I had to laugh when I saw the revamping here, and a new pencil section. Even before I saw you'd posted, I thought "ah, gunman has his own section now!" I think it's a nice revamping overall, and this will be a good section to watch for pencil discussion!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Finally, a place just for me! :lol:

I am really a pencilaholic. I'm also a penaholic but my first love are drafting pencils, particularly 0.3mm drafting pencils. It was over 20 years ago that I bought my first 0.3mm pencil, a Pentel P203. I've favored that pencil ever since. It was the one that launched my obsession with 0.3mm drafting pencils. It is perhaps an old design and looks more like a mechanical pencil for writing that a drafting pencil but it's a true drafting pencil. I like this pencil so much that years ago when I learned that Pentel of America was discontinuing sales of the P203 (citing declining sales as the reason) I went out and bought as many as i could afford. I also learned that Pentel would refurbish aging P203s I had my original P203 revamped for free. Recently Pentel sent me enough parts (sans bodies) to make up 3 P203s. I used some old bodies of a P205 and a P207 (because I like the colors) to make up 2 of them. I have 8 P203s, 5 in the original brown bodies, 1 in a P205 body, 1 in a P207 body and 1 in the body of a pencil that I ran across in Staples called the Metrix, a triangular bodied Pentel clone.

My other 0.3mm drafting pencils include a Pentel 120 A3 DX A313, Graph 300 PG303, Graphlet 500 PG503, 2 GraphGear 500 PG503, Graph 1000 PG1003, an Alvin Draft/Matic DM03, 2 Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic 5633s (Made In Japan, not China), a Mitsubishi uni0.3 M3-552, a Mitsubishi uni Kuru Toga 0.3, an Ohto Promecha SP-503M, a Platinum Pro-Use MSD-500A, a Staedtler 925 03 (New Style), and a Zebra Drafix BM3-300.



I have my eye on several more from JetPens, a Pentel Graph 600 PG603, an Ohto Promecha 500P SP-503P, a Pilot S3 HPS-30R-TY3, and a Zebra Tect 2-way MAS42-W, all 0.3mm of course. :wink:

just checked the forums to see these changes, i already love 'em
FINALLY a place for pencils and a place for erasers
I love it

EDIT: pencilholic here too and i also LOVE 0.3mm, like to show it off to
my friends here in the us. The kuru toga is a "gotta have" for me :D

I really like small sizes of lead, which is why I've always loved .5mm mechanical pencils. Recently, I saw a .3mm pencil, and I tryed it out, but lead broke so easily that I was instantly put off. Does that happen to you often, and if so how do you stop/get rid of it?

Sorry to learn that you were put off by your experience with a 0.3mm pencil. Maybe I can convince you to try again.

0.5mm lead is 67% larger in diameter than 0.3mm lead. That's quite a difference. Naturally you can't use a 0.3mm pencil like it was a 0.5mm pencil. First, you can't, in many cases, extend as much lead from a 0.3mm pencil as you do a 0.5mm pencil. If you do, and try to write with it you'll probably break the lead! Second, you can't put as much pressure on the pencil as you write as you can a 0.5mm pencil. If you do you'll most certainly break the lead.

But if you want to write in fine lines and use a pencil you'll have to adjust your writing style to accommodate the more delicate lead. Use a soft grade lead like HB or B so the lines will be darker with less pressure. Extend only about 1mm of lead. Depending on your pencil this may be easily done by using fewer clicks to extend the lead. With some pencils you may have to adjust the lead length manually. Then use less pressure when you write. The result should be nice dark fine (thin) lines instead of broken lead. You may have to experiment with things before you get it all correct.

Give it a try. 8)

I have a 0.3 Pentel Graphlet for a few years now, and I always really liked it. It is one of my favorite pencils. Though I picked up a Kuru Toga 0.5 recently and I love it, so I think I'll have to get the 0.3 now. I also have been trying to deter myself from buying a 0.9 Uni Shift Pipe Lock pencil, but it looks so awesome!

They are a cool pencil. I have one in 0.3mm and it's very nice. In the retracted state you turn the body to the left (counter clockwise), push down until the body meets the grip then you turn it to the left again to lock it down into writing mode. To retract the lead sleeve do the opposite. Turn the body to the right (clockwise), let the spring bring the body back up, then turn it to the right to lock the lead sleeve up, hidden in the grip. You don't even have to retract the lead from the lead sleeve so it's ready to write as soon as it's locked in writing mode!

It's a medium weight pencil with the balance of the weight being shifted to the bottom of the pencil, making it bottom heavy. It writes very nicely as well. Two clicks of the push button exposes plenty of lead. There is a (useless) black eraser under the push button but no clean out rod. The mouth of the lead reservoir narrows to a tiny opening, like the Kuru Toga, only the lead feeds quicker and I was able to get about 20 pieces of lead into it. The grip has a nice knurled surface, in a diamond cut pattern which makes for a real nice grip surface.

All-in-all the Mitsubishi uni Shift is a good drafting pencil with a modern look and feel to it. I like mine a lot!

There, now. Have I helped not to deter you from buying one? 8)

Would you have a retractable Niji Grip in your collection? I've used the 0.5 for years, but can't find them any more and never found a .3 unfortunately. Great design.

No I don't. I didn't even know what it looked like until I did a web search for it. Found a picture on the Pencils 11 blog. The reason that you may not have been able to find one in 0.3mm is that they may not have made one in 0.3mm Not every manufacturer of mechanical/drafting pencils makes 0.3mm pencils. 8)

All save 2 of these are 0.3mm pencils. I included the 2 for different reasons. The Kuru Toga 0.5mm was included because it writes as thin as a 0.3mm pencil. I included the Ohto Super Promecha 0.5mm because it's such an awesome pencil (and I don't yet have the 0.3mm version).
8)

Unfortunately, Yasutomo is concentrating on multipens, and has discontinued the Grip line.

I've never seen them in 0.3 from Niji/Yasutomo, though there is a 0.3mm clone of the Grip 350 made by Alvin, the Draft/Tec Retrac DR03. They also make a 0.5 and 0.7 model. The Alvin ones don't seem to be as finished as the Yasutomo models. Sanford also marketed a version of the Grip 350, though I suspect that it may have been made by Yasutomo, given the build quality, and its disappearance about the same time that the Grip line was discontinued.

There are also a few sites that still have the Grip 500 available, I bought my spares from a company based out of Florida. My first one was given to me by a friend back in high school, and it was my preferred pencil for many years. I liked the retraction being controlled by the clip, as it didn't push out more lead (like the 350 does) when you retract the point. The only weak spot with these is that the rubberized grip tends to stretch and loosen with a lot of use.

That said, I'm firmly sold on the Uni Shift. I purchased one last week. It's a Silver/blue 0.5, and just came back to the site to pick up some erasers and two more Shifts (A black/smoke, and a white/smoke 0.5). I'm very happy with the quality and design of the pencil. I'm generally a heavy-handed writer, and have just a few 0.3 pencils (a Pentel F357 multi, a Rotring Tikky II, and the Alvin retractable mentioned above). I'm thinking of getting one of the Shifts in 0.3 when it's back in stock.

Too bad about the Grip. My original Grip's grip had hardened, but still comfortable, while my newer (by a decade) one's grip gets loose if I use it for an extended period of time. Simple mechanism and most pocket friendly pencil I ever had. I looked up the alvin DR03 - interesting, but you're right, not a Grip.

I just read gunman's comments on the Shift, and with your endorsement, it looks like I should add it to my next order.

Cheers, SD

I'm just curious: how old are you?
and how old are the other members here?
btw, i ma 14, but i fell in love with pens/pencils/stuff like this since i was a baby, so i'm a pretty young penholic

I'm too old for you, Pauline! Besides my lovely wife says that I'm not allowed to date other girls! So you'll just have to go on without me! Sad, I know! For we would have made such a lovely couple...

Let's see... 35 divided by 2, carry the 1, add my weight in gold (boy, do I wish I had my weight in gold!) multiply by the square root of yesterday, equals... 55! I'm 55!? I can't be that old! I don't feel 55! What's 55 feel like? Well, I don't know! You're the one who's 55! No I'm not, you are! But arn't we the same person? Hey, don't look at me, I don't even know you!

I can't speak for the others (I can and often do but they don't seem to like it much), but it seems the consensus around here ("here" being somewhere in the neighborhood of the Milky Way) is that I'm 55! I'm 55!? I can't be that old!...

55 is far from old :D You're just getting to the good part!

I have long ago decided that one is not older than one feels.

Which would make me about... 12.

I'm actually 29, though. At least that's what my birth certificate says.

In that case, there are days that I feel just this side of 100! and others I feel way too young to vote! I guess it's all in the attitude!... or is that latitude?... I get confused sometimes! It comes from getting old(er)! :wink:

onelonegunman!!! i never said i wanted to date you! :x you kept saying ur an old geezer so i wanted to ask. u dont sound like a 55 year old, though. and how old are the ppl here?????? and plz be honest.

DONT LOOK AT ME!! -runs away-

:shock:

all im going to say is im a kid....well atleast i think i am...

PencilNStuffAddict: onelonegunman was joking. He didn't really think you wanted to date him, silly :)

My sincere apologies PNSA, I meant no offense. I thought that if you had read enough of the posts around here you would know I'm a bit of a quirk. I try and be funny all the time, joking around with everyone. I thought that the remainder of my post would have alerted you that I was joking.

Thank you for the compliment! It's nice to know that one still seems young to others. On June 12th, 2009 I will turn 56. If you don't believe me I can PM you a photo of my drivers licenses. When I turned 55 I reserved the right to refer to myself as an "old geezer". I often feel older, much older. But I try and maintain a youthful outlook on things, it helps keep me young at heart.

As far as the rest of the regulars go, well I honestly do not know. I can hazard a guess that most are over the age of 21, some younger, some older. I guess we run the gambit as far as ages go.

I hope that this answers your question. 8)

WHAT IS PENCIL MANIA?
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Hello friends
After reading this forum I must say really there are lots of people here who have pencil mania and pen mania or I must say pen alcoholic and pencil alcoholic but I have also pen mania.Jet pens are really too good.I like all the products of Jet pens.I have so many different kind of pens and I like to make the collection of pens.I thought only I am crazy about the pens but after reading all the thread here I come to know that I was wrong.Anyways have fun and enjoy this site!!

Pencil: an implement for writing, drawing, or marking
Mania: excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm

Pencil Mania: An excessive enthusiasm for pencils.

8)

OLG, i'm starting a drafting pencil craze.. this is not good. i'm spending way too much money.....

Hi people, I noticed no one here mentioned what I believe is the ULTIMATE mechanical pencil

and that would be Alvin Draft/Tec pencils. Truly a high quality piece that all of you should should own! And here is a link to amazon, who (surprisingly) have the cheapest price for them that I can find online (offline too actually)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DKJ51Q/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

anyways, I'm 21 and have been a pencilaholic for 5 years, and a penaholic for 1

I prefer the Alvin Draft/Matic series myself. But to each his own.

I own a set of the Alvin Draft/Tec (0.3, 0.5, and 0.7), but I tend to prefer the build quality on the Yasutomo Grip350 (alas, discontinued), and the Sanford Extend (I'm assuming also discontinued). The Sanford Extend almost matches the Alvin, except for what feels like a slightly higher quality plastic, and a fancier clip. And then there's the Technica X, one of Pentel's "double-knock" pencils, which I fell in love with many years ago as a replacement for the Grip350.