I'm a fan of mechanical pencils myself. In school we were issued Pentel P205's and every few years I buy something new to try and always end up returning to my 30 year old P205 pencils.
Pencil Talk
11–20 of 45 posts
Re: Pencil Talk
#12If you use pencils a lot, do yourself a favor and get a dedicated eraser. I personally like the Sakura SumoGrip block erasers, but even a $3 Pentel Clic from your local big box store will be an upgrade from what is typically on the back of a pencil.
Re: Pencil Talk
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
It might not apply to the pencils in the article, but the flattened shape of a carpenter’s pencil keeps it from rolling off uneven surfaces in a workshop or at a building site. Also, the flattened lead allows you to draw a thin or thick line, depending on how your orient the pencil.
And I believe a carpenters pencil is a 1/4 inch tall and a 1/2 half wide
Re: Pencil Talk
#14This treatise on artisanal pencil-sharpening is relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spMaP-_Cq_8
Re: Pencil Talk
#15Pentel Graphgear 1000 & a Pentel Hi-Polymer block eraser are goated to the max.
Re: Pencil Talk
#16I'm a fan of mechanical pencils myself. In school we were issued Pentel P205's and every few years I buy something new to try and always end up returning to my 30 year old P205 pencils.
I used them for years. Then I discovered cheap gel pens and never went back. Muji sell really very good ones for no money at all.
Re: Pencil Talk
#17Pentel Graphgear 1000 & a Pentel Hi-Polymer block eraser are goated to the max.
Re: Pencil Talk
#18The Blackwing 602 is my favorite pencil. One very nifty feature is its swappable eraser - it’s also rectangular.
Re: Pencil Talk
#19I'm a fan of mechanical pencils myself. In school we were issued Pentel P205's and every few years I buy something new to try and always end up returning to my 30 year old P205 pencils.
https://www.pentel.com/products/sharp-mechanical-drafting-pe...
That's it. It's nice that something so inexpensive can last decades. You can spend a lot more on a mechanical pencil (and I have) but none have won me over.
YMMV
Re: Pencil Talk
#20For those that don't want to read too much on this blog to find answers, the simple answer is nothing beats a quality mechanical drafting pencil if you're using it for writing and not for art. The Rotring 600, the Pentel Graphgear, and the Pentel Sharp (P205) are all fantastic choices. For art pencils it's hard to beat Staedtler.
It's an interesting blog, but after spending way too much of my energy on pencils and pens over the years, I've realized there's some great Goldilocks choices out there, so hopefully I save someone reading this the rabbit hole.