Know of any good pencil kits?

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texaswoodworker

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Does anyone know of any good pencil kits that actually work? I used to mess around with the slimline mech pencil kits, but they left a sour taste in my mouth.

What's I'm wanting is a quality mechanism that is durable, smooth, and can use 0.9mm (preferably) or 0.7mm lead. Any ideas where I could find such a rare thing :p

Heck, I'd even consider doing a no kit build if the mechanism is good enough. I'm just tired of the cheap junk from the store.

Thanks!
 
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IAP member Chuck_Key sells all the tools you'd need to refurbish a Pentel click pencil.

His website: LINK

Example of one I dressed up in cocobolo:

cocobolo-pentel.jpg
 
The Perfect Fit kit has a reliable pencil available for it. It is a Berea kit available from them or Exotics and I'm sure others as well. You do have to purchase the pencil mechanism separately.
 
0.9 mm, pentel is your route

0.7 or 0.5, pentel or schmidt inserts work. I like the perfect fit convertable as the best of both ball point or pencil. Very smooth.
 
Be careful with the Perfect Fit pen/pencil kits. It is a very nice kit but the bushings are VERY sloppy and will give you a fit. Just my 2 cents .... Exotic Blanks sells pencil inserts that will fit many Parker style kits.
 
(1) I have used and like these :

Cwalker935 said:
I recently bought this and it works fine in a cigar kit:

Bear Tooth Woods - Parker Style Pencil Mechanism - 0.7mm

I do not have experience with how it holds up over time. It comes in either .5mm or .7mm.
Click to expand...

(2) The PSI Vertex Click pen kit comes in a pencil version now.

You can also buy a conversion kit to convert the pen kit to a pencil. I have used these and like them very much.

(3) If your need for a pencil kit includes an artist's sketch pencil (2mm lead) the best one I have found is the one that Dayacom makes but I do not know of a US vendor for this pencil kit. . I buy mine from a Canadian supplier and I can give you the website address if you PM me. . However, this company does not ship to the US ... I would have to buy them and reship them to you. I like this pencil very much.
 
Thanks fellas, it looks like I have some looking to do. I already have a few ideas.
:D

I also realized that I actually have some mechanical pencils with mechanisms similar to the ones that Richard Greenwald sells. They're from a Zebra M301. They're only 0.5mm, but the tip is actually pretty good about not letting the lead break. If feels like a pretty good mechanism. The pencil itself it too thin for me though. I might have to do a little experimenting with kitless builds this weekend. :D
 
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I have made several of the new PSI 2MM mechanical pencils. I work with a bunch of stressed out programmers, and everyone loves them. We just cant use the .5 or .7 mm lead. Never tried .9 though.

The worst thing is dealing with keeping the tip sharp. Gave up on the built in sharpener, and back to the old school draftsman way to refresh the tip. YMMV
 
OK, I have some click pens ordered that I think will look nice with the wood I have picked out (PSI Compson). I wanted .9mm pencil mechanisms like the Schmidt, But I noticed it said that it will take a lot of modifications to make it work in a pen. Exactly how hard would that be? Would it be as easy as drilling through the tip to widen the hole, or am I going to have the be a machinist to get it done?
 
campzeke said:
Be careful with the Perfect Fit pen/pencil kits. It is a very nice kit but the bushings are VERY sloppy and will give you a fit. Just my 2 cents .... Exotic Blanks sells pencil inserts that will fit many Parker style kits.
Click to expand...

The perfect fit is likely one of my favourite pens. I really like the feel of the transmission. If I am doing a pen pencil set this is my goto. bushings to me are a guide to get me close. I use calipers for all my kits for final size. The bushings get me close and a little sanding puts me spot on.

The first pencils I did were with the cigar kits and gave a bunch to relatives that use them and there have been no complaints so I can only guess they are ok as well.
 
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