"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
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michael adams wrote:

As with tailors chalks drawing lines with a chisel edge rather than with a point
presumably has advantages which aren't immediately obvious. In the case
of the former, it can't be wear as you'd imagine they'd wear out quicker.

Maybe both were in regular use before pencil sharpeners became
widely available and haven't been bettered.

A chisel shape actually wears better than a point, and maintains
the line width better. Maybe it is better visualised as a wide
point.

Back before the ubiquitous 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 clutch pencils became
common, and technical drawings were still done on actual paper
(or drafting film), we were taught to sharpen our 4H pencils in a
chisel shape so that we got a consistent and dense line, which
was necessary for the copying methods of that era. I may still
have one in a pencil pot somewhere.

I'm more familiar with ruling pens and rapidographs myself.
But if a pencil is sharpened to a chisel point then presumably
the pencil can't be rotated as this would alter the width of
the line. Digging deep I seem to remember mechanical pencils
with a triangular grip somewhere along the shaft, presumably
this was the point (again NPI) of that particular design.
I also now remeber triangular section wooden pencils possibly
so designed for the same reason. I remember at the time
I thought they were freebies from some sort of marketing
exercise.


michael adams

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