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Bitten by yet another collecting 'bug'

This time it's mechanical pencils. What triggered this latest 'bout of collecting frenzy is the various mechanical pencils I inherited from my father and father-in-law. Of course, once bitten I had to add to the collection where I had leads but no pencil to use them :wink2:

Here are some newly discovered pencils from clearing out mom's house as well as one or two that came through Amazon or eBay -

Berol Automatic TL5 mechanial pencil.jpg

Pentel Sharplet-2 mechanical pencil.jpg

Red and Blue Autopoint mechanical pencil.jpg

And of course, with all these mechanical pencils milling about I had to make a 'holding pen' for them. So, being a cigar box addict I decided to fashion a storage box for the pencils from an old box -

Cigar boxed mechanical pencil collection.jpg

I pulled the wooden side slats out of another cigar box and used a Dremel tool with a cutter bit to make the indents to rest the pencils in.

And, I figured what's good for storing my mechanical pencils is good for my small but growing fountain pen collection -
Cigar boxed fountain pen collection.jpg


Tim
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Great pics. I had a pental like photo #2 years ago that was always a favorite. Thanks for sharing the collection and great idea on the box holder.
 
I also came across an old Muriel Cigars box that I remember from my childhood so I am using that to store all my pencil leads -
Dad's old cigar box.jpg

Pencil Leads.jpg


And I am using a more modern Altoids tin to store my erasures -
Pencil Erasures.jpg


Tim
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Good idea. My issue with using cigar boxes is struggling to put one type of thing in it and not making it a collection of unrelated junk. I’m generally a bad organizer anyway. You give me hope 😁
 
I haven't set out to collect mechanical pencils, but as with a number of other things, I've accumulated more that I can strictly use.

Most of the pencils below use approximately 1.15 mm leads. With the older ones, it was the equivalent 0.46 inch size. All but the Esterbrook are twist action.

Top, an Esterbrook, click action.

Bottom, L-R, a vintage Autopoint. Three Scripto style pencils, one by Wearever, one by Skilcraft, one branded Scripto. Two Parkers, both using 0.9 mm leads. No name "made in Japan" pencil. A discontinued Retro 51 mini pencil (the whole brand is now being discontinued). The shiny black coating was flaking badly, so I put a piece of heat shrink over it. A keychain sized pencil with no maker's name, temporarily removed from the keychain. I keep a red lead in it since I would hardly ever use it anyway.
esterpencil.jpg
Pencils1.jpg
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
I haven't set out to collect mechanical pencils, but as with a number of other things, I've accumulated more that I can strictly use.

Most of the pencils below use approximately 1.15 mm leads. With the older ones, it was the equivalent 0.46 inch size. All but the Esterbrook are twist action.

Top, an Esterbrook, click action.

Bottom, L-R, a vintage Autopoint. Three Scripto style pencils, one by Wearever, one by Skilcraft, one branded Scripto. Two Parkers, both using 0.9 mm leads. No name "made in Japan" pencil. A discontinued Retro 51 mini pencil (the whole brand is now being discontinued). The shiny black coating was flaking badly, so I put a piece of heat shrink over it. A keychain sized pencil with no maker's name, temporarily removed from the keychain. I keep a red lead in it since I would hardly ever use it anyway.
View attachment 1229768View attachment 1229770
Great “collection “
I understand the concept of having several items that is essentially an unintended collection too.
 
Awesome (unintended) collection. I must say, my favorite is the keychain pencil. Definitely unique and cool! :cool:

Tim
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
mechanical pencils.
1614552812097.png


That one looks exactly like one I've had since the early 80s ... except mine doesn't have any of the silver printing down the side ... but otherwise looks almost identical (apart from the sliver/chrome bits at the ends showing a lot more wear.)
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Ooh, I really like the look of that pencil on top. The brushed appearance of the black body and silver tip reminds me of a LAMY 2000 fountain pen I have. Do tell me more about that pencil you have there. :em2200:

Tim

LAMY 2000 mechanical pencil.

1614566290562.png
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Wow, I have a good eye! But, too pricey for me given the fact I have all these awesome new (to me) pencils to begin using.

Tim

I like mine; I've had it for years and years now and have no recollection of how much I paid for it.

Jetpens wanst $55 for it. JetPens.com - LAMY 2000 Mechanical Pencil - Black - 0.5 mm - https://www.jetpens.com/LAMY-2000-Mechanical-Pencil-Black-0.5-mm/pd/19944

I remember buying it on recommendations, as I was looking for a "thicker" mech pencil as the ones I had were too thin for my liking. It fits the bill ... but I am "meh" on the "2000" styling, so it basically convinced me to not consider getting a LAMY 2000 fountain pen.
 
I remember Berol being popular. I was very young at the time, late 80s/early 90s, but I clearly remember it being considered about the same, if not better than the Pentel it competed against

I recently started carrying a Pentel I found at work the other day, so great thread. Of course it's that classic yellow, too

How to date these things? They have looked and been identical for millennia it seems lol
 
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