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Comment by leonidv | Hacker News Reader

I have a box of 120 Blackwing pencils of all types. They look nice, expensive, but a bad tool.

(review -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CrD5KRnuLnh/?img_index=2&igsh=cD... )

They are not suitable for fine drawing (too waxy and soft) - those are either STAEDTLER, FaberCastell, or Tombow (Japanese brand).

The fancy tip eraser is also not very useful. The metal around it is so soft, it can't hold any pressure. Also extremely not child friendly, as the small metal part inside just fells out.

Tombow Mono - de-facto standard eraser.

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They're not really targeted at artists but for writing and taking notes. In my opinion, they have a nice smooth feel and work well for this purpose. But they're on the expensive side, so if you don't care about the looks, there are many other—wallet-friendly—options out there!

The eraser is infamous for being terrible. But it looks cool.

What does a pencil have over a mechanical pencil? Mechanical pencils never need sharpening, infinite supply of lead of various type and and they seem more environmentally friendly (assuming you keep using the same for many years).

In my experience, mechanical pencil tips broke too easily. I've had cheap wooden pencils where it felt that the let was shattered inside which meant the sharpened tip kept falling out. That's how I felt about pretty much every mechanical pencil.

The main thing that helps with lead breakage is a mechanical pencil with a sliding nose cone/tip. Even finer lead becomes fairly reliable as long as it is protected against sideways pressure. My personal favorite is the Kuru Toga Advance 0.3mm, though a larger lead size and a model purpose-built for break-resistance would be better if tip breakage is the main concern.

About a decade ago I bought a metal mechanical pencil (rotring 800, 0.5mm). Best pencil I’ve ever owned. It will last so long I’ll leave it to my children.

Was it actually $60?

Yes something like that (around 50€)

Try the Zebra DelGuard mechanical pencil - they have a sophisticated system protection the lead, with springs and whatnot - even in 0.3 mm version, it is actually quite hard to break the tip of the lead, even intentionally.

You assume that drawing is 'all fine line', it is not. People who draw with pencils often use the 'side' to create feathered areas.

If you draw then woodcase pencils are far easier to configure into different strokes, widths, tip lengths etc

Wooden pencils are available in softer cores that have a very different feel from mechanical pencil leads. A 0.7mm 2B or 4B lead will break easily, so they're polymer-infused, and will feel very different (slippery?) compared a regular 4B graphite + clay core.

2mm mechanical pencils are more versatile that way, but also generally heavier, unless it's something like a Faber-Castell TK9400 or Kitaboshi Otona no Enpitsu.

Even the Blackwing sharpeners are not that great. A pencil plane works just fine for almost all pencil sharpening I've ever needed to do and making your own isn't very hard.

I also enjoy my Blackwings, though my normal pencil of choice is the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni HB, which is cheaper than the Blackwing but is still an awesome pencil. I think my supply of pencils will last at least a decade. I take a lot of handwritten notes when doing research, and I prefer pencil over pen when working in computer science and math.

This. When in Japan for work, I always buy a couple of boxes of Hi-Unis (mostly 2H for me, HB for the kids)

I started using them a couple of decades ago, but things escalated once my kids started school, seeing as I just sent them off with a couple of Hi-Unis.

Teacher noted she hardly ever had to help my kids sharpen their pencils, wondered why, asked me if I could get her those for the entire class...

Next thing I knew, I peddle in the pencil business - currently bringing in ~240 pencils a year...

(The lead is nigh on unbreakable, and it holds its point very well.)

I don't know, they've always seemed nice to draw with.

These pencils are sort of an “industry standard” for folks who write (or annotate) music because you can be fast with low effort due to their softness. And also easy to erase since you didn’t damage the paper, there’s no need to press hard to leave the mark

Terrible tool for drawing possibly; but among musicians they are widely considered the standard for marking scores. There’s always a Blackwing on my stand.

I consider them terrible for drawing but excellent for taking handwritten notes that will scan well.

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