Best Pencil Brands/Sources

I have not seen a Shapie "Fine" tip go bad, or dull. Could you be thinking about the "Ultra Fine" tip?

There is nothing fine about the fine tip Sharpie, the tip is about 1/8" indiameter. The Ultra Fine is about 1/32"

I just looked at them. You're right it's the "Ultra Fine" that is the problem. The "Fine" tips are about as coarse as crayons, though.

You're right. The "Fine" tip certainly isn't. It's no comparison to a .5mm or .7mm pencil. It's also permanent, even on poly. :-(

It's "fine" compared to other markers, you know, like those thick chisel-tipped "Marks-A-Lots."

Speaking of Lee Valley, in the nearby discussion about pencil sharpeners I recalled (after talking last night to Mike about vintage Bostons) that Lee Valley offers this sharpener:

If you really want to know the ins/outs of pencil manufacturing since oh, about the early Romans, this is the book:

MJ

Does it matter? It's Lee Valley, which means either...

a) it's the best fricken pencil sharpener on the planet or

There's no perfect pencil sharpener. If all you want is "some kind of point" then get a Boston from Staples or wherever, known to generations of schoolchildren everywhere. When they're new and sharp they do a pretty good job, when they've been hanging on a wall in a school for fifty years, well, that they work at all is a tribute to their durability.

Dahle and Staedtler have crank models that allow the bluntness of the point to be adjusted--they don't allow you to adjust the _taper_ mind you, just whether you get a needle point or a slightly flattened one. The Staedtler doesn't seem to be available in the US and the Dahles aren't what they used to be--if you go with one of those get it somewhere where you can check it out in the store before you take it home.

Holbein has a hand-held "TGAAL" model that allows the taper to be set to one of several different levels, but try to find one in the US.

The KUM Long Point sharpeners are also hand-held, but sharpen in two stages, they cut the wood back in one, then sharpen in the second.

Note that none of these do well if the lead is off-center.

But your best bet is probably to go with a separate lead holder and 2mm leads and one of the pointers designed for use with such in professional drafting--the Swiss Geddess is probably the best of those still being made but the cheap Alvin/Staedtler/Helix/whoever (everybody seems to carry the same model with different color plastic and different labels) should get you started. Centering the lead is not an issue and you use all of it without ever having to deal with a stub.

At least with the chisel tips the corners are, well, chiseled. A "Fine" "Sharpie" is almost good enough to mark a fire break.

Damn, I guess I'd better get one then! :-)

I been real happy with this Lee Valley offering:

Dave in Houston

Thank you all. I am not looking for a "drafting" pencil as much as a utilitarian marker for cut lines and an occasional sketch or layout drawing to help me with a "design" or fitting a peice in place.

What I've come away with (in addition to those BIC Mechanical Pencils I will have to look into) is the following list of suggested wooden pencils Coincidently, I;m complaining about something emblazoned with the name "DIXON No. 2 / HB" How's that for ironic?

Conte Derwent Dixon Ticonderoga No 2 Pencil Dixon Ticonderoga Pencils Faber Castell Lumograph. Mars Papermate Mirado Classic Staedtler Staedtler Ticonderoga X-Acto 1744 Heavy-Duty Electric Pencil Sharpener

Thank you all

If I find a preferred pencil among those suggested, I'll post again.

STAEDTLER® Mars® Lumograph® is a specific pencil..

BTW, if you are breaking leads when trying to write, try 2H or even 3H pencil.

Will definitely stop the problem.

May engrave the paper, but you won't break the lead.

Lew

"Dave in Houston" wrote in news:Yffpm.740994$ snipped-for-privacy@en-nntp-03.dc.easynews.com:

I'll second that. It's all they say and then some. I've had one for two years and am still on the first lead. I only use it in my home shop, though.

At work, laying out timbers for post and beam joinery, and anything else I'm called on to do, these will go for hours without re-sharpening, in the hardest lead version:

For general use I go with Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils. Real wood, quality 'lead' that doesn't break easily.

I also have a schoolhouse type sharpener in the garage to sharpen them, love that sound :-).

You can get the Dixon Ticonderoga pencils at Staples or Office Depot or on the web

I want to say that 'fine' is .9mm.

I use fine, .7 and .5 and drafting mechanical, Ticonderoga 1388-2 I actually have a larger than fine - thin - used in dress pencils and coil winder pencils.

Mart> >

I have two Boston crank-style sharpeners, one is over 45 years old. The only "complaint" is I have is to empty the thing often. When the Boston sharpeners are not closeby, I use my pocket knife.

My uncle (a HS shop/drafting teacher) gave me 2 of the Staedtler Mars Technico lead holders once Christmas a long time ago. I only more recently picked up woodworking as a hobby, and uncovered those lead holders during a move at about the same time.

I'll spend 10 minutes looking for one of those 2 lead holders before I consider using a regular pencil. The Staedtlers I have have a lead sharpener built into the cap, the leads last forever, and they're pretty easy to find in pretty much any hardness. In my opinion they really are an excellent "utilitarian" marking tool, as they never get shorter when you sharpen the lead, you don't have to go anywhere to sharpen a dull point, and they don't break very easily.

Though they're not very good for chewing. :-)