Maybe this is a bit last century but I still have cause to put pencil to paper occasionally.
Anyone care to recommend me a 0.5 (or 0.3, if being a bit edgy) mechanical pencil that is sturdy and doesn’t need unblocking every time I reach for my pencil case?
Currently using Pentels which were serviced a few times (hole unblocked and clutch freed), but now seemingly unfixable.
Ta.
i've got a metal bodied Rotring (looks like it's what the current Tikky Retro Mechanical Pencil is based on) that's had daily use for the last 40 odd years so can recommend something like that
unless you're throwing the pencil case across the room and breaking leads I'm not sure what you're doing to regularly 'block' a mechanical pencil
Rotring?
Honestly I get along just fine with a Pentel (205 I think), biggest problem I find is people quietly stealing them hence I need a new one too, so I was mulling Rotring, they have some interesting ones like the ´800´which is apparently retractable making it handy for chucking in bags (but also relatively pricey).
Rotring as others have said, looking at one on my desk now (rotring 600)
Looks like new and is, I think, prob 6 or 7 years old. Been used in the garage sketching designs, used at work, packed and flown about for work and still mint.
Another vote for Rotring here.
I've had my current one for about 10yrs after I lost my 30 yr old one.
All of the professional draftsmen and I know use them so they must be alright
Define long-term, I suppose?
I've got a couple I used for technical drawing at university which must be 30 years old now. I think they are Rotring.
I've got a Pentel one (I think it's Pentel, but the branding has worn off. That managed about 5 years before the mechanism failed, so it no longer pushes fresh lead out.
And I've got a cheap plastic one at work that is over a decade old. I think that is a BiC Pencil Matic. The pocket clip snapped off after a few weeks, but it still works.
On my desk I have in regular use:
Pentel Dr Grip
Pentel Kerry
Faber Castell Grip Plus
If you are a clumsy oaf try a Zebra DelGuard (they have a little spring to stop the lead breaking) or a Pentel Metal Guard (steel body)
OK. Thank you.
Rotring gets the popular vote. Nobody uses Staedtler anymore?
Mine may be blocking for a number of reasons, like brittle leads, clogged with dust dirt and debris (I use them in the field/underground, wherever), and they do get dropped a fair amount.
Are you mainly using HB? I tend to use H.
I’m looking at Rotring tikky as a compromise on price as they do go missing/lost in action.
some older threads to explore here:
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/off-topic/recommend-me-a-mechanical-pencil/
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/off-topic/posh-stationery-thread/
I found Pentel Ain Stein lead a bit more robust and I'm a clumsy oaf
Mine may be blocking for a number of reasons, like brittle leads, clogged with dust dirt and debris (I use them in the field/underground, wherever), and they do get dropped a fair amount.
Ah yeah. Mine just sit on a desk all the time, so that will probably make a big difference.
I prefer HB; H is always too faint for me.
Might be worth just buying a pack of cheaper pencils and accepting that they won't last very long.
You can get 12 of those BIC Pencil Matics for about a fiver.
I have a Uni Kuru Toga 0.5 on my desk, gets occasional action.
Nobody uses Staedtler anymore?
I have a staedtler pencil. I'm not any sort of pro or heavy user but it's lasted me very well. It's plastic-bodied but has a 3mm or so* thick lead that you then sharpen as needed using the inbuilt sharpener. The extra thickness SEEMS to add robustness and I wonder maybe also makes the mechanism less fiddly
* exaggeration, maybe 1-1.5mm now I've looked
Steadler clutch pencil? still got one from about 1972 still works fine , leads about 2mm but very robust for the hamfisted
I would normally just say Rotring based on my old Technical Drawing clases and their pure bomb-proofness, but I have had a cheapy plastic one for years that refuses to die.
But the answer is probably Rotring or some niche japanese artisan brand
It's been a long time since I used one but Rotring were always the pen/pencil of choice in any design department.
I used a Rotring for a while when I was bound to a drawing board (or a map board in a rally car). I went back ordinary pencils. I'm not sure why but I just prefer the feel of them.
Kuru Toga
Very nice rotating clutch mechanism so you never get that scratchy edge.
Rotring 800 is the answer - not cheap mind but pretty bomb proof as, as mentioned above, the tip retracts into the body and it's an extruded/milled alloy construction.
Nothing wrong with Staedtlers though - I've had a few of them and none have given any issue unless I've dropped them.
I would go 0.7mm though. 0.3 is for drawing only (too delicate by far) and 0.5 is still a bit flimsy. You'll barely notice the difference.
The 2mm clutch pencils are awesome if a little messy.
Another vote for Steadler Clutch pencil with 2mm lead.
The end of pencil sharpens the lead.
Choose the lead to suit your purpose up to 9H plus for heavy duty use.
A superb pencil and bombproof.
I've got a Pentel S457which I've had since college (30+ years....) and a Rotring Tikky which I've had for 20+ years.
I bought the Rotring as I thought I'd lost the Pentel.
Both still working well after all those years.
Another for a Uni Kuru Toga. Mine lives inside an elastic band bound notebook so is always protected but it does its work in a dirty manky chemical plant and is still going strong.
The past & the present.
Rotring as many others have mentioned, still got my original rotring trio (pencil/red ink/blue ink) I bought 30 years when I began engineering at college so treated myself to a do-it-all wonder pen. Bought from a large stationary shop (closed years ago) in Dumfries for £30ish but on searching for it i now see my particular trio model # sells for stupid money on eBay, whether they actually sell for the advertised price is a different matter
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As previously stated by many people... Rotring
Same for pens. There was a thread a while back about stuff that just works. Rotring Tikky Graphic pens are about 4 quid each and are just perfect. I always have a 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 on my desk and anyone who tries to wander off with one gets the death stare
Rotring (pluss a set of unigraph pens obvs)
Or the steadler 2mm.
Or... Here me out here (and try not to giggle)
A box of staedler pencils AND a kum sharpener (also works on 2mm and 1mm mechanical pencils.)
I like a metal bodied Rotring and Pentel, although I did have a wood barrel one
I find the pencil lasts, but me dropping it on the floor and damaging the tip is the problem. I bought one with a retracting tip and that's helped a lot (pentel graphgear 1000)
I use a fountain pen and a mechanical pencil at work everyday, lovely things
I still have a metal-bodied Faber Castell that my dad bought for me for my first job as an industrial designer in 1987.
I rarely draw anything on paper these days - my hand is too shaky for loose drawing but fortunately I can adjust the smoothing for the pencil on my iPad Pro which eliminates the shaky bits!
Thanks all. I’ve a set of Rotring Tikky pencils on order.
Nice to see a lot of fondness for propelling pencils.
@benp1 - agreed. On close inspection, the nib of my pentel was slightly bent which, I imagine, was causing the leads to bend and break.
You chose well. Rotring 600 is great. Use it all the time. Lovely thing.
I love my metal rotring however if it’s sturdy you’re looking for, I’ve been very impressed by the tracer carpenters pencil. 2.8mm lead with a sharpener in the “holster” - I’ve been known to use mine in the office for scribbling notes even tho it generally lives in my DIY jeans.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/tracer-200mm-deep-hole-construction-pencil-replacement-leads-2b-2-piece-set/879fw?ref=SFAppShare
I’ve got a Rotring Trio, 0.3/0.5/0.7, with 4h in the 0.3, a blue ‘lead’ in the 0.5, and HB in the 0.7. The blue I used in reprographics, if I was drawing up something that was going under the camera, blue didn’t reproduce on lith film. That particular Trio is now over 40 years old, and still works just fine. The barrel is brass, with a black coating. I can’t remember what I paid for it, £20?
I managed to find another on eBay with the triple pencil setup, which cost an eye-watering amount, but I was prepared to pay it for such a well-engineered device, they’re irreplaceable otherwise.
I don’t use them that much these days, but they’re what I reach for first if I’m drawing up guidelines for something I’ll be inking over.
If I’m actually writing something then I always use a fountain pen, I’ve got two Lamy Safari clear body, a clear TWSBI GO, and a couple of Parker 99’s, all tucked into a number of notebooks, my favourite is a frosted plastic 6-ring A7 binder with lined refills, the Lamy slides down inside the rings and stays in place, I’ve always got it in a jacket pocket for making notes.
There’s something about writing with a fountain pen that makes my handwriting look much better than any other pen. 🤷🏼♂️
Box of 50 oxford helix ball points and hb, 2b and 4b pencils. Bic stic grips are great.
Drifted a bit from mech pencils. Liking a quality pencil with a decent sharpener. But you can keep a analogue pencil going with the chisel point technique 🙂
Mostly used for drawing creatures.
#creaturist
I have 3 propelling pencils which I use a lot and have never had a problem with.
One is a tiny Staedtler that I used with my Time Manager (think fancy Filofax from about 40 years back)
One is a Lamy Safari which is lovely because it has the ergonomic 3-sided grip which makes it comfortable
One is a Festool-branded Pica which I use all the time for carpentry marking.
Great thread for pencil nerds 😂
I use this one only for crosswords. 0.9mm 2B leads.
The pencil comes with a stainless steel fingerhold but I found it too slippy. So I made a new one on black acetal.
I have other Pentels with 0.5mm and 0.7mm leads for sketching stuff.
I have a Rotring 600 2mm clutch pencil and about 10 Koh-i-Noor 2mm and 4mm clutch pencils that are so old they have "Made in Czechoslovakia" on them.
To be honest while the Rotring is nice it's always the cheap Koh-i-Noor I reach for. They have been absolutely flawless.
Another vote for Rotring.
I got a set of 5 rotring propelling pencils (not sure which model) but 0.3 to 1.5(?) mm when i started my draughting course with the 50% off voucher i got from Uni. Upgraded the ,5 and ,7 to metal bodied pencils (800 i think) when i started the second module as i'd been using those two sizes for 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week for 6 months... and the plastic was wearing away.
Used them until i permanently stopped on the boards, so maybe 10 years regular daily use. The whole set were still in perfect working order at that point, just got a strip down once every ~6 months and a bit of compressed air blasted through them.
The pens were also still perfect, except where i'd dropped them once or twice and replaced the nib...
Then my step mum threw the entire lot away, plus all my lego, and a couple of computers (ZX80, Spectrum 48K).
I used Pentel 0.3, 0.5 & 0.7 for lines back when I was a draughtsman. I've still got the 0.5. It has my initials and '1980' scratched on it. I used to use Staedler ones for printing, IIRC, sharpened to a chisel edge(!) All this was pre computers of course. Jumpers for goalposts, etc.
Then my step mum threw the entire lot away, plus all my lego, and a couple of computers (ZX80, Spectrum 48K).
Did they ever find the body?
Then my step mum threw the entire lot away, plus all my lego, and a couple of computers (ZX80, Spectrum 48K).
At least your wife gained a nice patio out of it
Coming in late to this, Leuchturm are pretty good.
And my favourite treasured object, a silver one from Yard o Led.
And my favourite treasured object, a silver one from Yard o Led.
SIX HUNDRED QUID FOR A PENCIL?! 👀
**** my old boots, I think I'd sooner open a vein.
SIX HUNDRED QUID FOR A PENCIL?!
No, £300 when I bought one 3 years ago. They start at £380 now, and it’s worth it. People like their fancy watches, I like a nice pen and pencil. I got a factory tour (actually, a small workshop), everything is done by hand. One young lady (~23yo) does the engraving freehand. It’s a pleasure to see it, then see the finshed product which is exceptional.
I understand nice things and have a few myself. I have a "my mug" and a "my glass" and I would welcome nice stationery. But if I were paying several hundred pounds for something to be finished off by hand by a young lady then a pencil would not meet my expectations I'm afraid.
I prefer a clutch pencil/lead holder to a mechanical pencil, but that doesn't stop me owning probably 20+ of the things. The ones that make it into my current pen roll are these two...
The OHTO Super Promecha (current model is just called the Promecha but is pretty much identical) is just a proper geeky bit of kit - everything is adjustable/tweakable and it comes in a 0.9 (0.5 and 0.3 are available too) which is just right for me.
The Uni Kuru toga Dive is a bit spendy for a plastic pencil, but is just a complete joy to use and very clever - does the usual rotating lead Kuru Toga trick but adds in an auto advancing lead when you remove the cap and retracts again when you close it so there's never any real need to knock the lead out. Shame it only comes in 0.5 - a 0.9 Dive would be brilliant.
Have to say though, that in my 40 or so years of using mechanical pencils, I've never had one clog up on me or refuse to work unless I've hamfistedly broken it.
This thread is dangerous. Already added a Rotring 600 multi pen to my collection, that Uni pencil looks lovely too……
I love Rotring pens.. Not for technical diagrams or draftsmanship.. More so for super fine details in pen and ink drawings.
Pro tip.. Don't stab your finger.. You'll end up with a tattoo of a very small black dot! Lol
Kuru Toga
Very nice rotating clutch mechanism so you never get that scratchy edge.
This. Tried most brands, and think this is the best so far.
Nope, haven't seen or heard from her for near enough 30 years. Didn't talk to my dad for nearly a decade after he allowed her to do it. He only found out that i was emigrating because my brother told him... That's when i found out that they'd got divorced a few years previously.Then my step mum threw the entire lot away, plus all my lego, and a couple of computers (ZX80, Spectrum 48K).
Did they ever find the body?
In my opinion, a great choice for a 0.5 or 0.3 that almost never clogs is the Uni Kuru Toga. That is, the self-rotating lead ensures clean writing. For example, if you want something really solid in your hand, the Zebra M‑701 or Pentel GraphGear 1000 are more likely to be strong and smooth pens without the constant clogging that occurs with regular pens.
Forgot to add, I always buy B lead. I use mine my mechanical pencil for writing, as opposed to drawing, and I prefer the smoother, darker line
Fountain pens also for the win... 🙂 Mostly use a Pilot Capless Fermo. I have 2 other Pilot Capless pens but the fermo is my favourite
I use a Kaweko Special 2mm when bouncing around in rally cars, 3B lead. Used to always get annoyed with leads breaking and rubbish clutch holders with little control. This one has served me extremely well, not cheap but for me it has done the job perfectly. But I’m not a drawer.
Here’s my three favourites, two are my longest owned, one a recent purchase, just in case anything happens to the original, that’s the one with the red lettering and matt finish.
The Rotring Trio with the white lettering must be close to fifty years old, the blue pencil is a Zig TRY, it always had a blue lead in, and the 0.5 in the Trio the same, the 0.3 has a 4H, and the 0.7 an HB. Gotta say, the original Trio is better finished than the newer one. Those two were in use pretty much every day, for around thirty years.
Always worth buying quality from the get-go. 😁
This has been a revelation to me. Years of trying to sharpen carpenter’s pencils and then getting an uneven line.
This has a built in sharpener and comes with various “leads” for different materials, excellent!
I have a couple of those for house jobs. A general purpose one and a "wet wood" version. Quite useful for marking up etc. And the wet wood works adequately on plastic, metal and glass.
Can you draw on or transfer to metal ? This sounds like my dry point printing could be solved.
🙂
Hens teeth.
Anyone seen or know where to get 0.9mm 4B leads, in the UK.
Beginning to wonder if I'm chasing ghosts.
For drawing , drawing.
@redthunder it came with 10 softish lead refills and a selection of different colours (and materials) for glass, tiles etc. I’ve not tried it on metal but with the ability to sharpen it I don’t see why not.
I was searching for a clutch pencil to carry around, mainly for filling in archery score sheets, but just a bit more substantial than a mechanical pencil, and I found these:
Basically a copy of the Lamy Safari fountain pen, with a pencil type tip, five with extra erasers and tips, for £3.99! Bargain, and they write well, too! 😁