Does anyone know where I can buy JUST the interior components to construct a .3mm or .5mm mechanical pencil?

I'm wanting to have a custom pencil turned (made from ebony and deer antler), and I would like it to have a .5mm or .3mm lead nib inside it. The only thing is, the wood turner only has .7 on hand, and unless we can find somewhere to buy the interior components for a .5mm or .3mm pencil, I'll be stuck with .7mm. Have you ever tried to sketch, IN DETAIL, with .7mm lead?

:/If you know a site that I can buy from, link me! Asked by BBmG 22 months ago Similar questions: buy interior components construct 3mm 5mm mechanical pencil Arts > Sewing, Craft & Hobby.

Similar questions: buy interior components construct 3mm 5mm mechanical pencil.

Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: nickao on April 5, 2009, 09:30 AMI have tried every pencil from Rockler, Woodcraft, the art stores, etc and still find nothing that is perfect. The leads break or the line they leave is to thin or to wide. Or the mechanism to push out the lead is troublesome, etc. Does anyone know of these Pencils:Lee Valley Fixpencil (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,42936,43509&p=45504)I am finding it very hard to justify 45.00 for a pencil and 6 leads.

If I were assured this pencil was the best money can buy and actually worked as advertised I would give it a try. I am so fed up wasting time with a simple mechanical pencil or using the old fashion pencils and sharpening them every five minutes I am at my wits end. I thought the Rockler mechanical pencils were the answer, but the collet just stinks and driving me crazy.

The Fixpencil supposedly has a 4 jaw collet that works. I guess this is a Caran d'Ache designed pencil and I have seen those go for 250.00! Caran d'Ache (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250359184768&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=170316677321&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget&_trksid=p284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%252BP%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DIA%252BUCI%252BUA%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D10)Anyone use these Lee Valley Pencils and like them?

Title: Re: The Original Mechanical Pencil, Fixpencil? Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: EcoFurniture on April 5, 2009, 10:04 AMI'm using this one every day and are quite pleased with it: http://staedtler.com/Mars_technico_780_C_gb.Staedtler (http://staedtler.com/Mars_technico_780_C_gb.Staedtler)Title: Re: The Original Mechanical Pencil, Fixpencil? Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: Steve Jones on April 5, 2009, 10:06 AMHaven't tried them (and I'm not sure I would at $45) My trouble with pencils is their tendency to evaporate (especially when working with others).

I liked the ones Rockler used to carry a few years ago - Their new ones are fat and useless, (much like one of my previous helpers). I have found the good pencils at art art supply stores, they don't call them pencils, apparently they are "Lead Holders" or something. The ones I like are blue plastic (good plastic like Festool uses) and knurled aluminum at both ends and use 2mm leads.

UPDATE: while I was waffling Ecofurniture came and posted details of the very pencil - try it you'll love it Sources: http://festoolownersgroup.com/hand-tools/the-original-mechanical-pencil-fixpencil-caran-d%27ache-pencils/?action=printpage .

Sliding Sleeve Sharp for Pros Mechanical Pencil, 0.50 mm, Blue Barrel Manufacturer: PENTEL OF AMERICAManufacturer #: PENPS315Sleeve slides and retracts as the lead is used, reducing in length from 5.0 mm to 3 mm to provide extra support to lead and prevent breakage. Features a precision-balanced barrel with contoured design, ideal for professional use. Adjustable pocket clip conforms to perfectly fit your needs.

Post-Consumer Recycled Content Percent : 0 %Pre-Consumer Recycled Content Percent : 0 %Total Recycled Content Percent : 0 %Lead Diameter : 0.5 mmSleeve: 3 mm - 5 mm SlidingLead Color(s): BlackBarrel Color(s): BlueMfr. Refill Number (Item Number): Eraser: PENZ2-1, Lead: PENC25-HBMechanism: MechanicalGrip Type: No-SlipGlobal Product Type: PencilsPackaging: SingleEraser: YesPocket Clip: YesRefillable: YesRetractable: Yes Sources: http://www.business-supply.com/sliding-sleeve-sharp-for-pros-mechanical-pencil-0-50-mm-blue-barrel_PENPS315_product.html?src=bizrate .

JUST the interior components to construct a .3mm or .5mm mechanical pencil... The quest for the best in mechanical pencilsNovember 2, 2006 11:19 PM RSS feed for this thread SubscribeI can't be the only MeFite who with a mechanical pencil fetish, help me find the ultimate mechanical pencil. I have just recently discovered the joy of writing with an excellent mechanical pencil. After years of your basic cheapy 10-pack affairs, I finally bought a Pentel Sharp, and it's a wonderful thing.

The thing feeds super smoothly, feels solid as a tank and fits my hand quite well. There's just one problem: the eraser. It has this metal sleeve that fits around the eraser.

The eraser inevitably slides around inside the sleeve, which means I have to adjust it back out every time I erase something. On this latest pack of erasers, the sleeve actually fits into the barrel for some reason, which causes all kinds of problems with the eraser getting stuck inside the pen, meaning I have to get something sharp and jab it out! So help me, hive-mind, what have been the best mechanical pencils you've used?

Posted by! Jim to work & money (36 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite Sources: ask.metafilter.com/50062/The-quest-for-t... .

Does anyone know where I can buy JUST the interior components to construct a .3mm or .5mm mechanical I have tried every pencil from Rockler, Woodcraft, the art stores, etc and still find nothing that is perfect. The leads break or the line they leave is to thin or to wide. Or the mechanism to push out the lead is troublesome, etc.Does anyone know of these Pencils:Lee Valley Fixpencil (leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,4...)I am finding it very hard to justify 45.00 for a pencil and 6 leads.

If I were assured this pencil was the best money can buy and actually worked as advertised I would give it a try. I am so fed up wasting time with a simple mechanical pencil or using the old fashion pencils and sharpening them every five minutes I am at my wits end. I thought the Rockler mechanical pencils were the answer, but the collet just stinks and driving me crazy.

The Fixpencil supposedly has a 4 jaw collet that works. I guess this is a Caran d'Ache designed pencil and I have seen those go for 250.00! Caran d'Ache (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250359184768&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=170316677321&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget&_trksid=p284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%252BP%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DIA%252BUCI%252BUA%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D10)Anyone use these Lee Valley Pencils and like them?

Title: Re: The Original Mechanical Pencil, Fixpencil? Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: EcoFurniture on April 5, 2009, 10:04 AMI'm using this one every day and are quite pleased with it: http://staedtler.com/Mars_technico_780_C_gb.Staedtler (http://staedtler.com/Mars_technico_780_C_gb.Staedtler)Title: Re: The Original Mechanical Pencil, Fixpencil? Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: Steve Jones on April 5, 2009, 10:06 AMHaven't tried them (and I'm not sure I would at $45) My trouble with pencils is their tendency to evaporate (especially when working with others).

I liked the ones Rockler used to carry a few years ago - Their new ones are fat and useless, (much like one of my previous helpers). I have found the good pencils at art art supply stores, they don't call them pencils, apparently they are "Lead Holders" or something. The ones I like are blue plastic (good plastic like Festool uses) and knurled aluminum at both ends and use 2mm leads.

UPDATE: while I was waffling Ecofurniture came and posted details of the very pencil - try it you'll love itTitle: Re: The Original Mechanical Pencil, Fixpencil? Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: nickao on April 5, 2009, 10:17 AMI am ordering some right now, I'll give them a try. Title: Re: The Original Mechanical Pencil, Fixpencil?

Caran d'Ache pencilsPost by: Steve Baumgartner on April 5, 2009, 10:52 AMI've used the Staedtler pencils for years and found them to be exceptional quality. Three things though: 1) you can buy 2mm leads in all of the standard hardness levels.4H gives a very sharp line, sometimes so fine it is hard to see, and is a bit like writing with a nail. HB is so soft you have to resharpen very frequently.

I like H or 2H.2) the little sharpener inside the cap is, to my taste, pretty useless. I got a draftsman's "lead pointer" from Charrette and it works great.3) they just hold the lead, they don't advance it when you click, though they do hold it securely. Sources: http://festoolownersgroup.com/hand-tools/the-original-mechanical-pencil-fixpencil-caran-d%27ache-pencils/?action=printpage .

Boys (especially) do to pencils. As a teacher I use pencils a lot – mechanicals as well as wood cased. For many years I’ve just used the generic no-name pencils provided by the school and occasionally a ballpen, without thinking much about that it could be different.

Then first “Pencil Revolution” and a little later “Dave’s Mechanical Pencils” came into my life. It all started with a Gessner pencil and since then I have developed into some kind of pencil nut – thank you very much Dave! Another addiction, just what I needed.

Anyway, I got this idea that many of the good looking and much hyped pencils would be a blessing for my pupils in place of the usual generic “no name” scratchy HB’s (why does the school issue these? I thought). Also, I was curious about how luxury pencils would perform in “real life”, in my case in the hands of boys in a classroom.

I have found this to be “the ultimate pencil test”. I’ve seen what pencils are used for besides writing – so if a pencil can survive this, it must be OK. The test is: Give one of the expensive and much praised pencils to a schoolboy for a week or two and see what’s left of it afterwards.

I didn’t expect any of them to survive for long. In my head was the picture of the Charge of the Light Brigade…. I have carried out these experiments for some time now and would like to share the results.

The Pencils were both wooden and mechanical and I chose from the ones I had already tried myself and found to be good. The pencils were exposed to the general pupil activities: throwing, stabbing others, “pencil fight”, spinning, “peeling off”, “over sharpening”, biting, chewing, tearing apart, rolling around in “unfriendly quarters” – besides sketching and writing of course. Normal school activities for those in grade 3.

The wood cased pencils tested:Mongol no. 1 (B) with pink eraserHelix no 2 (HB) with white eraserAtlas novelty pencil – pink eraserGrip 2001 2B no eraserMono 2B no eraserSteadtler Noris Ergosoft HB no eraserThe eraser was the first victim – most erasers were off in one or two hours at the most. They were peeled off and used for ammo, or the more peace loving boys (and girls) tweaked them out while erasing.So built in erasers don’t work at all.

The soft pencils were very popular – as they provided the really jet black line and had to be sharpened often – a great excuse for a longer pause. Due to the much sharpening, they didn’t last a week. Sources: http://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html .

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