Mechanical pencil with heart and soul

I recently chanced upn an opinion piece from The New Yorker, written in 2012 by former staffer Mary Norris, about her pursuit of the perfect pencil.

While ultimately she landed upon the Palimino Blackwing, which is a wonderful pencil, she made a statement in her piece that has set me back:  "Someone at the office suggested I try a mechanical pencil, but I found it soulless."

I am sure that there are plenty of pencils in this world, not to mention mechanical pencils, that are difficult to find a personal connection with.  That said, I am saddened by such a blanket statement.  Who would say such a thing about a pencil?

To Mary Norris, author of My Life in Pencils, if you are ever googling yourself and happen upon this, I would like to introduce you to my pencil soul mate.  It is a mechanical pencil.  It is the Alvin Draftmatic.

I have written many thousands of pages with an Alvin Draftmatic, so I know it well.  I prefer a bold line, so I use a 0.9mm lead, and I change out my lead based upon the weather conditions and the type of the paper I am writing on. 

The Alvin Draftmatic has many fine qualities:

It is the exact proper weight, size and dimension for my hand.

The plastic barrel warms slightly while being used and feels like an extension of my mind, not a tool.

The knurling is perfectly milled and does not cause calluses on my fingers, even with extensive use for days (or weeks, or months) on end.

The clip is easy to remove (I don't want a clip on my pencil at all).

If the paper is right, I am using a good wooden clipboard, I am comfortably seated, and I have the proper lead, I can write for hours in complete joy without hand fatigue.

I trust this pencil.  I have used it for years and it has not failed.  The mechanism has not broken.  The pencil is solid, sturdy and dependable.

Finally, it is a pleasure to write with.

In my view, that is the making of a pencil soul mate.

Not all mechanical pencils are created equal.  The Alvin Draftmatic is a mechanical pencil with heart and soul.

Unplug for Earth Day challenge: pick up a pencil

My dear friend Mark has told me countless time that true "environmentalists" use computers for writing because it saves paper.

There is some legitimate and expert accounting that could be done to measure the impact of writing with a pencil and paper versus writing with a computer.  A life-cycle analysis of the raw materials needed and pollution emitted from the manufacture, transport and end-of-life processing for the tools of the trade:  laptops, pencil leads, the paper itself, and the energy needed to run computers, factories for making computers, paper, pencils and lead, and recycling systems. 

This is not such an accounting of the costs and benefits (and externalities) of keyboarding vs. longhand writing.  This is about feeling grounded and breaking a task (or joy) down to the basic elements of written communication.

In invite you to pick up a pencil. (Mark, please just entertain me here.)

[For full disclosure, and to be kind to the earth, I am writing this on 100% recycled paper and I am reusing paper that has something printed on the other side that I no longer need].

Your pencil was designed, through a deliberative process over centuries, to write well and feel comfortable in your hand.  If you are accustomed to keyboarding, extended writing may feel tiresome.  If it causes your hand to cramp, you are holding your pencil too tight.  Relax.

Step away from your computer and your desk.  Grab a clipboard or a large book for a writing surface.  Lean back against a mossy hill and enjoy the relaxed posuture that is impossible sitting at a desk.

The tools of writing are now conforming to your body.   Your mind can now disconnect from the rules of grammar and spelling that impeded the flow of thoughts on most computer typing interfaces.  You can always clean it up anyway on a second pass or during transcription to a computer.

Before you know it, you may prefer this too much to turn to the keyboard first.

My pencil case; a cradle for every pencil

When you love your pencils like I do, you can't have them rattling around in the bottom of your handbag, or worse yet, left at home in a pencil cup.

A pencil case that gently cradles each pencil so they don't roll off a table top.  It will also prevent pencils from getting lost, as an empty sleeve means that you still need to put your pencil away.

In my pencil case, I keep 2 mechanical pencils.  Right now it is loaded with an Alvin Draftmatic 0.9mm with 2B lead and a Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic 0.9mm with HB lead.  (2B lead is for writing on rainy days and HB lead is for using on sunny days).

I also have a stick eraser.  This is because I would never use the eraser that is included on the end of my pencil, except in emergencies and under dire circumstances.  An eraser isn't really necessary, but its a little extra just to make me feel special and prepared for anything.

The fourth slot in my pencil case is for lead.  I don't use the barrel of my pencil to store extra lead for several reasons.  Extra lead makes a rattling noise inside the pencil that sends me to distraction when writing.  Lead can get jammed in there, potentially leading to anxiety.  Also, I prefer to load my lead down the front of the tube at the writing end (I'm a muzzle loader), and not through the breach, so I don't even want to pull the cap off the end of my pencil...ever.

If you tape two packages of lead (Pentel Super High Polymer 15 pcs) end to end, it fits nicely in my pencil case.  When I need to refill my pencil, I have the lead right there.

My pencil case, shown here, is an Aston Leather Finger Style Quad Pen Case.  It comes in several colors, and I have it in tan.  I have been using this pencil case for several years and I have nothing but positive things to say about it.

A case against clips on pencils

Why do most (read: all) mechanical pencils come with some sort of clip?  Is this to attach the pencil to a sheet of paper?  To clip the pencil to a shirt pocket?  To keep the pencil from rolling off a desk?

The clip on a pencil is an irritant.  It rubs against my hand while writing and causes chafing.  Irritation and chafing are not qualities that I enjoy in a pencil.

I recently received the pictured Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic 0.9mm pencil after a glowing recommendation from an acquaintance who delightfully was in to pencils.  The first step to preparing the pencil for use was removing that nasty clip.  I must confess that it was really hard to get the clip off.  I needed to use a pair of vice grips, a flat-head screw driver and needle-nose pliers to pry the clip off, and I damaged the pencil (see below). 

 Maybe there is a better way to get clips off of pencils.  If you know a better way, please leave a comment.

In the meantime ...

Dear pencil designers and manufacturers,

I lovingly request that you consider making pencils without clips.  I do not use a pencil as a paperclip.  I do not keep my pencil in my shirt pocket.  The worry of a pencil rolling off the top of a table is not nearly as problematic as the chafing that comes from longhand writing with a clip rubbing against my hand. 

Thank you!

Lead sweet spot

There is a sweet spot that I look for when it comes to choosing which lead I will load into my pencil.

It starts with a look outdoors.  Is the sun shining?  Is it raining even the slightest bit?  Does the air feel crisp or damp?

The humidity will affect the amount of moisture in the paper, which changes the paper's texture.  In my opinion, this is the most important factor when selecting a lead.

Most often I write with 2B lead.

In Delaware, where it is humid most of the time and rains often, even a cheap coarse paper (like a 30% recycled content computer paper from Staples) will absorb enough moisture as to affect my pencil's performance.

Humidity will change the feedback that the pencil gives as it  marks the paper.  This sensation is one appreciated by the sound of the pencil's scratch, the vibrations at my fingertips, and the sharp tap of the lead as I dot an "i" or use punctuation.

If the air is dry and the paper is similarly cheap I lean towards an HB lead, which performs quite like the 2B on damp days.  A dry, crisp, coarse sheet of paper is ideal for that coveted hand-feel and sound that I look forward to in my longhand pencil writing with HB lead.

Things get complicated when the paper is finer.  Smooth, high quality paper (even if 100% recycled content) feels slicker, prompting me to choose 2B lead if the paper is well made, even on dry days.

Choosing a lead is an individual preference, but my sweet spot ranges from 2B to HB depending on the paper's quality and the humidity.  Happy writing.