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.

In article , Hoosierpopi wrote:
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 prefer a mechanical pencil with a 0.5mm lead. For wooden pencils, Office
Depot's house brand is satisfactory.

On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:49:58 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

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

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.

"Mike O." wrote:

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.

Sounds like an application specific winner to me.

The only problem is that they aren't strong enough to mark on
oxboard or textured walls.

Try a fine Sanford Sharpie.

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

Lew

On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:01:20 GMT, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


"Mike O." wrote:

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.

Sounds like an application specific winner to me.

The only problem is that they aren't strong enough to mark on
oxboard or textured walls.

Try a fine Sanford Sharpie.

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

I find that the tip shreds breaking the capillary action. There may
be a gallon of ink in there but it's not very useful. Yes, I suppose
they do get dull before they run out of ink. They draw about a 3"
line on even plywood before the ink starts going blotchy.

"krw" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:01:20 GMT, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:

Try a fine Sanford Sharpie.

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

I find that the tip shreds breaking the capillary action. There may
be a gallon of ink in there but it's not very useful. Yes, I suppose
they do get dull before they run out of ink. They draw about a 3"
line on even plywood before the ink starts going blotchy.

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"

On Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:01:20 GMT, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:

The only problem is that they aren't strong enough to mark on
oxboard or textured walls.

Try a fine Sanford Sharpie.

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

We've got a couple laying around for some surfaces.
I wouldn't use one on an unpainted textured wall though. That just
****es the painter off.

Mike O.

On 7 Sep, 00:14, Hoosierpopi wrote:

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.

Derwent (UK, black with a red mark at the top) I'm obsessional about
these as my favourite sketching pencils.

Faber Castell or Conte are pretty good too, even Staedtler (cheap as
chips locally) - but those bargain-brand cheapies are just plain nasty
to use.

A good automatic electric sharpener (Daler) is handy, but my favourite
is some old '50s ray-gun shaped hand-cranked sharpener. It has two
helical mills inside, not just one, and fortunately they're still
sharp. Buying antiques is OK, but it's getting hard to find one where
the milling cutters aren't worn out.

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

http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-History...2345940&sr=1-1

In the back, the author discusses the latest trends in
pencils. Since it was published, it's a bit dated, but
nonetheless, very informative.

MJ