Re: Mechanical pencils

On Thu, 2 Feb 2012, The Real Bev wrote:

On 02/02/2012 01:46 PM, Jeff Jonas wrote:

I've tried several, but I don't seem to be able to find a mechanical
pencil using 0.5 mm lead that works for me ...
No matter how lightly I press while writing,
the lead usually quickly goes back into the pencil

By:
"No matter how lightly I press while writing,"
I mean press the pencil to the paper, not press the button.

Oh! Now I understand.
You're saying the pencil lead advances properly
but is not gripped securely enough for writing.
The lead retracts / slips-back while you write.

Without examining your pencil, I'm a bit at a loss to explain that.
I have many many mechanical pencils of all ages/vintages
and I never suffer that.

Are you sure the leads are 0.5mm?
Thinner leads will slip.
If you're using genuine brand-name leads such as Pentel,
then I can't explain that.
Dollar store leads are not made to the same quality.

The Pentels (the only ones I have) do that when you're down to the last half inch or so of lead -- the feed mechanism is further up the barrel. Pull out the old lead and keep clicking until the new lead appears.

I think that's pretty standard. I don't routinely use them, though I guess I did in high school, and there's always a time when that happens, and yes, it's the lead getting too small. It's one of those times when being frugal doesn't work, you need to have proper length lead. I've never had any expensive mechanical pencils, but all the ones I've had acted the same way.

Michael

.

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