Who Makes A Nice 0.5Mm Pencil?

[MadAmos]

I have two Rotring 800 pencils one silver one black and both work flawlessly I am fairly picky and the tip wobble issue is way over hyped. I have fixed tip pencils that have more give that the 800's do. Load them up with Pilot B leads and they are good to go. My personal favorite pencils are Platinum Pro-use II great feel in the hand, but I prefer a larger grip size so these work for me.

[mikefromsac]

I have both the Rotring 600 and 800 and the 800 tip has no wobble whatsoever. Because the tip retracts, I carry it (and therefore use it) much more than the 600. But I love and am glad I have both.

[Algester]

I have two Rotring 800 pencils one silver one black and both work flawlessly I am fairly picky and the tip wobble issue is way over hyped. I have fixed tip pencils that have more give that the 800's do. Load them up with Pilot B leads and they are good to go. My personal favorite pencils are Platinum Pro-use II great feel in the hand, but I prefer a larger grip size so these work for me.

I'm fairly sure the wobbly tip is only in the new iteration of the rotring 800 so if you have the older model pre-recontinuation your good

[MadAmos]

I'm fairly sure the wobbly tip is only in the new iteration of the rotring 800 so if you have the older model pre-recontinuation your good

 

Both of mine are less than 2 years old and solids a rock. They get used quite a bit I go through 4-5 of the Pilot B lead containers a year between the two.

[mikefromsac]

Mine's only 6 months old and no wobble at all. Great pencil.

[Tanzanite]

I use Pentel Graph Gear 500 both for sketching and Writing, in 0.5 and 0.3 mm. I agree on Parker having some nice discontinued M P. I use a Parker 25 quite a lot.

[Tanzanite]

I was happy with my Pentel P205 and Cross Classic Century until I read this topic and googled some of the suggestions. I think my pen collection will now have to become a pen&pencil collection.

 

This forum should be illegal..

 

I might have to agree with you on this.

[A7XavengedA7X]

I was asking about the rotring 800 because I'm a student radiographer and need pens/pencils on me at pretty much all times. Therefore, I would absolutely need something with a retractable tip or at least one with the tip not exposed. Also, I have yet to find a more attractive pencil than that the rotring 800.

-So is there another pencil you would suggest instead (.5mm)

[claudewick]

Very interesting discussion.

 

I was looking for a new MP and you helped me to buy 2 instead. I just ordered a Lamy 2000 in 0,7mm and an OHTO Super Promecha in 0,5mm. The Lamy for business/social use will be kept in my 3 pen pouch with 2 FPs and the OHTO will stay in my desk.

 

Now the hardest part is to wait...

[mirosc]

I've had several MP over the years and the only ones to stay were:

Lamy Scribble

Rotring 600+800

Pilot S20

[pennylink]

Rotring 600 and Staedtler 925-25 are two of my favourites.

[shea2812]

Just found my favorite... I have been buying some MPs... mostly cheaper ones up to Pentel Graph600. I do like Graph600 but the fixed lead sleeve make it not a pocket safe one. So my go to pencil is Pentel Libretto. Perfect weight and balance. With soft lead writing is effortless. Lead advance a little less positive but I can live with that.

[Martini1R]

I got myself a Rotring 800 (thanks to this thread). Solid as a tank.

[flatline]

Here are my picks in order of preference:

 

Pilot S10: A rock solid BOTTOM HEAVY pencil. No other pencil feels as good to me. I bought this model in every size I could (0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9). It's hefty, but since it's bottom heavy, I can write forever with this pencil without a hint of fatigue. The grip is wonderfully knurled and round so that I can easily rotate the pencil while writing to keep the desired lead edge against the paper.

 

Pentel 120 A3dx: This is the pencil I used all through college and grad school (although in the 0.3mm size). Light as a feather and extremely comfortable.

 

Rotring Rapid-Pro: This is the only retractable sleeve mechanical pencil that I like. Unlike other retractable pencils I've tried, it feels absolutely solid in hand (the Rotring 800, for example, does not). I particularly like that I can control how far the sleeve extended when I'm using the pencil. It's balanced near the center and heavy enough that hand fatigue can be a problem with extended use. But for a pocket friendly jotter, it's great.

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Staedtler 925-35: inexpensive, extremly light and comfortable to use. Compares well with the Pentel 120 A3dx. Based on my extremely positive experience with this pencil, I also bought the heavier and more expensive 925-25, but don't really care for it.

 

Pentel Graphgear 500: bottom heavy, but lighter than the Pilot S10.

 

Pentel Sharp Kerry: probably the coolest pencil I own from the design standpoint. I have two and they are a joy to use and play with. However, the grip is slick, so I find that I get some hand fatigue if I do a lot of writing with them.

[shea2812]

Just got myself a Pentel 120 A3DX after having issue with lead breakages in Faber-Castell tk-fine 9713. The faber is pocket safe, the pentel is not with its longish 4mm fixed sleeve. The pentel will reside in my pen cup on my desk I suppose. The fixed sleeve look sturdy enough but I dont think it can survive being rattled too much in my pencil case that I carry around. Pentel 120 mechanism is well constructed with brass clutch and clutch ring. Generally I think Pentel makes better mechanical pencil out there that offers great value. Another think I like about Pentel is that many of their clips are removeable, I tend to remove them clips of those pencils that I have no intent on pocket carry. I carry quite a few writing implement and they reside in a pencil case. I just keep one stubby sheaffer 0.7mm MP in my jacket pocket.

[shea2812]

These two are among my favourite writers/doodlers. Pentel Libretto and old Zebra M-502. Zebra's lead sleeve is fixed, it lays graphite on paper a trifle better than Pentel. The finely tapered front end are also good with the fact that they do not obscure much. I have other perhaps sturdier built drafting pencils but somehow these two feel a lot better in the hand. I suppose that got to do with the way the Japanese design stuffs, they just feel right. The uniform barrel also let you hold them pencils any which way you like. The zebra's clutch is only plastic, it may not last as long as those made of brass. Keeping my fingers crossed about that one. I dont think it is available anymore.

[flatline]

To the original poster: did you find a pencil you like?

 

If so, please tell us about it.

[Laefar]

The uni Kuru Toga has a nice idea in it, but as I honestly admire the effort I couldn't get advantage of it: I hold the pencil in a pretty sharp angle to the paper, so the rotating mechanism just doesn't have the right pressure to click. Really shame though.

The most comfortable feel I got from a pencil was with a Pentel Graphgear 1000. Staedtler 925 is nice too, but the Pentel feels better.

Those are metal pencils though, so it's pretty heavy - I like it, but it might be an issue for someone. I like the weight of it - it feels like you have something in your hand.

[Aramchek]

I think my two favourites are the Mitsubishi Kuru-Toga roulette and the Pilot S20

 

I recently bought the Pilot Timeline. While not as practical as the Kuru-toga or as comfortable as the S20 it is a superior toy :-)

[shea2812]

I think my two favourites are the Mitsubishi Kuru-Toga roulette and the Pilot S20

 

I recently bought the Pilot Timeline. While not as practical as the Kuru-toga or as comfortable as the S20 it is a superior toy :-)

Just looked up a pic for Pilot Timeline. Looks interesting. Care to write more detailed comments here.

 

And no, I am not buying. Cant afford at that price and I have never seen that particular Pilot around ere. Would be cheaper if they are. Still I am curious to know. I found a NOS of Zebra M-502 the other day that writes really nice despite its slim barrel.