Poll: Mechanical pencil users - what's your favorite lead size?

[zinfamous]

Give me 0.7 or give me death!

 

[Drako]

I use 0.7 2B almost exclusively. 0.5 breaks way to easily.

 

[Crono]

Just got a Pentel Graphgear 1000, and Uni-ball Nano 0.5mm F lead. Very nice.

 

[Charmonium]

What matters as much as the lead is the delivery system. I love the Pentel Kerry. This is a .7 model but they also have .5 in a variety of colors.

 

[lxskllr]

Pentels always kind of bored me, but they have rock solid reliability. I'd get fancier pencils, break them or reject them due to defects, and go back to my boring old pentel. Over and over. I'd go through two or three "better" pencils before losing or catastrophically breaking my pentel.

 

[snoopy7548]

I use a Staedtler 925 35 03 I got about 11 years ago. Perfect weight and feel, but I don't think it's available anymore, at least not the exact one I have. The thing I love about 0.3mm lead is you don't get that flat, wide part when it starts to wear down like with thicker leads - it's always a nice and sharp point.

Besides that, I like the cheapo BiC 0.5mm and those pencil-looking one time use ones. Great for quick writing/planning and marking measurements when doing woodworking.

 

[brianmanahan]

.7mm or get out

 

[brianmanahan]

I use 0.7 2B almost exclusively. 0.5 breaks way to easily.

exactly! .5mm is too weak

 

[Charmonium]

exactly! .5mm is too weak

Lighten up. You're not carving stone, you're writing. It's supposed to be smooth and elegant. I stopped using cursive when I was in middle school so I stab and grind when I write as much as any knuckle dragger but even I never . . . ok, almost never break a lead. The trick is not to draw it out too far from the barrel.

 

[Zeze]

What do you guys do at work that still requires writing so much to the point of having a mech pencil preference?

I hardly write today. The only physical writing i do is on sticky notes and my small notepad for to-dos.

 

[lxskllr]

What do you guys do at work that still requires writing so much to the point of having a mech pencil preference?

I hardly write today. The only physical writing i do is on sticky notes and my small notepad for to-dos.

I write data in a field book, and make field sketches. I also mark up blueprints for my field comps. Aside from that, I hardly write at all. I've always liked fountain pens, and would love to have a nice one, but I can't justify the purchase for something I'd use a couple times a year, What I might do is learn how to cut quills, and get a bottle of ink. Still not a lot of point, but much cheaper, and it may scratch that itch.

 

[Zeze]

I write data in a field book, and make field sketches. I also mark up blueprints for my field comps. Aside from that, I hardly write at all. I've always liked fountain pens, and would love to have a nice one, but I can't justify the purchase for something I'd use a couple times a year, What I might do is learn how to cut quills, and get a bottle of ink. Still not a lot of point, but much cheaper, and it may scratch that itch.

Nerrrd

 

[lxskllr]

Nerrrd

I also have a wax/stamp envelope seal. I've probably used it a half dozen times in the ~15 years I've had it :^D

 

[Zeze]

I also have a wax/stamp envelope seal. I've probably used it a half dozen times in the ~15 years I've had it :^D

Now that's effing cool though

 

[lxskllr]

Now that's effing cool though

Yea, I think so. It adds a little something extra to correspondence, and gives people something to marvel over, even if it's only for a few seconds :^)

 

[Zeze]

Yea, I think so. It adds a little something extra to correspondence, and gives people something to marvel over, even if it's only for a few seconds :^)

Okay this response was pretty dorky. You should've stayed cool and quiet.

What is the the seal? Some kind of cool family sigil or dickbutt

 

[lxskllr]

Okay this response was pretty dorky. You should've stayed cool and quiet.

What is the the seal? Some kind of cool family sigil or dickbutt

It's a Celtic knotwork pattern; made in Scotland. I picked it up at a Celtic(more properly Gaelic) festival.

 

[Zeze]

It must be satisfying to drip wax and stamp that mofo whole wax is still hot and goopy.

Then take a sip from your goblet.

It's a Celtic knotwork pattern; made in Scotland. I picked it up

 

[lxskllr]

It must be satisfying to drip wax and stamp that mofo whole wax is still hot and goopy.

Then take a sip from your goblet.

Skål!

 

[Charmonium]

Sealing wax doesn't hold up very well in a mail sorter. It's almost as fragile as glass. The only way you can really use a traditional wax seal is if you're going to either hand deliver something or it's going to be ensconced in another package.

It's possible to get polymer sealing waxes but they don't give the kind of sharp detail you get with traditional wax. I have a signet ring with the family crest and the detail is almost microscopic. If you let the wax cool slightly before imprinting, you get an exquisitely detailed, high-relief impression. I've never been able to get close to that with the polymers. However I think they would survive the mail sorter.

 

[Charmonium]

I just want it to be know that I have a stationery fetish so I'm loving this thread.

 

[Zeze]

Skål!

Good man. My go to is...

Balveniedoublewood12yo.jpg

 

[lxskllr]

Good man. My go to is...

Balveniedoublewood12yo.jpg

Balvenie makes some great whisky. They're one of my favorite distillers. Used to be able to get it a lot cheaper though. I've been bitching about the price of whisky for awhile now. I think my newest new years resolution will be to say "fuck it", and just buy what I want. It's not like I can't afford it. I don't spend much money otherwise, and hoarding money's dumb. Might as well enjoy life.

Highland Park's changed. I mentioned it in the Drinking thread. It was so unlike what I remembered, I looked up what people were saying online. It used to be a sweeter, and more sherried. Kind of like a Macallan light. It's now smokier, and not as sweet. More like an Islay light. Turns out they got a new master distiller, and the flavor profile changed. I was disappointed at first, but taking it on it's own, and disregarding history, it really is a fine whisky. I have a bottle of old make 25yr in the cabinet. The 25 wasn't as good as the 12, but it was still pretty good. I'll crack the seal on that before I finish this bottle, and see how they compare side to side.

 

[Zeze]

Balvenie makes some great whisky. They're one of my favorite distillers. Used to be able to get it a lot cheaper though. I've been bitching about the price of whisky for awhile now. I think my newest new years resolution will be to say "fuck it", and just buy what I want. It's not like I can't afford it. I don't spend much money otherwise, and hoarding money's dumb. Might as well enjoy life.

Highland Park's changed. I mentioned it in the Drinking thread. It was so unlike what I remembered, I looked up what people were saying online. It used to be a sweeter, and more sherried. Kind of like a Macallan light. It's now smokier, and not as sweet. More like an Islay light. Turns out they got a new master distiller, and the flavor profile changed. I was disappointed at first, but taking it on it's own, and disregarding history, it really is a fine whisky. I have a bottle of old make 25yr in the cabinet. The 25 wasn't as good as the 12, but it was still pretty good. I'll crack the seal on that before I finish this bottle, and see how they compare side to side.

Balvenie def raised their prices about 15 yrs ago. I remember they were in high $30s then... then prices sharply rose suddenly with their popularity.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I honestly can't remember the last time I used a pencil for anything other than marking lumber to cut or marking a wall for a nail or screw.