Favorite Mechanical Pencil

[matt385]

You need to look at Carnan d'Ache. I have always carried a mechanical pencil as it is impossible to work with numbers or do a floor plan with a pen. I picked up the Fix pencil at a trade show in Chicago. I still have this thing 15 years later. When you go to a pen shop or a local office supply store and they have the little display on the counter of different colored mechanical pencils for $1.99, that is the fix pencil. I also have an Ivanho pencil and it is a beautiful piece of work. I missed the pencil so much when I got interested in fountain pens that I have changed my philosphy to only search for sets.

 

 

[Philip1209]

For school, I don't think the Pentel "twist-erase" pencils can be beaten. I use the .5mm version. The mechanics of the pencil are reliable, and the eraser twists out so that it lasts a long time. It's great for long calculus problems or tests.

[Leigh R]

Not strictly a mechanical pencil, but the Cretacolor leadholder in wood is light and makes sketching painless.

[Wolverine1]

I use an Alvin Draftmatic with a 0.9mm lead, a Pilot Shaker with a 0.5mm lead and a Faber-Castell E-Motion with a 1.14mm lead.

[Memos Random]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I ended up snagging a Black Rotring 600 from eBay.

Ooooh nice!

http://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com/

is a great place to explore.

When I draw I use a Papermate G-Force (cheap, light, aluminum) with a hard lead to start, then pick out detail with a Alvin Draftmatic with a soft lead.

 

[ANM]

Parker Insignia 0.05 and tortoise shell lacquer pattern 0.07 Waterman

[Splicer]

My pencils, in order of most to least used, are:

 

Tombow Monotech 500 0.3mm

Tombow Monotech 500 0.5mm

Rotring 700 0.7mm

Rotring Newton (new style) 0.5mm

 

I've mentioned elsewhere that I like thinner and lighter for drawing but heavier and thicker for writing. Well, I only ever use pencil for drawing and I love the Monotech 500... it's lightweight, has a knurled grip like everyone's favorite Rotring 600, and is flared behind the section (narrow by my index finger's tip, thicker by my index finger's second knuckle from the tip), which I find very conducive to a comfortable grip.

[HerosNSuch]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I ended up snagging a Black Rotring 600 from eBay. If I get another, it will probably be the Lamy 2000 0.7mm MP.

 

 

Wonderful selection with the Rotring.

[guy]

In my filofax loop I carry a Yard-o-led loaded with HB leads (B is just too soft)

On my desk I have Pentel twist-erase of various sizes.

A caran-d'ache chevron design (similar to Yard-o-led and takes the same leads)

 

My favourite? Yard-o-led as it just looks so GOOD!

 

Marooned on a desert island, Pentel Twise-erase - they are just so practical and reliable.

 

[Robert Hughes]

I love the navy gray Parker 51 pencil that came with its matching pen from my dad. The pen is in nice shape, but the pencil looks unused!

[HyperCamper]

This is my weapon of choice: Pilot S20 (using B or 2B leads). I love it, it's almost entirely made from wood and that feels just great....

 

There's a review of sorts right here: http://www.penciltalk.org/2008/03/pilot-s20-drafting-pencil. Check it out!

Edited August 31, 2008 by HyperCamper

[AtomicLeo]

My current favorite is my Retro 51 Stealth mechanical pencil. Love the feel and it's ALL black. Even the eraser is black. Which means no nasty marks on the eraser after you use it. It's a bit big 1.1 mm. I can't use anything smaller than .9 mm lead or I break them.

 

I've also used Staedtler mechanical pencils since grad school.

[Thornton]

For me it's a tie between my Lamy 2000 0.5mm and my vintage Cross Century Classic with 0.9mm. If I need a lower-end pen for in-class work I use a Zebra M-402.

[superfly]

I love mechanical pencils, and buy them everywhere I find them...

 

I really like the Caran d'Ache FIXPENCIL22, 2mm, metal, a bit thin and light for me though. Pencils from Staedler and Faber Castel are excellent, Pelikan, especially in the Souveraign series is superb, Parker also. Among my favorites is Parker Big Brother Duofold, vintage, 1,1mm lead...

 

Lately, I enjoy buying cheap school mechanical pencils from drugstores or bookshops, in the 1-2 euro range, from BIC, Staedler, Fabercastel, etc, and using them, ofcourse

 

 

cheers,

Nenad

[offscott]

I use any, especially the asda 70p ones!

[Zeroblade]

I use a number, though they're mostly low-grade plasticky stuff.

 

For carry-around and general outdoor use, a 0.5 Pilot H-325. It's nice, slender, and light. It looks decent enough, though not to the point of competing with finer writing instruments.

For backup and loaner use, I have a pair of Artlines. One's a model 7050, the other 7070 - a 0.5 and a 0.7. Rubber grip, but I dislike fat pens.

For home use, I have a really old Staedtler Mars Micrograph F 77015. It's really, really light, given its thin, hollow plastic barrel, but the grip feels wonderful on the fingers and it's even got a lead indicator. I would love to bring this out, but since it's probably been long out of production (my 56-year old mom gave it to me), I am incredibly scared that something bad might happen to it and I'd never be able to get it fixed.

[HLeopold]

Stylophiles usually have several writing utensils in their arsenals, so to speak, often including several fountain pens, and for those times when a fountain pen is not the perfect choice, roller-balls, gel-pens, ball-points, and the ubiquitous mechanical pencil.

 

So let's talk about pencils. It sometimes feels a little silly to pack your bag with a really nice fountain pen, and put it right next to some $0.99 bic mechanical pencil in some bright blue or pink color that, well, let's face it, would be perfect for a thirteen year-old school girl.

 

I'm looking for a good "adult" mechanical pencil, nice weight and balance, preferably 0.7mm, something a little conservative looking, that won't break the bank.

 

Here, then, is the question: Tell us about your mechanical pencils! What do you use? What would you recommend? And, why?

 

I have a couple of Sheaffer Cadet mech pencils, nice and useable, but a bit small. I also have a Parker 51 pencil, gray, nice and of a decent size. 3 Waterman mid-40's pencils, including a 100 Year. The other 2 are from Commando sets.

 

I also have a really nice, cheap, jade Sheaffer pencil from the later 1930's, gold turban top. This one is one of my favorites to grab. I also have a Dainty Midget combo, I have to say that the pencil is the best part of this, and that isn't all that much to talk about. I lucked into this one for about $10.

 

Another combo I really like the pencil of is my Mabie Todd Swallow combo, it just looks so good.

 

Lastly I have two Parker Big Red pencils, one doesn't work, yet, the other works great and is a nice big pencil.

 

Almost all of these use thicker lead than 0.7, at least half of them use 1.1mm or thicker lead, which I much prefer, one, the Parker 51 I think, uses 0.9mm, but I can't say for sure at the moment as that one is in storage right now. The only bad thing about the two Parker Big Red pencils is that I need to locate the erasers for them, 9mm is very hard to locate anywhere.

[HLeopold]

I would suggest you a Parker Duofold pencil, it's 0.7mm; modern ones are so beautiful, but I've seen some vintage models on ebay not very expansive.

I don't own one, but I would like...

 

Here is my pencil collection:

Vintage

Modern

 

I didn't mention my vintage Duofold pencil, I got it from a lady at work, she found it at a garage sale, it cost me a whole dollar. I didn't mention it because I tend to give most of my pencils to Diane, including this one. Those I mentioned are those I hung onto. It did cause me to find a Duofold fountain pen though.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I like the Pilot Dr. Grip G-spec and I get mine from Japan. I used to use the Staedtler pencils from Germany, Rotring Tikky pencils, and lots and lots of Pentels. For lots of writing, I find the balance of the pencil very good and it does not make my hand start aching after two hours of writing with it. I had issues with the Staedtler Marsmicro and 782 leadholders wearing out after a lot of use. The Tikky pencils were good, but I didn't like them as much. Many Pentels had a very high center of gravity so it made my hand start aching after using them for a while. There are lots of other pencils from various manufacturers that I have tried. I eventually settled on Pilot for all of my mechanical pencils since Pilot pencils all (I have a lot of different kinds, not just the Dr. Grip) seem to have a low center of gravity. Also, the mechanism and writing feel of the pencils seem to be the best and most reliable that I have ever seen. Most of the pencils that metal jaws have micro-serrating in the jaws and the pencils with composite jaws have a different design from other manufacturers that grips on the lead very well. The preciseness extends to the design of the metal collar that sits around the jaw mechanism. Also, each click or shake makes the lead extend a precise amount (I've had pencils that never put out the same amount of lead every time you pressed the lead advance button). Everything is designed and manufactured very carefully. One word of caution, here in the states, not all Pilot products come from Japan, and the ones made here seem not to be the same high quality. Look for the ones marked for the United States, and keep in mind that we have some export-only models here like the 0.7 mm G-spec pencils (I have both versions. One with the metal jaws and plastic clip and the other with metal clip and composite jaws.) The 0.7 models have lead advance only by the push button, while the ones in Japan are 0.5 mm and have a shaker mechanism in addition.

 

Dillon

[Wolverine1]

Dillon- I have a pilot Shaker 0.5mm pencil. Do you know what the shaker mechanism is supposed to achieve?