# Bitten by the Drafting Pencil bug - Need suggestions!



## sween1911

Fond memories of the Koh-i-noor that my retired engineer uncle gave me that I carried in college are making me nostalgic about a good drafting pencil and I've been hunting around for a new one.

I like the classic drafting pencil look with the knurled grip area and the needle point. Retractable tip would be a nice touch.

- Does anyone have experience with the Uni-ball Shift Pipe Lock? I like the retractable tip, but some reviews say that the mechanism makes it feel cheap.
- The Pentel Graphgear 1000 seems to get high marks for the quality, it has the retractable tip, but I don't like the rubber grippy stuff. 
If that had a plain checkered grip barrel, it would be perfect.
- The Pentel Graphgear 500 seems perfect for what I'm looking for but not retractable tip, which could 
mean at some point I could drop it, damage the tip, and render it useless.

Any ideas? What do you guys like? At most, I'd spend $20.


----------



## sween1911

Well, I've got a 3-piece set of Alvin Draftmatics, the .5, .7 and .9mm drafting pencils as well as a Pentel Graphgear500 .7mm on their way to me from Amazon. Will report when I get them in!


----------



## topher512

I'm a professional illustrator. Mechanical pencils are my tools. My .9mm is the old stand-by Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic. Feels more substantial than my .3mm, Alvin Draft/Matic--which is still a great pencil. My go-to's, however, are my .5mm and .7mm Pentel Kerrys. They are not the old school style drafting pencils, but they are work horses. Hundreds of hours--5 graphics novels, one picture book, 2 chapter books, countless editorial illustrations--and they look and operate as good as the day I bought them. The cap comes off--as you can see with the red--and switches to protect the point. Can't recommend them more highly.


----------



## sween1911

topher512 said:


> I'm a professional illustrator. Mechanical pencils are my tools. My .9mm is the old stand-by Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic. Feels more substantial than my .3mm, Alvin Draft/Matic--which is still a great pencil. My go-to's, however, are my .5mm and .7mm Pentel Kerrys. They are not the old school style drafting pencils, but they are work horses. Hundreds of hours--5 graphics novels, one picture book, 2 chapter books, countless editorial illustrations--and they look and operate as good as the day I bought them. The cap comes off--as you can see with the red--and switches to protect the point. Can't recommend them more highly.
> 
> View attachment 524222


Very cool! Thanks for the pic. That Rapidomatic brings back memories. I had the white .5mm version in the late 90's. It inevitably broke after lugging it around to classes, jammed into pockets, dropping it, etc. I bought another one, the gray barrel .7mm around 2003/2004 or so and it didn't seem up to the quality of the original.

That Kerry looks sweet. The cap is an elegant answer to the point-protection issue that many brands try to fix with elaborate retraction mechanisms. I should have waited for your recommendation before placing an order!  Next time!


----------



## sween1911

I'm buying a Koh-i-noor .3 and an Alvin .5 from someone on another forum. Once I get all the goods together, I'll take some pics. I'm a computer programmer by trade, so no critical "tool" pencil use, but I do love them for taking notes when designing specs, so these will definitely be used!


----------



## jpmcb7

I think it was back in engineering school when I got hooked on mechanical pencils. Oh course I love the Alvin Draft/Matics as you can see from my well-worn .3, .5, and .7mms. But my favorite has to be the Ohto Super Promecha PM 1500. I can adjust the amount of lead dispensed, the tip length, and it's really heavy compared to the Alvins.


----------



## sween1911

That Ohto looks cool. How has it held up? That was one I had my eye on as well. Love the idea that you can retract the guide pipe to protect the top during transport. Thanks for the pic of the Alvins too. Looking forward to getting mine!


----------



## topher512

The Alvins ARE great. I look forward to hearing what you think. I encourage you to go and find some different leads, see how you like the varying characteristics of the softnesses.


----------



## sween1911

The Pentel Graphgear 500 came in the mail the other day. After explaining to my wife that, yes, the only thing in the box was a pencil (they shipped it separate from the Alvins). Loving it so far, using it for notes at work and such. The grip part is very well machined, the tip is strong. The design is ingenius as the barrel extends all the way down under the grip to the tip where its threaded and screws together, thereby avoiding what was the weak spot of other drafting pencils I had: the threaded stub of the barrel that screws into the grip area and begins to crack from the pressure of writing. The pocket clip is kind of cheap though. Thin and stamped, it slides along the pencil too easily. I'm pondering a dab of super glue or epoxy on the clip to keep it from moving around.

All the way around though, an awesome pencil as an entry level drafting pencil, and everyday beater writing implement with some class.


----------



## jpmcb7

I've had the Ohto for about 7 years now; I used it every day for about 4 years and it's just as smooth as the day I got it. As I mentioned, it's really heavy for a mechanical pencil, which makes for a super sturdy pencil. I'm sure you will get many years of use out of yours. And yes, another plus is that it does look really cool


----------



## sween1911

So the .5mm Alvin and the .3mm Koh-I-Noor both came yesterday from a deal on another forum. I gotta say, this Alvin pencil feels more robust than the Koh-i-noor! The place there the barrel and grip thread together is metal-on-metal. The plastic body screwing into the metal grip on the Koh-i-noor was its downfall for the ones I used to have. The Alvin feels very secure and precise. I like the slightly sharper grip on the Alvin, too. I was gonna post pics, but crazy busy last night. Once I use these for awhile, I'll post some more details.

Also, I couldn't find .3mm lead to test out the Koh-i-noor. I went to Staples and Office Max and they looked at me like I was asking for alligator eggs. I know there's an art store around here somewhere, I don't feel like paying $5 shipping on 12 pencil leads online. Anyone recommend a place to get .3mm leads? Thanks!


----------



## jpmcb7

Not sure if it'll be much help if you want lead fast, but I order my Pentel Ain lead (in all diameters) from JetPens.com. It's the only place in the U.S. I've been able to find this lead outside of Japan. It's amazing lead that usually arrives in about 3-5 business days (well worth the wait), at a decent price; about $3.25 for 20 pieces last time I checked. Definitely my favorite lead, but buy a bunch of different kinds and experiment to see what works best for you.


----------



## Xaltotun

I got bit BAD!!!!!!

Here's what I bought in *two weeks*!

ROTRING

- 2 X Rotring 300 0.5mm black (modern)
- 1 X Rotring 500 0.5mm black (modern long inscription)
- 2 X Rotring 600 0.5mm silver (modern - simple 0.5)-
- 2 X Rotring 600 0.5mm black (modern - simple 0.5)-
- 1 X Rotring 600 0.5mm black (older? long inscription NO GOLD)-
- 1 X Rotring Rapid Pro 0.5mm silver (modern)
- 1 X Rotring Rapid Pro 0.5mm black (modern)
- 1 X Rotring 800 0.5mm chrome / modern? long inscription GOLD-
- 1 X Rotring 800 0.5mm black / modern? long inscription GOLD-

KOH-I-NOOR

- 1 X Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic 5633 0.3mm red (80's, Japan)

STAEDTLER

- 1 X 925 05 Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm (older slim style)

ALVIN

- 1 X Draft/Matic 0.5mm

OHTO

- 1 X Promecha PM-1505P 0.5mm
- 2 X Promecha OP-1005P 0.5mm
- 1 X Promecha SP-505P 0.5mm

UNI

- 2 X Kuru Toga Roulette Black 0.5mm
- 1 X Kuru Toga Roulette Silver 0.5mm

Here are some pics, too, since I just started receiving the pencils.

First, I just got these two magnificent Rotring 800 pens from Japan. Got them on eBay for around $62 each; they sell for up to twice that (especially from German dealers) since they have recently (couple of years?) been discontinued. My guess is that in a few years, they'll be worth around $200 each, since these are the rarer vanishing point model, with gold accents.

I don't plan to use them, just store them for, you know, collecting. I went on a huge mechanical pencils purchasing binge, and I'll plan on putting more mechanical pencils pics as I get them (for a few models, I have bought them in double, to use a few and keep a few)!

What bugs me is that the silver one has a couple of tiny nick (see second pic), seems to have been made in the factory, since these were in their original boxes. Oh, well. These are pens, not watches, so I guess you can't always expect perfect items, even when ordering new.

(yes these are my doodles on my MBA term papers :-d)





































These 800 line are hefty, with presence, and weight. The feeling in the hand is fantastic. No wonder these have fanatics scoping all the NOS they can find, at outrageous prices. They are very sought after by artists, technical draftsmen, architects and designers (I have a Bachelor's in Industrial Design; I used to draw at University with these!).

As a side, here are two more. The slightly more affordable Rotring 600, current model (with the simple 0.5 on the barrel) and the discontinued model with longer inscriptions on the barrel. The current model is around $30 ~ $40 (no vanishing point or gold accents on these babies!), and the discontinued can be sold up to $125.

Same as the 800 model, they are "full metal jacket". All metal construction



























If you want, I can post pics of the future pencils I get...


----------



## sween1911

WOW! That's quite a collection! Love that Rotring 800. Thanks for sharing the pics!

As for me, I'm loving the Alvin Draftmatic. Been using it at work and it's great. I seem to be harboring excessive fear that I'll drop it and break it, or lose it, or someone will take it. Unfortunately, my cube is closest to the fax machine, and most times people go to fax something, they forgot to jot a note or sign something on the fax, and pop over to my cube to ask for a pen. Not a big deal, except when I was not at my desk, I was across the room and saw someone grabbing a mechanical pencil off my desk to write with. Grrrr... You gonna put it back? You gonna break it? Maybe I get a little too bent out of shape about it, but we gearheads like our stuff, we research, we save up, we order things like pencils online to get the best ones we can find. I've been OCD'ing about putting the pencil back in the case in my EDC bag instead of leaving it on my desk for some office troll to snag. 

Ah, where was I? Yes! Love the Alvin Draftmatic!


----------



## sween1911

*Score!*

I've discovered the Lost City of Atlantis (for pencil geeks).... Rubinsteins Art Supply on Market Street in West Chester, PA.

I was hunting down 0.3mm lead for a Koh-i-noor that I had gotten. NOBODY has them, not Staples or Office Max. I was in the area and decided to see if Rubinsteins was still around. They have it all! They have a rack with all the different hardnesses of all the different sizes (0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9). They also stock .5,.7,.9 Alvin Draftmatics, and the Draft-tec which has the retractable point mechanism in all the sizes! I picked up one of the Draft-tec Retractables in 0.5mm for $6. I got 4 packs of .3mm lead (HB) for a dollar and change each. Success!


----------



## badh

*Re: Score!*

Please Help! I'm lookin for a retractable pencil that looks exactly the same as the *Alvin Draf/Tec Retrac Mechanical Pencil*, except that it has a clear plastic ending instead of metal and it's for writing, not for drawing. It's a quite old model and I assume that Alvin bought the licence of this pencil, that's why they look the same. Can someone tell me the name of the pencil, or a link where I can buy it? As I remember it was a Roting, but I'm not sure.


----------



## sween1911

*Re: Score!*



badh said:


> Please Help! I'm lookin for a retractable pencil that looks exactly the same as the *Alvin Draf/Tec Retrac Mechanical Pencil*, except that it has a clear plastic ending instead of metal and it's for writing, not for drawing. It's a quite old model and I assume that Alvin bought the licence of this pencil, that's why they look the same. Can someone tell me the name of the pencil, or a link where I can buy it? As I remember it was a Roting, but I'm not sure.


Hey badh,

The more I think about it, I know exactly the one you mean. Wasn't that a Pentel design? Pentol or Pilot. Yeah, it's just like the Draft-tec design. A co-worker had one, he thinks it was a Pentel.


----------



## sween1911

*Re: Score!*

Reviving this old thread, I recently scored a 0.3mm, 0.5mm and 0.7mm Koh-i-noor Rapidomatic. They are later model Chinese made pencils, but still get the job done.

Seriously contemplating a Rotring 600.


----------



## GirchyGirchy

*Re: Score!*

If you're looking for something interesting, check out TWSBI. I have one of their fountain pens but no experience with the pencils, but they look like decent value.

TWSBI Precision Mechanical Pencil | TWSBI


----------



## Watcher of the Skies

*Re: Score!*

From L to R
Faber Castell Lochtite
Faber Castell Lochtite
Koh-I-Noor Adapto 5611
Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic 5635
Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic 5635
Staedtler Micro F 77505
Rotring 600
Rotring trio-pencil









Faber Castell pencil box
Koh-I-Noor lead holder
Dietzgen lead sharpener and rulers


----------



## Watcher of the Skies

*Re: Score!*

And a bunch more.


----------



## Daswann

Great post. I never knew about drafting pencils until reading this post. Makes me want to get one now too. Thanks.


----------

