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Pencils, Mechanical or Otherwise


Asithappens

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No other writing implement is as reliable as a wooden pencil. That puts them in a class by themselves; mechanical pencils are fine to write with, but they're fussy and high maintenance - the supermodel-girlfriend of the pencil world. For quotidian, reliable performance, give me a wooden pencil any day. #2, please.

Edited by Bat Guano
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32 minutes ago, Bat Guano said:

No other writing implement is as reliable as a wooden pencil. That puts them in a class by themselves; mechanical pencils are fine to write with, but they're fussy and high maintenance - the supermodel-girlfriend of the pencil world. For quotidian, reliable performance, give me a wooden pencil any day. #2, please.

Nah, sharpening is for the poors.

Gimme a decent mechanical pencil. 0.7 mm of course. Pair that with one of these bad boys:

81Uew6yXfpL._SX425_.jpg

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29 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

Nah, sharpening is for the poors.

Gimme a decent mechanical pencil. 0.7 mm of course. Pair that with one of these bad boys:

81Uew6yXfpL._SX425_.jpg

Not familiar with those. I'm guessing each one is a lead wight size/ hardness.  I'm old school, lead holder with an electric eraser and an electric lead pointer on the back side.  I had 3: one for non visible blue layout lines, one for line drafting, and one for text. 

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21 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Not familiar with those. I'm guessing each one is a lead wight size/ hardness.  I'm old school, lead holder with an electric eraser and an electric lead pointer on the back side.  I had 3: one for non visible blue layout lines, one for line drafting, and one for text. 

So you have something with all the disadvantages of the mechanical pencil, but you still have to sharpen it, so you got the one disadvantage of the wood pencil, too. Well, to each his own....

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9 minutes ago, Bat Guano said:

So you have something with all the disadvantages of the mechanical pencil, but you still have to sharpen it, so you got the one disadvantage of the wood pencil, too. Well, to each his own....

You trying to say lead holders are over rated as well !!??  : )

 

I don't use them anymore, that was in the 80's early 90's. I've been using ArchiCAD since around 94.

I found lead holders superior to mechanical pencils in their durability, and line quality/weight/thickness options, and I liked being able to control line weight with my lead pointer.

I switched to ink on mylar around 88 with jewel tip Rapidograph pens. Being left handed, that kept my drawings very clean during the drafting process. I've got one set of house drawings that weighs about 30 lbs.

 

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Not familiar with those. I'm guessing each one is a lead wight size/ hardness.  I'm old school, lead holder with an electric eraser and an electric lead pointer on the back side.  I had 3: one for non visible blue layout lines, one for line drafting, and one for text. 

Those are erasers bro. The best damn erasers ever made. Much better than those rectangular pink abominations.

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I've used mechanical pencils for 30 plus years (engineer).  I have had most of them.  Current seems to be the graphgear Luke posted.  I have had one of the OPs Super Kerrys too.

I have a Caran dAche lead holder (it has a catchy name, but I forget) that I like pretty well, has a pointer in the cap/button that's pretty effective, but I keep a pointer around also.

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20 minutes ago, HornsOverIthaca said:

This is bringing back memories.  I wish I still had some of my old draftings.

I have my drafting table sitting right next to my CAD machine. I still has it's T bar set up which I use to draft site plans when I'm in the design phase. My electric eraser is in a holder sitting next to it, and I've got ink pens and lead holders at the ready. Erasing shield is in the drawer.  I've got an old can of  Pounce to clean drawings.  I probably have about 50 sheets of custom title block mylar in my flat file.

I've even got a Helvetica font Leroy lettering set a guy gave me a couple years ago.

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14 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

I have my drafting table sitting right next to my CAD machine. I still has it's T bar set up which I use to draft site plans when I'm in the design phase. My electric eraser is in a holder sitting next to it, and I've got ink pens and lead holders at the ready. Erasing shield is in the drawer.  I've got an old can of  Pounce to clean drawings.  I probably have about 50 sheets of custom title block mylar in my flat file.

I've even got a Helvetica font Leroy lettering set a guy gave me a couple years ago.

Old school.  Love it.  Never learned to use the Leroy lettering though.  I dont think they teach drafting even in ME anymore.

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BSME. Sailor multifunction pen in red, blue, black and .05 HB #2 gets carried during almost all working hours (pencil function has a little too much give for my liking)

 

Zebra M-301 in .05 and .07 at the desk. (Also like the zebra ball point)

 

Pentel Sharps in backpack and around the house in old school matte blue and #2 yellow, do they offer a black?

 

Pilot ultra fine felt tip and highlighters in red, green, blue, and black at the ready on the desk next to architecture and engineers scales.

 

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The subtle lead holder trick, as you're drafting a line you're twirling the lead holder to maintain a consistent point.  I had a huge callous on the thumb side  of my middle finger for years from the knurled surface of the lholder grip. 

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Nad ow I use  ultra fine tip felt tip type Pentel pens for conceptual design, no lead at all.

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.5mm for me, only fucking savages use .7mm.  I still buy a couple each year to write on my old-school printed book-style calendar.  I prefer TUL, a more robust feel because I have very large hands.  

Also, why do we keep calling them "lead pencils".  It takes an extra .0001 seconds to say the word graphite in lieu of lead.  People say "gel pen" or "ink pen" or "rollerball pen" or "fountain pen" or "felt pen" or "Ballpoint pen"...but nobody can be bothered to say "Graphite"??? 

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18 hours ago, Bat Guano said:

No other writing implement is as reliable as a wooden pencil. That puts them in a class by themselves; mechanical pencils are fine to write with, but they're fussy and high maintenance - the supermodel-girlfriend of the pencil world. For quotidian, reliable performance, give me a wooden pencil any day. #2, please.

Wooden pencil graphite doesn't hold a point like a lead holder graphite will. 

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I started using Sanford PhD years ago.  Thicker frame for which is more comfortable to hold and a large, retractable eraser.  Papermate took over then line several years ago and the quality suffered.  The line has since been discontinued.  I haven't been able to find a decent replacement since.   

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29 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Wooden pencil graphite doesn't hold a point like a lead holder graphite will. 

What's REALLY old school is using a wooden pencil with drafting lead and one of those sharpeners that exposes an inch of lead (for use with a pointer).  We had some of those sharpeners in the mechanical drawing room in high school.  We also used wooden pencils, but used a sandpaper paddle to point them.

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1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

What's REALLY old school is using a wooden pencil with drafting lead and one of those sharpeners that exposes an inch of lead (for use with a pointer).  We had some of those sharpeners in the mechanical drawing room in high school.  We also used wooden pencils, but used a sandpaper paddle to point them.

How was woolly mammoth meat ?

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