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That $40 set of drafting pencils I thought were a bargain ended up a total flop | Drafters - Talk Freely

That $40 set of drafting pencils I thought were a bargain ended up a total flop

I picked up a 12-pack of those no-name mechanical pencils from a discount office supply website last month, thinking I'd save some cash for my CAD markups. The first one snapped its lead tip on the second line I drew, and the third one just jammed up completely after a few uses. By day three, I had three broken pencils and a pile of frustration. Has anyone else had better luck with lower priced pencils or is it really worth sticking with the name brands like Rotring or Staedtler?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_piper5mo ago

Bought a similar cheap set once and the first one literally exploded graphite dust all over my shirt during a meeting, looked like I'd been in a fight with a tiny octopus. After that I just caved and got a single Rotring 600, which cost more than the whole multi-pack but has survived two years of me dropping it off my desk onto concrete. I am not saying you need to drop that much cash but those no-name bundles are basically gambling with frustration. For my money, one solid pencil that works beats twelve that don't.

norag665mo ago

Yeah but did that Rotring 600 ever actually snap a tip on you or just survive all those drops? I keep hearing people say they're tanks but also that the tip breaking is the real killer.

the_hugo5mo ago

and that little octopus fight line got me because I once had a cheap pencil pop its lead out mid-word during a note in a dentist's office, just sent this little black chunk skittering across the floor and I had to pretend I was checking my shoe for something. but you know what's funny, my rotring 600 actually did snap a tip once, but it was my own fault, I jammed it into a sharpener at a weird angle because I was half asleep and in a hurry. those no-name packs though, they have this weird thing where the eraser will just fall out after like two weeks, then you're stuck trying to write with a tiny naked metal plug on the end, it's a whole mess.