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Why I prefer mechanical pencils.....
Mar. 3rd, 2009 11:16 pm...over the "old standard" wooden pencils. First of all, wooden pencils require a pencil sharpener. Second, if the lead isn't properly centered within the pencil, it makes it easier to break the point off to the side, which often happened to me.
When did I first discover mechanical pencils? I think I was 7, going through my dad's desk drawer. I found a number of pens and pencils, including mechanical pencils. It wasn't until junior high when I really got into mechanical pencils. My first was a gray Scripto with .046" (1.1mm) lead that we sold at the school bookstore. I think I used it for the mechanical drawing unit of industrial arts class. I liked how clean the lines were, and how it wrote. I kept using Scriptos until college, when I discovered real mechanical drafting pencils like the Pentel Graphlet. I tried the 0.5mm lead (and pencil), but I'm a heavy-handed writer, so I kept breaking the lead. I tried the 0.7mm lead and loved it because I didn't break the lead when I wrote. I also tried and loved the 0.9mm lead.
Over the years, I've come across mechanical pencils that I adored -- the one from Skilcraft with the spring-loaded lead (I could press down on the top and the lead would give a little), the Uniball pencil which matched their Roller Micro pens, and the Sanford Logo II (which had similar action to the Skilcraft pencil). Right now my pencil of choice is the Pentel Sharp, either in 0.7mm or 0.9mm varieties, mostly because it's currently available, and therefore replaceable should I lose one. The only way I think I could get a Skilcraft pencil is through the federal government, since they were a preferred vendor to them.
As for lead strength, I use HB strength since it's the most commonly available. It's comprarable to a #2 pencil.
Do you have any favorite pencils?
When did I first discover mechanical pencils? I think I was 7, going through my dad's desk drawer. I found a number of pens and pencils, including mechanical pencils. It wasn't until junior high when I really got into mechanical pencils. My first was a gray Scripto with .046" (1.1mm) lead that we sold at the school bookstore. I think I used it for the mechanical drawing unit of industrial arts class. I liked how clean the lines were, and how it wrote. I kept using Scriptos until college, when I discovered real mechanical drafting pencils like the Pentel Graphlet. I tried the 0.5mm lead (and pencil), but I'm a heavy-handed writer, so I kept breaking the lead. I tried the 0.7mm lead and loved it because I didn't break the lead when I wrote. I also tried and loved the 0.9mm lead.
Over the years, I've come across mechanical pencils that I adored -- the one from Skilcraft with the spring-loaded lead (I could press down on the top and the lead would give a little), the Uniball pencil which matched their Roller Micro pens, and the Sanford Logo II (which had similar action to the Skilcraft pencil). Right now my pencil of choice is the Pentel Sharp, either in 0.7mm or 0.9mm varieties, mostly because it's currently available, and therefore replaceable should I lose one. The only way I think I could get a Skilcraft pencil is through the federal government, since they were a preferred vendor to them.
As for lead strength, I use HB strength since it's the most commonly available. It's comprarable to a #2 pencil.
Do you have any favorite pencils?
