanical pencils to collecting fountain pens and have a moderate collection of both vintage and technical (drafting) ones. +1 for Autopoint - their vintage ones are inexpensive and common on ebay and come in .9 and 1.1 leads. They are rock-solid and have a neat mechanism for advancing the lead. The new models are not quite as robust but come in lots of colors and .5, .7, .9 and 1.1 lead sizes. Best of all, you can buy new 1.1 leads there. And even the new ones are comparatively inexpensive.

[Highbinder]

Good grief I'm not sure what to do. So many good suggestions. I'm thinking I might buy two: If I settle with a .7mm lead sizing it opens up a lot of possibilities (vintage D400 perhaps :D); and then for my larger diameter lead sizing I was thinking about going for a 2mm clutch pencil such as;

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/CdA_0022_288.jpg

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Caran_dAche_Fixpencil_22.html#a3904

[Blackforest]

montblanc pencils (like the pixie) from the 40s and 50s are way interesting!

[betsypreston]

In school (waaaay back) I was all about the fine pencil leads. All the better to cram a ton of notes on narrow ruled paper. At work I tended to need to scribble big labels on printouts to make things easy to find, and I migrated towards thicker and thicker leads.

 

I love the Rotring 600 Trio (out of production). I wore one out, but I stocked up when I heard they weren't going to make them any more so hopefully I'm good. I mostly use the pencil, but it's nice to have a pen and a highlighter (I swapped out the red refill for an orange highlighter refill) right there in the same pen. The pencil is .7mm. It's great if I have more to write so I want to be able to write smaller.

 

But then I moved on to use mostly .9mm.

 

Most recently I have found that Esterbrook pencils seem to go for quite a bit cheaper than the fountain pens. In the neighborhood of $15. They come in two lead sizes which are marked in inches, I think. But .9mm and 1.1mm lead (both readily available new) seem to work just fine. I love both sizes and am working on collecting them in a bunch of colors. They're just beautiful, and the lead thickness is right where I want to be now.

 

Good luck picking finding something that works for you!