Pen to Pencil Conversion Kits

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TonyL

TonyL

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Hi Folks:

A customer wants a pencil. I have never been thrilled with any of the mechanical pencils that hold the .7mm lead.

I was hoping that you can provide me with some kit recommendations or tell me what you think of the conversion kits that PSI recently introduced.

It can be designed to hold the larger diameter lead (2mm and greater).

Thank you for reading and sharing your experience. :smile:
 
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I don't know about 2mm lead, but I purchased a conversion kit for a stratus (I believe that these are .7mm) from PSI. I have only done one and for some reason if I wear the lead down real low (to the point it stops writing) or break the lead off, the first click will extend the lead but the lead will slide right back inside so I click it again and it works. After doing this many times (calculus homework) I just got into the habit of clicking it then pushing the lead back in and clicking it again. One of these days I am going to take the time to figure why it does it on only those times and why the first click doesn't hold but the next does. This is only the first one I have done and I have had other people tell me they are great. Personally I haven't had much luck with any of the .7mm kits from any supplier. I have only one of several that I have made and I use it all the time, but that is one from many. Now I haven't tried any other kit from any supplier except this conversion to stratus thing in years, so there may have been improvement in those pencil kits since then. Oh, and I should say that the conversion comes with this annoying little cap on the end to hold the lead in and it comes out pretty easily. I am sure I will drop it some day and the pencil will be worthless because this is also the part the clicker pushes on.
 
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Thank you both. I have not had much success with the Schmidt that came with LLz pencils. But thanks again!
 
I have the Vertex click pencil with 2 mill lead it work well but for me it needs sharpening where thinner lead does not, I also like the .9 mil Pentel. I bought the kit to drill and turn the Pentels and love them and it is easy to change the mechanism if the customer want a different size lead .5, .7 or .9. I used to use the .5 and the back of my desk was covered with lead shrapnel the .9 with stands my heavy hand better.
 
Tony,

My experience with the Schmidt 0.7 mm inserts has been much better than that with the 0.5 mm leads.

Have made several of the older PSI 2 mm pencils. The leads need sharpening and the users grew tired of the mess and abandoned use after a while. The clutches were a bit tempermental.

Thought about a re-clad of a pentel pencil?
 
I only use the Pentel mechanisms, with 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7 and 0.9mm the lead thicknesses covers most uses. They also offer a selection of lead hardness to satisfy most people. I use a homemade mandrel, no special drill bits except the one extra long aircraft bit and I believe I got it from Amazon.
 
I have the Vertex click pencil with 2 mill lead it work well but for me it needs
sharpening where thinner lead does not, I also like the .9 mil Pentel. I bought
the kit to drill and turn the Pentels and love them and it is easy to change the
mechanism if the customer want a different size lead .5, .7 or .9. I used to use
the .5 and the back of my desk was covered with lead shrapnel the .9 with stands
my heavy hand better.
Click to expand...

Thank you Craig. I have not tried the Pentels. Do you mind telling me where to find the kit to turn and drill them?

Tony,

My experience with the Schmidt 0.7 mm inserts has been much
better than that with the 0.5 mm leads.

Have made several of the older
PSI 2 mm pencils. The leads need sharpening and the users grew tired of the
mess and abandoned use after a while. The clutches were a bit tempermental.


Thought about a re-clad of a pentel pencil?
Click to expand...

Thank you Ken. I will look into the .7mm. It seems like I need to look into the re-clad Pentel's.


I use the 2mm and greater for golfers (they like to keep score with them) and shopguys.

And thank you Dogcatcher.
 
Tony, I got my kit from Chuck Key here on IAP, great service and quick delivery. The only thing I added was a jobber drill bit to do most of the drilling and use the stepped bit to finish the drilling.
 
Tony

My son uses a 7mm Perfect fit pencil, which he uses and abuses on a daily basis. This is his second one - a barrel cracked on the first one about the time the plating rubbed off. I also may have replaced the mechanism one time. He loves it and would probably like me to turn him a new one just for variety.
 
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