Mechanical Pencils - 0.3mm Goodness & Others

rhino

rhino

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Dec 30, 2000
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I collect and use mechanical pencils that use 0.3mm leads. They were plentiful in the 80s and early 90s and recently, but for a few years in the late 1990s and early part of this decade, the selections were extremely limited. Part of that was due to CAD and other forms of computer-based drafting and drawing finally killing drawing with pencil, paper, and other tools. Most kids who graduate from engineering and similar programs no longer have any significant "board skills," and have little interest in drafting tools in general.

I got hooked on 0.3mm pencils when I was an undergrad back in the mid 1980s and have been collecting them since then.

Anyone else? Or similar pencils with other diameters?

I have one (a Pentel) that has 0.2mm lead, but have not yet acquired refills for it. A recent development is pencils that use 0.4mm leads. That seems like a good compromise between the increased strength of 0.5mm leads and the fine lines you can make with 0.3mm.

Anyone still like and use lead holders that use 2mm leads?
 
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I use 2mm lead holders all the time, 4H lead works great with my Duksbak field books. The rotary sharpener is a bit messy to carry around, I have a special pocket in my field vest just for the sharpener. If I am without my sharpener I will use the file on my leatherman to give it a nice sharp point. Anything smaller than 2mm lead breaks too frequently in my line of work.
 
I have quite a few mechanical pencils, and some .3mm's. For my uses they're almost completely...um...useless, but I still like them. The poor guys rarely get any use these days, and they're probably jealous of my fountain pens.

I don't have any in front of me, but off the top of my head I think I have a few Staedtlers, a Rotring and maybe a Koh-i-noor? I think I also have one of the old...hm...what were they called? Not Namiki...the retraction button was the clip, and they had this clear plastic nozzle on the front through which the tip of the pencil came out. I really can't think of the name. I played with those to no end back in the day. Probably brought some of my classmates to obsessive compulsive disorder with all the click clacks.

I don't think I've ever used a .2mm lead, but I have a couple .2mm felt tip pens. Not very pleasant to write with....
 
I love .3mm. pencil leads are like pen nibs, the thinner the better. nothing ever looks better to me than a silver rotring 600.
 
After trying a lot of different mechanical pencils, I've settled on a 0.7mm CARAN d'ACHE pencil as my EDC. I used to carry various 0.5 mm pencils, but the lead broke too easily when marking lumber or other rough surfaces.
 
Back when I was sketching a lot, I usually kept all three common sizes in my little box for different uses. The .03s were great for fine detail work.
(little bit of a pain to handle that brittle "lead"!)

I prefer regular artist's pencils, but I would often have a sketchbook and pencil case in my squad car, and regular pencils take too much of a beating.
 
Ah! So I'm not the only one!

When I was in engineering school, CAD/CAM was a new thing, and the world was still in the transition period between pencil & paper and the digital media. I never made the transition, but then I also left engineering and grad school behind back in the early 1990s.

I'm teaching physics at a college now, so my collection of 0.3mm pencils is seeing new life because I do most of my solutions to homework, quizzes, and exams with them. The last week or so I've been using a Staedtler that they don't make anymore (the same model number is an "upgraded" version.

When I first started using them again, I broke the lead about every other word or expression I wrote. I'm slowly regaining my "touch," so I can actually write at a normal speed with them, although some pencils make it easier and some make it almost impossible. I think some pencils have too much room inside of the sleeve (at the point), so the lead isn't braced as securely as it should be (and is in other pencils with sleeve that has a smaller inner diameter). That makes it tougher to use them, especially if you're writing and not carefully drawing with tools.

My favorite is my trusty Pentel PMG that I used in college. The current version (if you can find it) is made slightly differently, but it's still a great pencil. It's the pencil with the little metal point protector that you removed and put on the top end of the pencil while you used it. In addition to that guy, I also used a pair of Scripto 0.3mm pencils frequently in those days. They were unusual (to me) because they had the spring-loaded leads, so if you pushed too hard, they would retract slightly into the sleeve. I had one in brown and one in blue. The blue one no longer has any legible printing on it because I used it so much. I also lost the pocket clip somewhere along the way.

I have an itch to try some of the 0.4mm versions, but I can't justify the expense right now.
 
Thanks for the pointer, TedV. I've used those lead refills before with good results.

This past week or so I've been using a Pentel Graphgear 1000 and a Graphgear 500. The Graphgear 1000 is cool because it's one of the pencils with a retractable point/sleeve. That helps protect the delicate sleeve, as well as makes it easier to carry it in a shirt pocket "nerd style." The Rotring I was using most of the semester also retracts the point/sleeve, but the Pentel works better as a pencil. I break the lead far less often than I do with the Rotring.

I'm getting the urge to try to acquire all of the Ohto 0.3mm pencils for my collection, but some fo them are kind of spendy. They do make one model (which I believe is their top of the line) that has so many adjustments that I don't even know how to use all of them. You can adjust how tightly the lead is gripped by the clutch, how far the sleeve protrudes, and several other things. One reason for the adjustability is to accomodate both writing and technical drawing with one instrument. By changing the configuration, you can help accommodate the additional lateral stresses applied from writing motions vs. the less severe conditions imposed by drawing lines along a straight edge.
 
Woo-hoo! Thanks for the pointer!

Now, what will happen is this. I "need" the 0.2mm leads, but then I'll start rationalizing that I don't want to "waste" the shipping charges on just one tiny item. So then I'll continue to rationalize that I might as well get a couple of new pencils and justify the shipping.

It's an illness. :D
 
I used to sketch using 0.3 and 0.5 "lead." I can't stand the 0.7 "fine point" pens that glob all over the paper. My handwriting is bad enough as it is, but seems to improve drastically the smaller the nib of the pen.

I've had a real hard time finding anything smaller than 0.5 lately too, except in specialty art shops.
 
You've got another lover of good mechanical pencils right here. I recently picked up a Pentel GraphGear 1000. Not expensive in the least, and it boasts all metal construction (somewhat rare these days) and very good fit and finish:

http://www.dickblick.com/zz206/54/
 
WOW! I not the only "antique freak" here? I do mostly use 0.5, but also 0.3 and the older style very fat lead mechanical pencils. I learned to draw on a board, with a T-square.

Matt
 
enderwiggin said:
I've had a real hard time finding anything smaller than 0.5 lately too, except in specialty art shops.
Click to expand...

Online shops are your best bet. In meat space, university bookstores, especially at schools with engineering programs will usually have Pentel leads in 0.3mm in a variety of hardness.
 
Bronco said:
You've got another lover of good mechanical pencils right here. I recently picked up a Pentel GraphGear 1000. Not expensive in the least, and it boasts all metal construction (somewhat rare these days) and very good fit and finish:

http://www.dickblick.com/zz206/54/
Click to expand...

That's a sweet pencil! I've been carrying one of my mine (0.3mm) the last week and using it when I'm not at home.

I'm toying with the idea of getting the 0.4mm version.
 
michdad said:
WOW! I not the only "antique freak" here? I do mostly use 0.5, but also 0.3 and the older style very fat lead mechanical pencils. I learned to draw on a board, with a T-square.
Click to expand...

You're not alone, and you're probably as old as I am or close to it if you learned board skills!

Man, I still remember my kinematics class when I was an undergrad. We did mostly analytical solutions, but we also did a significant number of graphical solutions as well, and to get accurate results you had to have good skills and good tools. I remember my professor was always very pleased with my results, especially since I snagged some really nice graph paper with 1cm and 1mm grids printed in amber on thick white paper. It was easy to see pencil lines, but I would ink over my pencil lines for the given information, then leave the solution in pencil. I doubt if they do much of that anymore. I would have taken that class back in 1985 or 1986.

Just last night I was working a problem for my physics I class to demonstrate that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is currently still in stable equilibrium and how much farther it needs to shift to reach an unstable state. I used an old Alvin compass, a Staedtler template (for both a scale and a straightedge), and a Pentel GraphGear 500 0.3mm pencil to draw some pictures to go along with the analysis using similar triangles.

I think my students would be more impressed by a Power Point presentation, though, but I'm a neo-Luddite and I shun technology when possible. :D

I have a few nice compass sets I snagged on E-Bay about ten years ago, but I can't remember where any of them are now! I tried to get one of the Staedtler/Mars compasses that uses a specialized mechanical pencil for the pencil part, but I'm not sure if I ever accomplished the task.

I'd better quit thinking about this ... I sense my next ammo purchase is in jeopardy!
 
I've noticed on JetPens that they have (sold out) special edition Pentel Graph 1000 pencils in various colors. It makes me want to find somewhere that still has them!
 
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