Best Pencil Brands/Sources

OK, I should have realized that the Back To School deals on Pencils were unlikely to provide the superior marking and writing and sharpening I didn't realize were so important to me until I found myself with a few dozen of these "specials" so damn difficult to sharpen, use w/o breaking the point, etc etc etc

I am using Office Sharpeners - and they do make a longer, finer point than may be essential to the task - but I had a couple and they are motorized and relatively quick.

But they produce a tip that - with these cheap pencils, breaks off too early, too often and with too little pressure.

If any of you have experienced similar issues and resolved them with a particular brand, I would appreciate hearing of , as well as of a source for, same.

I buy The Mirados by the 100 pack.

But.... for myself, when hiding from the world, I use these....just love them;

First thing you learn in drafting class is how to put a point on a drafting pencil using a sanding pad.

(Am I dating myself or what?)

Find a drafting supply house (Yes they still exist) and buy a couple of boxes of Staedler drafting pencils, I like 2H for layout, H for writing.

They are imported from Germany.

Rather than use sandpaper, an 8" mill bastard file works well to put a point on a pencil, especially the flat carpenter's pencils.

A good small Buck pocket knife trims back the pencil wood exposing the lead.

As an alternate, a Boston electric pencil sharpener also works quite well.

BTDT.

Have fun.

Lew

RE: Subject:

This is what you want.

STAEDTLER® Mars® Lumograph®

Lew

Do you remember the mechanical pencil sharpener that you would spin the pencil around in a circle. It had a small cone shaped sanding paper cylinder in it to sharpen the lead.

Mine's about 30 years old and I still use it nearly every day. Perfectly lovely device. It looks like this:

Of course, made by K&E.

Was in the high cotton when I first got mine.

Finally gave it to GoodWill a few years ago.

The replacement sandpaper cones were all dried out.

Lew

I had my K&E drafting machine rebuilt by a 'just' retired K&E mechanic. New linear bearings, calibrated stops, had the tubular rails straightened to with =B1 nuttin. He charged me $ 300.00, I gave him $

Memories. ( I still have a very old K&E horse-hair brush which draftsmen used to clean eraser dust off their drawings.)

------------------------------------------------ I had my K&E drafting machine rebuilt by a 'just' retired K&E mechanic. New linear bearings, calibrated stops, had the tubular rails straightened to with ± nuttin. He charged me $ 300.00, I gave him $

------------------------------------------------------ Spent more than a few hours pushing one of those rascals around a board.

Designed a lot of machinery with one including steel mill and foundry equipment automation, machine tools, etc.

Strictly the heavey duty stuff.

----------------------------------------------------- Memories. ( I still have a very old K&E horse-hair brush which draftsmen used to clean eraser dust off their drawings.)

-------------------------------------------------------

That makes two of us, along with my 30-60, 45 triangles and an eraser shield or two.

Lew .

Yes, but more importantly, you're basically off topic. I see nothing about drafting mentioned in the OP. I think he just wants a good pencil that doesn't turn to crap after 3 letters. He didn't mention if he preferred wooden or mechanical pencils, but to stay in the woodworking theme, I gonna drag up the greatest wood pencil ever made. The Dixon Ticonderoga No 2 pencil. They still make 'em. Work great, look great, smell great (real cedar). They even chew great, if you're into that sort of thing. ;)

I prefer a mechanical pencil with a 0.5mm lead. For wooden pencils, Office Depot's house brand is satisfactory.

Which is why a high quality drafting pencil was suggested.

You have obviously never used the business end of a high quality pencil.

The Dixon Ticonderoga No 2 is fine for Johnny to do his homework, but that's about it.

Lew

They used to make those in Versailles Missouri (pronounced ver-SALES), near the Lake Of The Ozarks, not far from where my father now makes his residence. I found a surprisingly verbose history of the company here:

Actually this is mine,

We've used a lot of pencils over the years and cheap pencils are so cheap they can't hardly be sharpened not to mention that the electric sharpeners are so cheap now that in about a year on the job they are too dull to sharpen just about anything.

I hate to admit it but I've been using a disposable (I know) mechanical pencil from Bic. I've used the .5mm and the .7mm but kinda like the .7mm better. They are not expensive, they don't break in your apron as you climb up a ladder, no re-filling as extra lead is self contained in each pencil and of course you don't need to sharpen them. The only problem is that they aren't strong enough to mark on oxboard or textured walls. All of the office places seem to carry them now and a dozen run a little under $4.00.

Mike O.

I just paid 20 bucks for a sharpener with two rotating barrel blades, like this...

What's the best sharpener for perfectly even points?

Nice. Mine is actually a "Berol Turquoise 14":

Sounds like an application specific winner to me.

Try a fine Sanford Sharpie.

It will get dull before you run out of ink on those surfaces.

Lew