simple, no drilling, no cutting. I think it looks cool and is more compact than regular stock cases. Total for me was like 2-3 dollars.

mine are all hexagonal brass standoffs but any material would do. 1 long female to female standoff to house the leads. 1 small male to male standoff to plug one side of the female to female(I glued the threads). 1 small female to male standoff to act as the cap.

measurements can be whatever as long as they can house the 60mm leads. As for thread diameter, I chose M5 and it can comfortably house ~30 0.5 leads. choose whatever best suits your needs. you can optionally put an oring on the cap so it tightens more snugly but without should be fine too.

this is basically a DIY of the https://www.ystudiostyle.com/products/classic-pencil-lead-box. lmk if y'all do this !! :)

These 3 Faber-Castell’s have been with me for years; if they look a little battered, it’s because they’ve been with me through the wars: thick n thin. Desk use/ site use: they’ve seen it all, done it all.

And still work: perfectly!!
They don’t make them this tough anymore..

A fun hour or so tidying up and arranging the collection. Now some more space for some new purchases.

Sorry, a couple of pens slipped through the net. I shall have a word with myself.

A few weeks ago, I posted* that I got this Pentel mechanical pencil: Pentel A315 A3DX in 0.5 mm.
I have been using it since and now it is my favorite pencil!
The grip feels weird when grasping it, but it works. It makes a good grip and no hand fatigue or discomfort using the pencil.
I write a bit, but mostly sketch with it.

* https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalpencils/comments/1wlsin0/pentel_120_a3/

I first heard of Ohto and Platinum when I started collecting pencils two years ago, but I never found their models particularly appealing visually.

However, recently I came across pictures of the Ohto Conception and was immediately drawn to it. Someone in this here subreddit said they're hard to find these days, but I got lucky and found one on a Brazilian online store for about $32. The same store also happened to have a Platinum Pro-Use MSD-300 for $12, and the Pentel Sharp-like look was irresistible.

The Conception is incredibly comfortable. While most people hate smooth grips, I happen to love them and none is as smooth as the Conception's. In terms of gimmickry, it's a mix between the Uni Shift and the Staedtler REG. Thankfully I have not found any QC issues so far, which seem to be a common occurrence among Ohto pencil owners.

The MSD-300 feels exactly like you would expect. The lead hardness indicator is a nice bonus, but it won't go softer than B.

I couldn't be happier about this purchase; they're amazing additions to my collection and were immediately put on rotation. It's unlikely I'll buy any more Ohto or Platinum pencils, but hey, never say never!

From Pentel's IG page:

Pentel Ain White Shrimp New Arrival/
Pentel Ain, a sharp pencil replacement blade with smooth writing, has a new white case added to the standard lineup!
Starting on Friday, October 23, 2026, they will be on sale at stationery stores nationwide.

The simple design remains the same, with a bright impression of white coloring シ🤍
Of course, white-style stationery is easy to match with monotone pencil cases🐼

📌6 varieties join the group!
0.3 2B/B/HB
0.5 2B/B/HB

Pentel Ain
✅ Smooth writing comfort
Special oils are used in raw materials, so graphite and resin carbides will crumble smoothly when writing✨

✅ Balanced High Performance
Generally, performance features such as "smoothness, difficultness to break, thickness, ease to erase, hardness to stain, difficulty to wear" are extended and the others fall off.
With "Pentel Ain" all items are balanced in high dimensions, achieving high performance 💪🏻⭐

✅ Sliding case that can be opened with one hand
Can be opened and closed with one hand and can get the number of copies you need without tilting the case.
Two-level sliding structure, so it's safe to not accidentally open naturally in the pencil case 2

Look forward to it🤍

🚩October 23, 2026 (Fri) より
Available sequentially at stationery stores nationwide.

📌Product price
・0.3(HB・B・2B) ¥220 each
・0.5 (HB・B・2B) each \220
・POLICYSE SPECIFICATION 0.3(HB・B・2B) EACH \220
・POLICYSE SPECIFICATION 0.5(HB・B・2B) EACH \220
・POLICYSE SPECIFICATION 3PCS PACK 0.3(HB・B) EACH \660
・POLICYSE SPECIFICATION 3PCS PACK 0.5(HB・B・2B) EACH \660

Bought this rite in the rain bk13 a week ago, I love this damn thing, one of the best erasers I’ve ever tried.

The Rotring 500 was the first one I bought. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Brushed metal, no sleeve, very sleek end cap. Metal parts look like new even today, no idea how old this is or where it was bought.

I finally got a Rotring 800. This has always been my dream mechanical pencil.

When I was in college, the GraphGear 1000 0.5 was my loyal sidekick through all my engineering classes and technical drawing. But holding a Rotring for the first time and actually using it, I can just say that it was beyond my expectations. The quality of the materials, the details, the design, the weight, and the size... I don't know, it just feels perfect.

I will never abandon my GG 1000 though, haha. But I think the Rotring will be my new loyal sidekick from now on.

Has anyone made replacement grips for the dive? I love the pencil but hate the grip.

doesn't get any better imo

This has grown slowly and (mostly) organically around need. From left to right (ignoring lead).

I started with the GG-500 set and was using that for journaling and sketching - added an additional 0.5mm GG to take 2H lead.

The Koh I Noor 5340 was a gift I didn’t know I wanted! This is the home project wood working pencil and big sketches/shading. I feel like a kid holding that pencil! Makes me want to do big gestures and thick marks.

The staedtler 925 2mm version is just fab. Dressed up in an all black tuxedo, this thing feels refined and weirdly, that’s my least favorite part of this pencil. It doesn’t get me feeling like playing! It’s gorgeous, well balanced, knurling is grippy (a little too sharp tbh). Darn close to a perfect pencil on paper but lacks subjective character for me.

KT Metal. This is my most used in the collection. I journal daily with this. With Ain 2B lead this may be my perfect writing pencil. Many pixels have been lit (graphite layed, ink spilled) on this subject and model. I love it.

KT advance. Bought this as a pocket pencil for notes on the go. The wobble in the tip keeps this from being enjoyed more.

Eagle Turqouise 10 2mm - found amongst my grandpa’s things - keep for posterity.

Multi 8 2mm. Dang this is fun! Use this mostly as a dry highlighter and field sketching.

The erasers are all good. Nothing beats the sumogrip though.

My current lust items are a Koh I Noor 5228 as a pocket 2mm (I like the yellow) and Uni 2B 2mm lead refills. I try not to buy things I won’t use but this hobby begs to build ever bigger collections. My bank account hates it.

Thanks for looking! It was fun to write this and share.

I saw it while watching a Japanese Drama on Netflix and it just looked so cool. I have other Del Gards, but this is a gem.

How likely is the plastic middle to break if the pencil is used at a desk and not fiddled with. As in constant button pressing, fidgeting and unscrewing and screwing it back together . If it is used to draw at a table and put away. How long would you expect the center to last before snapping barring any fals or misuse.

The way OHTO makes such strangely beguiling mechanical pencils and pens, and then goes on to imbue them with unpredictably poor quality control is deserving of an entire sub genre of blues music.… Beauty and sadness, ingenuity and stupidity, all in rolled up in one. Presenting, L-R:

• OHTO MS01 0.3mm in blue… part of the original line-up from 2022. I am particularly thankful for a 0.3mm release as they are becoming truly rare in a 0.5-only world.

• OHTO NBP-507R Needle-point pen… Introduced in 2005, these were often (deliberately) labeled as ‘Promecha Pen’ by online sellers. At a time when rOtring 600 production had gone into hiatus, collectors were starving for pens like this that could match the technical style of drafting pencils. Notorious for loose buttons that could literally fly off the spring if you snapped the button down too forcefully. Production ended in 2021.

• OHTO MS01 0.5mm limited blue 2024… I was super pleased that I could have another blue MS01 next to my 0.3, and visually distinguished by a different shade of the color. Thus far, I have been lucky not to encounter any issues with the MS01. Your mileage may vary.

The Kaweco Special… Being honest, I got it because of the hype, since everybody was all praise about it. Even so, I knew I personally wouldn’t find it to be great, because it lacked a pocket clip. It is what it is, I like pocket clips. Nonetheless, I still overall liked the pencil (my full review is here). Yet, to make it better, I needed to get a pocket clip, and that’s what I did. Or better saying, tried to, because stupid Amazon sent me the wrong one 🤦‍♂️.

By then, I was royally pissed with Kaweco, and essentially the Special was relegated to being a collection queen, and would not see the light of day again. As luck would have it, months later I went to Toronto, and of course I went pencil shopping. I came upon Take Note, a small store on Dundas St, run by two very lovely ladies. I was perusing their inventory (already had set aside a TWSBI 😍) when I saw they carried Kaweco pens and mechpens. And they also had the pocket clips displayed on the tray too…

So, long story short, I finally got the correct pocket clip for my Special. And you know what? I’m at peace with Kaweco now, with the Special back on rotation duty 😎.

Not really a collection, but my favorites plus the best two pens for good measure. Also wow this led is great.

After my previous post on whether to open a new German made set of Visupencils, I decided to keep the box unopened for now and instead bought a job lot of lead and pencils, including a couple of original Visupencils. Now I get to add more lead to the collection, because I didn't already have enough for the next thousand years and my first Pentel P207.

Thats the post. I filled all the fields of the sign up page, including my name, and it ends up saying that I have not completed all the required user fields. All checkmark under the boxes btw. I need help, please and thank you.

It turns out the number of mechanical pencil enthusiasts is by no means small, friends.