I still have my old England Eagle Turquoise 10 lead holders. They hold 2 mm lead I believe, and have a clutch mechanism. You push the button on top and the lead frees up so you can slide it in and out. I used them for drafting mainly. You can put in any hardness of lead you want. To sharpen them I used one of these: That's a Frederick Post Cast Iron Drafting Pencil Sharpener Model 1099 #12. You put the pen in and turn the top around. I don't have one of those anymore so I use a cheaper plastic model something like this: Faber Castell still makes a clutch pencil for around 11 bucks. Clutch pencil TK 9400 2mm 0H (#139420)
I found another. You can read this article Best Mechanical Pencils: Top 10 on WoWPencils and do conclusions. I use Zebra DelGuard and I like it. What do u think?
I'd go with the Staedtler, I've used those. But note it needs a pointer (sharpener). That's one reason I like theses types of pens, you can sharpen them to a point or use sandpaper and flatten one side..
I'm a fan of the pacer pencil that way you don't need a sharpener. However, In my drawing class we have to have a range of greylead pencils. you know 2b - 8h
I only use mechanical pencils for light outlines before I go to work with my heavier pencils, so the ones I use aren't anything special; just whatever is cheap at Walmart. For the refined art over the initial mech pencil outlines I use Wolfe's carbon pencils exclusively. They're by far the best and the come in B, 2B, 4B and 6B (hardest to softest). They're easier to sharpen than charcoal and far smoother.
