[monolith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vagarach /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you even write with 0.35mm leads (the model dvessel bought)? Even at 0.5mm, the only lead that doesn't keep breaking on me is Pentel Ain, and that is impossible to get anywhere around my uni. Do you know monolith? I bought mine from this seller: Rotring 600 Old Style 0.5mm Pencil Black or Silver New - (eBay.ca item 250290436832 end time 10-Sep-08 10:38:55 EDT) But shipping is $10, though if you're in the US you might get it quicker. I asked him a question after I bought mine, and he replied in what must have been 2 minutes, so I'm thinking he's a good seller, has plenty of feedback, and a website selling pens and things.

I certainly can. I generally write very small. I have a pen with a 0.3mm tip with which I can fit six lines of perfectly legible (but very small) text per line on a piece of lined paper. On Hilroy paper I can actually write a line of legible text that's thinner than the lines themselves. It's a neat effect if you only write on the lines, as it makes it look like a piece of black-lined paper.

Actually, I didn't even realise that's the model I'd linked him to. I usually use the 0.5mm lead myself. 0.7 feels like writing with a crayon. I don't have a problem with 0.5mm lead breaking, and I write with a lot of force. Just have less lead exposed. As such, I'm afraid I don't know where to get fancy lead varieties, as I'm fine with whatever is around in Staples or wherever I go. Rotring lead is actually really nice, dark and smooth (I got some a while back), but I can't be bothered to buy it constantly. I write so much that I go through it pretty fast.

I do have a nifty lead holder with a trap door like lid that retracts with a thumb button thing though. It kind of feels like using a lighter.

To dvessel, I'm sorry I linked you to the 0.35mm pencil. I'm not sure if that's the one you bought, but if so you might want to contact the seller and change your order to a more easily obtainable lead size, like 0.5mm.

 

[kyleisgreat]

I personally use the sumo grip for all of my math(and pretty much any note taking) classes. It might fall in the "deformed vegetable" category, but is relatively cheap (~$6-7), very comfortable, has a ~1.25" retractable eraser, and 0.9mm graphite (other versions handle 0.7 and 0.5)

 

[dvessel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monolith /img/forum/go_quote.gif To dvessel, I'm sorry I linked you to the 0.35mm pencil. I'm not sure if that's the one you bought, but if so you might want to contact the seller and change your order to a more easily obtainable lead size, like 0.5mm.

It's totally cool. I usually work with .5mm myself but I like thin sharp lines. I did buy another just in case about an hour ago.

About the leads.. Where can you get them? I love my Rapidioliner for the extreme contrast so if I could get something soft to work with this thing, that'd be awesome. Soft == darker, right? I normally work with ink so I'm not sure.

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monolith /img/forum/go_quote.gif I work in a record store. I'm a mathematics and physics student, so I do a great deal of writing and most of it needs to be with pencils.

Ah, I see. So the Head-Fi is to the record store as the Pencil-Fi is to the math/physics. I wish I knew more math and physics. When one of my friends did his PhD. (under Karl Popper) and couldn't come up with a topic, Lakatos told him it was OK cos he didn't know enough math and physics anyway. So he tutored him for two years first. I feel like that sometimes...

 

[dvessel]

This was informative on soft vs. hard leads. I think I'll buy a few 3B's. The 4B's are out of stock and they're very hard to find.

 

[monolith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvessel /img/forum/go_quote.gif This was informative on soft vs. hard leads. I think I'll buy a few 3B's. The 4B's are out of stock and they're very hard to find.

To be honest I'm not all that picky about lead. I used some 3B for a while and it's nice, but even with HB the way the lead is ground down as you write is more of a factor for me than the hardness. If it gets ground to a sharp angle, the pencil makes a much fatter, lighter line and isn't as nice to write with. As long as I keep turning the thing to ensure I'm writing with a narrow part of the lead, I don't really mind the slightly lighter colour of HB over 3B.

That, combined with the fact that non-HB leads aren't easy to get keeps me just using HBs. 3B lead can be harder to erase as well, and I do a lot of erasing.

 

[Planar_head]

That Pentel Smash posted earlier looks like some kind of awesome.

I want that, maybe it can get me back into mechanical pencils, instead of those junkie wood ones (Now I just gotta stop losing them

)

 

[pcf]

Any pencils above HB are usually meant for drawing more than writing. A 6B pencil is great for rough sketches.
Co-Erase pencils were used in animation when drawn animation was still the industry standard. They are just like normal wooden pencils with an eraser at the top. Blue and Red are the most popular colours because they have just the right softness. Animators would do their roughs in colours and assistant animators would than "clean" them up in black. Some of them do use mechanical pencils to get a nice sharp line( not to mention the beauty of no sharpening!) The pencils do get blunt very quickly-sometimes only after drawing one or two lines. So an electric pencil sharpener is a must.
Of course these days keyboard and mouse have in most part taken over.

-Paul

 

[dvessel]

^ That is what I'll be using it for. Creating rough mock-ups of site designs, and general graphics and random doodlings. I should have been more clear but dark lines are important to me.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvessel /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ That is what I'll be using it for. Creating rough mock-ups of site designs, and general graphics and random doodlings. I should have been more clear but dark lines are important to me.

Hi There,

Have you tried Blackwing601? They are black and I think you would love them. Unfortunately they haven't been made since 1998 and are now collectable items. You have to pay over $30 for one if you can find them. There is even a blog called "Blackwing diaries" you can check out-[/URL]."]URL="http://blackwingdiaries.blogspot.com/"][/URL].[/URL]

I still have some at home but haven't been using them for a while.

-Paul

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Planar_head /img/forum/go_quote.gif That Pentel Smash posted earlier looks like some kind of awesome. I want that, maybe it can get me back into mechanical pencils, instead of those junkie wood ones (Now I just gotta stop losing them )

they are reallly comfortable, I use them for hours and barely any fatigue on my hands. Graphgear is little heavier, with excellent feel for drawing/ drafting IMO.

 

[progo]

Holey damn, you guys can make everything to hifi, can't you?

Found my pen from the site: Cult Pens Pilot Supergrip Pencil. It's not completely stock: I cut the clippy thing off and I've lost the eraser part. It's comfy, yes though!

 

[vagarach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcf /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi There, Have you tried Blackwing601? They are black and I think you would love them. Unfortunately they haven't been made since 1998 and are now collectable items. You have to pay over $30 for one if you can find them. There is even a blog called "Blackwing diaries" you can check out-[/URL]."]URL="http://blackwingdiaries.blogspot.com/"][/URL].[/URL] I still have some at home but haven't been using them for a while. -Paul

http://www.pencilpages.com/articles/blackwing.htm, this is the blackwing 602, but yikes, $250 for a dozen wooden pencils? I'd be scared to even use them! I thought those Rotring 600s were a bit steep for some out-of-production quality engineering of yore, but man oh man.

What an illuminating thread though. I've learnt that people collect pencils and found out about that rotring 600. Bravo crappyjones123!

 

[dvessel]

Thanks Paul for the heads up but as vagarach said. $250¡ Yikes. Maybe if I was a proficient artist it would be an option.

For all you crazy head-fiers, two really old sketches of mine when I used a pencil. Definitely easier than a rapidograph.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvessel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks Paul for the heads up but as vagarach said. $250¡ Yikes. Maybe if I was a proficient artist it would be an option. For all you crazy head-fiers, two really old sketches of mine when I used a pencil. Definitely easier than a rapidograph.

Nice! I like that micky lookalike. Good imagination!