Any Pencils That Write Like A Fountain Pen?

[Zipzap]

Title says all. A lot of notes that I take for more equation-based courses do end up being in pencil. However, with the recent experimentation I've been doing with pens, my pencils just don't write as smoothly. Is this a fate I'll have to deal with, or is there some magic pencil that will grant me the same sort of smooth flow as an FP or a really good ink ballpoint/rollerball pen?

[watch_art]

Of course no pencil will feel like a fountain pen - but if you want smooth and soft - a 4b .9mm lead is NICE.

[jar]

Soft wide lead.

[jyotidas]

Title says all. A lot of notes that I take for more equation-based courses do end up being in pencil. However, with the recent experimentation I've been doing with pens, my pencils just don't write as smoothly. Is this a fate I'll have to deal with, or is there some magic pencil that will grant me the same sort of smooth flow as an FP or a really good ink ballpoint/rollerball pen?

 

The best option I know of is simply to get really soft lead. A B or a 2B lead might do the trick.

[XiaoMG]

Pencils and pens have very different deposition methods, so you should not expect one to feel like the other.

 

There is occasionally hyperbole about certain pencils and their smoothness, but such claims are not really worth taking seriously. In general, a quality pencil with a soft lead will give you the smoothest overall writing experience in the pencil kingdom, but comes at the cost of smearability and point wear. The smoothest leads you can typically buy nowadays are by Mitsubishi, Pentel, and Pilot, and in 0.5mm widths they go to 4B. Lead holders that take 2mm leads, for example, also go down to similarly soft varieties, but at that hardness, point retention becomes a problem, so I tend to recommend the mechanical pencils unless doing lots of sketching.

 

Wooden pencils, even the most hyped ones, are not really a match for mechanical pencils and lead holders when it comes to smoothness. If a 0.5mm 4B mechanical pencil is not smooth enough for you, no pencil will be. Stick to the Japanese manufacturers in general, so that you are getting the best leads.

[Pincel]

Zipzap:

 

Have you heard of the legendary Eberhard-Faber Blackwing?

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/2011/05/18/smallbusiness/blackwing_pencil_controversy.fortune/blackwing_602_pencils.top.jpg

"HALF THE PRESSURE, TWICE THE SPEED"

Read more about it here: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/18/smallbusiness/blackwing_pencil_controversy.fortune/index.htm

 

Ben R

[XiaoMG]

The EF Blackwing and the shady CalCedar "revivals" are not really in the same league of smoothness as even a good 4B mechanical pencil.

[SueEllen]

I think I may have had needs similar to yours when shopping for a pencil. I need to write small characters without applying pressure. Unfortunately, I need an eraser as much as I need the lead.

 

I am not affiliated with JetPens or Paper Mate. It's important that you know that before I begin my love song. JetPens sells the Paper Mate PhD, which takes a 0.5mm lead and has 7 miles of eraser. (Or at least, I have never seen a mechanical pencil that has as much accessible erasing-power. PhD's very long retractable white-vinyl eraser is not covered with a cap.)

 

I bought the Ain Hi-polymer leads in super-soft 4B, but JetPens also sells a (new?)enhanced-silica lead in 4B that I'd love to try.

 

The combination of a large comfy grip on the barrel and super-soft lead makes the pencil seem to glide effortlessly along the paper.

 

Sometimes Amazon has an especially good deal on the pencil. JetPens prices it at about $1.50 less than say, Office Depot.

 

JetPens also carries the Blackwing. I'm dying to buy one because I love pencils and I just have to try it out. However, although the Blackwing fascinates me and I will soon buy one, I don't want to actually use pencils that require sharpening. (I have lots of pencils that I don't use. I just love them and must possess them.)

[dalliance]

I've recently started using a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil, and it is literally revolutionary. The lead rotates fractionally each time it touches the paper, so you never end up with a chiselled lead. It makes for a very smooth writing experience, and I don't think I could ever go back now.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Uni-Kuru-Toga-Pencil.html

[RMN]

I've recently started using a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil, and it is literally revolutionary. The lead rotates fractionally each time it touches the paper, so you never end up with a chiselled lead. It makes for a very smooth writing experience, and I don't think I could ever go back now.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Uni-Kuru-Toga-Pencil.html

Actually that way you will not have a smoother writing experience, but you will always have a very sharp point. Which may be desirable to some.

 

The best smooth experience is when the lead is worn down to a very flat surface and you keep writing with that in the same position. Once you rotate the lead or pencil, you start writing oin a sharper edge which may feel scratchy.

If you do not want a wide line use a thinner lead, but for smooth keep the lead always in the same position.

 

And then of course, the softer the lead, the smoother te write.

 

D.ick

[professionaldilettante]

You are in luck. Jetpens has the Hi-Uni pencil in 10B. Any softer of a lead, and you'd be writing with butter. That, should be closer to a fountain pen, as it will write with almost 0 pressure. I don't know why people keep bringing up mechanical pencils though, as the lead can't ever be butter soft, since it need to survive being through the mechanism as well as not snap off when you try to write. Wooden pencils on the other hand, of all the ones out there, these are TOP NOTCH. I bought a box of H grade pencils for my bro and I to split, and I'll tell you, you won't be dissappointed. *true story*

[XiaoMG]

I've recently started using a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil, and it is literally revolutionary. The lead rotates fractionally each time it touches the paper, so you never end up with a chiselled lead. It makes for a very smooth writing experience, and I don't think I could ever go back now.

Oddly, I have tested these pens dozens of times in pretty much every permutation they make, because I've been trying to understand the appeal. I even write in the languages supposedly best suited to them, and I have never seen any benefit. I guess I will have to keep trying. My handwriting looks pretty much exactly the same, and I find the Kuru-Toga pencils have a rather unpleasant tactile feedback to them.

 

Yet I keep hearing rave comments about them which is unusually consistent, even in this period of Japanese stationery envy.

[Ghost Plane]

I'm a lover of 6B wooden pencils from JetPens. Come in both facetted and triangular shapes. I team them with my choice of eraser [usually the black ones, forget the brand.] Absolutely float over the page, tho' it might be a bit thick for those of you wanting needle points.

[XiaoMG]

You are in luck. Jetpens has the Hi-Uni pencil in 10B. Any softer of a lead, and you'd be writing with butter. That, should be closer to a fountain pen, as it will write with almost 0 pressure. I don't know why people keep bringing up mechanical pencils though, as the lead can't ever be butter soft, since it need to survive being through the mechanism as well as not snap off when you try to write. Wooden pencils on the other hand, of all the ones out there, these are TOP NOTCH. I bought a box of H grade pencils for my bro and I to split, and I'll tell you, you won't be dissappointed. *true story*

I have a hundred or so of the Hi-Uni pencils in various grades, and while they are among the smoothest of the wooden pencils, I would still say that if one wants the smoothest, consistently usable writing pencil, a mechanical pencil or lead holder is superior, despite the conventional 4B limit for the best leads.

I'm a lover of 6B wooden pencils from JetPens. Come in both facetted and triangular shapes. I team them with my choice of eraser [usually the black ones, forget the brand.] Absolutely float over the page, tho' it might be a bit thick for those of you wanting needle points.

I have some of those pencils too, in 4B and 6B. They're about as good as wooden ones get, if you're willing to sharpen frequently. Good choice if absolutely set on using a wooden pencil. Edited May 19, 2012 by XiaoMG

[dalliance]

I've recently started using a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil, and it is literally revolutionary. The lead rotates fractionally each time it touches the paper, so you never end up with a chiselled lead. It makes for a very smooth writing experience, and I don't think I could ever go back now.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Uni-Kuru-Toga-Pencil.html

Actually that way you will not have a smoother writing experience, but you will always have a very sharp point. Which may be desirable to some.

 

The best smooth experience is when the lead is worn down to a very flat surface and you keep writing with that in the same position. Once you rotate the lead or pencil, you start writing oin a sharper edge which may feel scratchy.

If you do not want a wide line use a thinner lead, but for smooth keep the lead always in the same position.

 

And then of course, the softer the lead, the smoother te write.

 

D.ick

 

I take your point, but not having to manipulate the pencil to manage a changing lead means a smoother writing experience for me.

[nickapos]

I've recently started using a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil, and it is literally revolutionary. The lead rotates fractionally each time it touches the paper, so you never end up with a chiselled lead. It makes for a very smooth writing experience, and I don't think I could ever go back now.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Uni-Kuru-Toga-Pencil.html

 

I have a Kuru Toga too. It is strange, but it works. I cannot figure out how they do it, but they do it nevertheless.

It is not smooth with my HB lead, I believe that with anything softer it will be really smooth.

[P.A.R.]

I've tried a few super dark (4B+) wooden pencils - they are quite dark, but they smear very easily and don't hold a point very well.

 

I really like my Pentel Kerry with .5mm Pentel 2B leads. I'm considering getting the 4B.

[guilhermejf]

I've recently started using a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil, and it is literally revolutionary. The lead rotates fractionally each time it touches the paper, so you never end up with a chiselled lead. It makes for a very smooth writing experience, and I don't think I could ever go back now.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Uni-Kuru-Toga-Pencil.html

 

I have a Kuru Toga too. It is strange, but it works. I cannot figure out how they do it, but they do it nevertheless.

It is not smooth with my HB lead, I believe that with anything softer it will be really smooth.

I like the Kuru Toga, but it doesn't always work with me, because the mechanism works with forces in the longitudinal axis of the pencil. So if you press it like you would press a fountain pen with flex nib, the lead won't turn at all, because there is not enough effort in the right direction. I find easier to use it with B or 2B lead, not softer than that, or I would end up with a line too dark and too broad.

[brewerjeff]

etPens sells the Paper Mate PhD, which takes a 0.5mm lead and has 7 miles of eraser. (Or at least, I have never seen a mechanical pencil that has as much accessible erasing-power. PhD's very long retractable white-vinyl eraser is not covered with a cap.)

 

 

My wife needed a new mechanical pencil (for accounting stuff) and got a good deal on 4 Papermate PhDs. She loved them until we noticed that they just fall apart. There is a small metal guide "thing" in the barrel tip and in 2 out of 4 it has just fallen out and disappeared making the pen useless. The eraser is very long, which would be useful if it were possible to make mistakes.

[pajaro]

You could always try the Parker Liquid Lead pencil if you can find a working sample. I have one that works, but the writing is nearly invisible.