It sounds as though it would be uncomfortable and scratchy to write with, but the cone is smooth and rounded so it doesn't catch the paper. The result is that the lead will wear down until it reaches this cone, but then won't go further. A spring inside pushes it back, feeding some lead back down with it. When the lead wears down enough that the cone touches the paper, the cone is pushed back up a little way. Normally, you'd have to make sure you clicked out more lead before it wore down enough to reach the supporting tube or cone, but not with an auto-feed pencil. There is a (usually) plastic cone around the lead. The way these work can be a little unexpected, as you need to write with almost no lead visible at all. Some pencils don't make you stop at all to extend more lead, at least until you reach the end of a stick of lead and have to click the next one through. It's perfectly possible to love them all! A wooden pencil can make a wider range of marks, and has a certain simplicity that mechanical pencils can't match. Not that we have anything against other types of pencils - we have lots of clutch pencils, and a huge range of woodcased pencils here at Cult Pens, and they're all ideal tools for someone. Mechanical pencils can vary hugely in how they look - some look like technical tools, some look like luxury goods, and some look like simple plastic-bodied pencils. Given that the leads usually come packaged in plastic boxes, though, it's not a simple calculation to know which is better, but there's a lot to be said for a single tool you can use for years. It can be argued that mechanical pencils are the more environmentally friendly option, if you use one for a long time. You don't throw away stubs, you just keep putting more leads in. It's not hugely important to everyone, but some artists find this makes a big difference for them. ![]() Mechanical pencils don't change as you use the lead. As a wooden pencil gets shorter, the balance changes. With a mechanical pencil, the line says the same, so it's a more predictable tool. As soon as you've written a bit, the line gets thicker and thicker. When a woodcased pencil is freshly sharpened, it writes a very thin line. Not only does it save time and effort, but sharpening can be messy. If the lead is thin enough, you don't need to keep sharpening it - just keep writing or drawing. There are some good reasons why you might prefer a mechanical pencil over a woodcased pencil. Modern thin leads are based on high-polymer organic materials that can take much more force without breaking, and they're getting better all the time. ![]() ![]() Thinner lead wasn't possible with the traditional mix of graphite and clay, as it was too brittle. Tokuji Hayakawa made the 'Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil', which was a huge success, and his company took the name of the pencil, and became 'Sharp' - the electronics company we know today. The need to write intricate characters meant Japan had a greater incentive to make thinner leads, which lead to the birth of the modern mechanical pencil there. ![]() It's rather fiddly to adjust, because there's no spring mechanism, but the basic elements of a clutch pencil are all there.įor many years, push-fit lead around 1.18mm in width was most common, with a twist mechanism that wound the lead down like a screw as it was used, and pencils were often decorated with ornate designs in sterling silver. If you want to be really traditional, Cleo Scribent make a replica, called Der Gessner. The first description of a leadholder was by Conrad Gessner, back in 1565. When things started to progress towards the pencil, the first attempts involved wooden holders to grip sticks of graphite, so they could be used more easily and cleanly. Graphite was first used in lumps, with perhaps a bit of cloth wrapped around to hold it. The first pencils were more like modern clutch pencils than what we now think of as 'normal' wooden pencils.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |