L. to R.: Stanley knife, Pentel Side FX 0.5 PD255, HEMA vulpotlood, Pentel Function .357, Uni Kuru Toga 0.5, Kaweco Sport

Since my schooldays, I haven’t done much work with a mechanical pencil. I have an education as a pre-press graphic designer and graduated in 1995. The Mac had taken over the pre-press world but our school was a little late to the party, so I still learned to work with paper, ink, huge cameras and chemically developed, rasterized film.

Outside of school and some internships I never used these (literally) old school techniques any more, but I still love the tools of the trade. I can’t resist buying them every once in a while, when I’ve found a new one that looks promising. Mechanical pencils (vulpotloden in Dutch) are among my favorites. Penciltalk.org was a eye opener. Apparently I am not the only one who likes mechanical pencils.

You’d think that, with the increased use of computers and the digital lifestyle becoming the standard, items like mechanical pencils would be used less and less or would even disappear completely. Fortunately, this is not the case, although they don’t get a lot of attention. They are there, but they are not advertised much. Still, I think some of these items have never been so high in quality while so affordable as now, in the 21st century.

I’m not a very active collector, but whenever I visit a warehouse or bookstore, I like to check the assortment of mechanical pencils. Of course, you’ll often find dozens of cheap lead holders usually mostly made of plastic, designed without any fantasy. Dull.

However, at the HEMA, a series of Dutch department stores, I found a nice exception. A full metal mechanical pencil. It comes with a single 0.5 mm lead to get you started and even though the eraser is too small for frequent use, the weight of it alone gives you confidence that it’s a serious piece of equipment.

HEMA is known for their ‘own’ products. Most are produced specially for them, to their specifications. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if these mechanical pencils are not available anywhere else.

It is sturdy and handles well. The surface looks like aluminium but given the weight, I’d say it’s steel covered with a layer of aluminium. The metal clip is strong but flexible enough to be really useful. The body is sleek but the lower part is slightly wider, which makes it more comfortable to hold. The diamond shaped profile makes the grip much better and en passant makes it look like a piece of a fine mechanical instrumentation. In the center of the grip are some deeper laying rings that amplify this effect even more. All together, it’s a little gem among those plastic elements.

A closer look at the different parts of the HEMA mechanical pencil

Sincere thanks to Leon for contributing this excellent article. Photos and text by Leon. Since composing the article, Leon has noticed that the HEMA clip appears to be identical to that of the Rotring 600.

Let’s take a brief trip into the almost departed world of drafting by pencil. Before computer aided design (CAD), precision drawings were made by hand. Architects, draftspeople, engineers, and others, used lead pencils alongside other tools to create plans for everything from small industrial parts to immense cities.

The observations made here are probably trivialities to those familiar with the tools. Yet as an “obsolete” technology, the capabilities of drafting film and film pencils may be unknown to those of us who never experienced these products first hand, and I thought it would be enjoyable to share some discoveries.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to assemble some vintage supplies.

- Staedtler Mars Dynagraph 100 50 woodcase pencils in grade N3.

- Staedtler Mars Dynagraph 0.5mm (255 05) and 0.7mm (255 07) mechanical pencil leads in grade N2.

- Mylar polyester drafting film.

The lead refills and drafting film were purchased at retail about two weeks ago! The pencils came from eBay.

Some further notes.

The grades – N0 through N6. An old Staedtler catalogue online at leadholder.com suggests these comparisons:

N0 = HB
N2 = H
N4 = 5H

Adding information from this fascinating chart at Lowell Bueprint, we can complete the chart this way:

N0 = HB
N1 = F
N2 = H
N3 = 3H
N4 = 5H
N5 = 7H

Both the pencils and the leads have an additional logo, “profilm”. Though I own many Staedtler pencils, I have not seen this additional graphic before. This site, for example, suggests that this is an early 1980s Staedtler trademark, now abandoned.

The pencils are explicitly marked “For use on drafting film.”

The film is something I’ve been seeking for some while. I was quite happy to discover a local retailer who was willing to cut a small piece for me off of a roll. Mylar is Dupont’s trademarked name for polyester film. There are other brands, but Mylar seems to be a bit of a standard.

The photos below generally show the Mylar on top of graph paper – either 2mm vellum, or a Moleskine notebook. This is for contrast – it had to be placed on some sort of surface. The Mylar does not have any lines. It does have a milky translucence, and feels quite strong to the touch.

Observation no. 1: The erasure of Dynagraph pencil lines on Mylar is remarkable. To my own eye in direct sunlight, it seemed close to perfection. The macro setting of the camera brings one back to earth, but still, I have to say that the erasure properties of the N3 Dynagraph pencil/Mylar film/Mars plastic eraser trio well surpass the paper and pencil experience. Even the typical paper indentation that one can usually discern is absent, presumably due to the film’s strength.

Observation no. 2: The specialty lead is truly non-smearing! To the right is the misbehaving Staedtler Mars Lumograph 2H. Light finger movement causes considerable smudging. The Dynagraph leaves a nearly immutable line.

Observation no. 3: Pencil grades, even the very hard grades that behave like rocks on paper, are much more vivid on film. A 3H looks like a 3B. Take the extreme Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 10H:

It is near useless, fainter than the printed lines, in a notebook:

Yet makes a valid mark on the drafting film:

So film certainly gives an invigorated life to those 2H through 10H pencils which are very challenging to use on paper.

To summarize these basic observations about film pencils on film: Perfect erasure, no smearing, and lines appear significantly darker.

The computer isn’t going away, but I’m wondering if these properties might not be valuable to artists. And I haven’t yet noted that this “paper” is supposed to last centuries and maintain stability.

I can’t find a Mylar sketchbook for sale, but did find that David Hockney was aware of this medium. If you use this medium or are aware of other artists who use it, please leave a comment.

And while this post is engaged in a bit of a “rediscovery” of the past, let’s acknowledge those who’ve never forgotten these skills: twenty-first century architects who still work with pencil. These two have mentioned their continued use of pencils at this blog:

Otto-Walker Architects, Park City, Utah

J Mark Nelson LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado

These products may have peaked in popularity in the 1980s, but the Dynagraph and Mylar duo still seem capable of getting a precision job done.

P.S. Please see “Zeitreise” at Lexikaliker, which shows some vintage advertisements for Duralar (the predecessor name of Dynagraph) pencils on Mylar.

Graphite is not the only refill available for mechanical pencils and leadholders. Colour lead refills, red in particular, are available in several formats. They might be be used by teachers, accountants, or anyone seeking to make a noticeable mark. The thicker versions might have uses in carpentry and masonry. Let’s examine ten of them.

0.5mm Pentel PPR-5 Red – a faint but usable red.

0.5mm Staedtler Mars micro color 245 05-2 Red – much more vibrant and saturated colour than the Pentel lead, yet also fragile – frequent breakage seems to be the tradeoff.

0.7mm Pentel PPR-7 Red – also faint but usable.

0.7mm Mitsubishi Uni Color Red – a bit softer than the Pentel, also a redder hue.

0.9mm Pentel PPR-9 Red – the format makes the marks more readable than the thinner versions.

Overall among the thin leads, the Pentel leads are slightly orange, while the Staedtler and Mitsubishi leads are truer reds.

2.0mm Koh-I-Noor 4300/5 Red – previously seen here, the lead is somewhat orange, and seemed faint.

2.0mm Fueki (???) RA20 Red – this is a brand that was previously unknown to me, and I thank isu of the uncomfortable chair for kindly sending this lead to me. It is quite good, with vibrant colour and on the softer side.

2.0mm Mitsubishi Uni Red – not bad for writing, it seems to keep a point, and is on the orange side. It should be noted that the leads have an attachment that prevents them “falling through” clutch leadholders. This may make them unusable in certain brands. There is also a risk of this ring getting stuck in a leadholder.

3.15mm Lamy M42 Color Red – surprisingly hard for a lead of this diameter, it is a nice refill for a 3.15m pencil.

3.15mm Wörther Spare Leads Red – very soft, they are almost like wax crayons – a marking tool rather than a writing implement. They’re also easily the most vibrant.

Among the thin leads, I like the Mitsubishi because it seems to be an accurate red. The Pentel, though performing well, has a slight orange hue that seemed not right. Though the Staedtler lead has great colour, it was too prone to breaking to be useful.

Among the thick leads, the 2.0mm Fueki and 3.15mm Lamy were the standouts from a writing perspective due to their truer red lead. The Wörther would no doubt be good at rougher tasks.

Ten samples is by no means a complete survey of the category. Are there other brands that you like or special uses for red lead that you might have?

I can’t read much of it, yet it seems to speak very well to many interests of mine.

Red and blue pencils, leadholders, quirky office accessories – they’re all here, and featured prominently.

The magazine is in Japanese, with about 150 glossy pages crammed full of photos of woodcase pencils, mechanical pencils, leadholders, erasers, sharpeners, staplers, hole punches, rulers, and much more.

Yes, they have a page on Vernier calipers:

Sharpeners also.

The Eagle Draughting pencil is a treasure from the past.

The pencil is round, with a core just over 3mm in diameter.

It has a dark wood stain, and is imprinted:

Made U.S.A. [logo] EAGLE “Chemi*Sealed” Draughting 314

This pencil is absolutely delightful to use – it has a super smooth creamy black lead, with great historic style. The lead does wear down quite quickly, so a nearby sharpener can be handy at times.

I am a bit curious about how it is a “draughting” pencil. More recently (this pencil may be several decades old) a drafting pencil has typically had a hard, faint lead. This would be sold as a pencil for artists, were it sold today.

The Pilot S20 is a very special pencil. It could be classified in many ways – as a drafting pencil, a mechanical pencil, or as a luxury pencil.

The S20 has the shape and features of a drafting pencil, and it is a drafting pencil, but it’s also perfectly usable as a general purpose mechanical pencil. The construction and finish are also at a level where a few small changes would make this pencil quite at home at upscale fountain pen shops, selling for much more.

The distinguishing feature is the wood casing. A rich dark brown, the wood gives the pencil a very pleasing appearance, and makes it very comfortable to hold. The wood imbues the pencil with a pleasant, warm, humane aspect.

The balance and grip are superb, in my view. There is a slight concave dip in the traditional “grip” area. You just want to keep holding and using the pencil.

The cap is marked with the lead diameter, and has a lead grade indicator window on the side. These two features are the ones that, if removed, might cause the pencil to be mistaken for something much more expensive.

The lead advances by clicking the cap. The cap can be removed to access an eraser and the lead chamber.

If you want a drafting style pencil that doesn’t look like it might be a medical instrument, this is a great choice.

The Mitsubishi Uni M-552 is another inexpensive drafting pencil.

Lightweight at about 12.5g, they come in five lead diameters. I bought all five. I may soon regret this, as the 0.4mm pencil does not have refills available in Canada. On the other hand, it’s not too often that I’ve found myself saying that I need a 0.4mm pencil for a particular purpose.

The tip, grip, clip, and cap are metal, and the barrel is plastic.

The lead advances by clicking the cap. A thin plastic ring, the pencil’s only colourful element, is the pencil’s lead grade window.

The grip, very lightweight, screws off of the plastic barrel (see photo). Why a removable grip? I’m not sure, but if the idea was to make available a choice of grips to suit individual preferences, that would have been an excellent offering.

The grip superficially resembles that of some expensive drafting pencils – which is probably the intent. But it doesn’t at all have the smooth feel of the Staedtler 925 95, for example. In fact, I found the 552 quite unpleasant.

It seemed to be a pencil that had a lot of attention paid to the cosmetics. Unfortunately, the looks don’t achieve much in person, and I would rate it lower than the A120 – though there is a 0.4mm version, if that is important to you.

As well as woodcase pencils, the Craft Design Technology brand offers item 16, a 0.5mm drafting pencil.

The pencil is made for CDT by Pentel.

The white plastic barrel is distinctive, with lettering in black. I’m not exactly sure what the tip, grip, and clip are made of. They appear to be another type of plastic, though finished to look like metal.

At approximately 15.5g, it also feels substantial, and there seems to have been some effort exerted in creating a very comfortable balance and grip.

The design seems much more evolved than the micro, for example, yet it’s still a usable and functional pencil. I tend to think the white will get discolored over time, but maybe not – Pentel probably knows what they are doing.

At ?1,890 , there is some “design premium” in the price compared to similar plastic drafting pencils.

The lead grade window (in the cap) goes from 3H to B, but I’ve been using 2B. Who decided that 3H needed the space more than 2B? I didn’t mention it, but the 925 95 (featured last week) has a window that goes from 2H to 2B.

The pencil is pleasant enough, and the design and colour scheme would be the main selling points. The pencil is packaged with a cardboard box, and could make a nice gift.

While I didn’t mind the Pentel 120, the Mars micro was not to my taste. Drafting tools are supposed to be Staedtler’s turf, so I thought I would try something else from them. A little bit of research indicated that the 925 95 series is highly regarded, though sometimes tricky to find.

The inner workings of Staedtler Inc. aren’t known to me, but it’s clear that their division in Japan seems to produce some good stuff – like the 925 95.

The entire pencil, except for a plastic end-cap indicating lead diameter, is metal. A push advance drafting pencil, it is suitable for many tasks.

It is a ferocious and scary instrument. Never mind pocket-safe. It’s not safe, period. At 21g (approximately), with an untapered tip (as well as sleeve), it could be used for nefarious purposes.

The pencil has two special features: A lead degree indicator, and the capability to adjust the lead advance mechanism.

The lead degree indicator is okay, with the window changed by holding the metal cap portion, and rotating the plastic portion. But, if you ever find that you fiddle with the cap, the setting is easily lost.

The advance adjustment is a rotating ring below the cap. From the point of view of the cap, clockwise rotation causes the lead to be dispensed in decreasing amounts. The range seems to from about 1.5mm (counterclockwise extreme) to too small for me to measure (clockwise extreme). If you care about how much lead is advanced per click, you may like this feature.

The clip is looser than I might expect – though while clipping the pencil to documents, it was the easily removed cap that I feared might become lost.

The grip felt very comfortable to me. While always a personal preference, the 925 95 seems to offer a very nice fine milled knurl.

The weight is in the grip, and this somehow makes sense.

The best recommendation I have is to replace the default lead with the Lead Cup winning Ain. That really made the pencil excel, producing rich, dark lines.

So where can I get the 0.7mm version?

A recent trip to a local university provided a chance to visit their engineering supply store, where I picked up some Pentel 120 A3 DX drafting pencils. They were one of two brands sold, along with the competitor Staedtler Mars micro.

The pencils come in four versions, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 mm. While I have various 0.5 and 0.7 mm mechanical pencils, the thin 0.3 mm and thick 0.9 mm varieties aren’t familiar to me, and seemed like they would be fun to play around with.

The pencils have a metal tip, rubber grip, plastic body and cap, and metal clip. The lead is advanced by clicking the cap. The cap also lifts off to reveal a very tiny eraser.

The internal mechanisms have some variations – the length of lead dispensed by a click corresponds to the diameter of the lead, with a click of the 0.9 mm pencil dispensing the most lead, and the 0.3 mm pencil the least.

The grip looked like a seasonally appropriate winter tire to me, and I liked it. It was comfortable and grippable.

After a few days of trying them out, I think they are a nice set, and a reasonable and inexpensive introduction to the category.