Comments on: Alvin Draftmatics

By: Benjamen Johnson

Benjamen Johnson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:43:54 +0000

I like to use mechanical pencils in the shop, but you have to know their limitations like they don’t work well for soft/rough stock, but seem to be fine for oak, other hardwood trim plastics and paper — I’m always jotting things down, sketching and doing calculations, using a carpenter’s pencil for that drives me crazy.

I still keep other pencils around for when the mechanical one doesn’t work well, but I like having a nice fine point. I personally like the Zebra M-301 — cheap and I like the grip.

By: Mrten

Mrten — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:02:49 +0000

These fixed-width pencils are great for woodworking (and all kinds of home improvement), no need to ever sharpen your pencil, just push the button. That being said, you should really go for the cheap plastic versions that retail for $0.60 or less (Bic matic is one), then you needn’t worry about the refills either.

By: johnnyp

johnnyp — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:05:34 +0000

I own about 20 of these style pencils and haven’t used them in about 20 yrs. They are sitting in a brief case along with templates, lettering guides and various other
outdated drafting tools. If I remember correctly these pencils were not even used for formal drawings they were relegated to note taking ,calcs & basic layout w/blue lead(blue is not reproducible on an old ammonia copier) on mylar and finished in ink No two pencil and a fine small file is the way to go when working with wood just dont get any filings on your work

By: heywood

heywood — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:27:04 +0000

I have a couple of these in .7 mm thickness. They are great, but I also almost never work with wood at work.

By: eric

eric — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:31:49 +0000

I would stay away from mechanical pencils that have the thin metal tube at the end, especially if it doesn’t retract with the lead, once it’s bent the pencil is useless. Personally I like these in the shop, http://www.reuels.com/reuels/Sumo_Grip_9mm_Pencil_Clear.html

By: Cybergibbons

Cybergibbons — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:48:39 +0000

Useless for wood, I agree. I used to carry a very similar mechanical pencil for writing in my notebook when I worked on ships. I’d always find that ball points stopped working with oil and sweat, yet a mechanical pencil always worked. I also can’t do maths when I use a pen…

By: jeffrey immer

jeffrey immer — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:20:42 +0000

for starters mechanical pencils are horrible for marking wood, unless it like ac plywood, plus drafting pencils in my experience are horribly uncomfortable to write with unless you use proper drafting techinque, i did hand drafting for 8 years