Orientation / Read First

A way in, if you're new to this.

You don't need to already own pencils to browse the archive. This page covers the vocabulary you'll meet, how the collection is arranged, and where to point yourself first. No prior knowledge assumed; no hand-holding either.

Go to the Collection See the Vignettes

Fig. 0 — Orientation sheet

What you're looking at

A mechanical pencil holds a thin lead that advances by a mechanism rather than by sharpening. That's the whole category. The 1,700 pieces here span 1965 to 2020 — a single collector's run kept in one five-drawer flat file in Wexford. It is an archive, not a shop; nothing on these pages is for sale.

If a term below is new to you, that's expected. I've kept the vocabulary to what you'll actually need to read an entry. Everything else you can pick up by browsing.

The words you'll meet

Mechanism: How the lead advances. The three you'll see most: push-button (click the top, lead feeds out), twist (rotate the barrel or cap), and shaker (a weighted bump advances the lead when you flick your wrist). The Collection can be filtered by mechanism.
Lead gauge: The lead diameter, in millimetres. 0.5 mm is the common line; 0.3 mm is fine and less forgiving; 0.7 mm and above are the sturdier drafting sizes. It is a measurement, not a quality — a coarse lead is not a lesser pencil.
Sleeve: The metal tube the lead passes through at the tip. A long fixed sleeve is a drafting trait, meant to clear a ruler's edge. A retractable or sliding sleeve is built for the pocket.
Knurl: The crosshatched texture on the grip, cut for purchase. Whether it's cut into metal or moulded into plastic tells you a good deal about when and where a pencil was made.
Accession number: The reference stamped on every entry — my number for that specific pencil in this collection. It fixes each piece to its place in the drawers. If you write to me about one, quote the accession number.

How the collection is arranged

The website is arranged exactly as the flat file is: five drawers, one per decade band, and inside each drawer the pencils sit sorted by manufacturer. What you see on screen is what I open when I pull a drawer. There is no reordering for display.

DR·1 1965 — 1979 Early drafting sets and the first pocket clutches ≈ 310 entries DR·2 1980 — 1989 The technical-drawing peak; sleeves at their longest ≈ 420 entries DR·3 1990 — 1999 Shaker mechanisms arrive; plastics take over ≈ 390 entries DR·4 2000 — 2009 Ergonomic grips and the lead-rotation era ≈ 340 entries DR·5 2010 — 2020 Revival editions and the return to metal bodies ≈ 240 entries

Where to start

ROUTE A

Open a drawer

Pick a decade and read it top to bottom, the way I filed it. Drawer 2 (the 1980s) is the densest and the clearest introduction to what drafting-era pencils were built to do.

Go to Drawer 2 → ROUTE B

Filter by mechanism

If a specific action interests you — push-button, twist, or shaker — filter the whole Collection to just that mechanism and watch it change across the five decades.

Filter the Collection → ROUTE C

Read a Vignette

The Vignettes are short curated groupings that cut across the drawers — a theme, a maker, a single idea followed through the collection. The gentlest way in if the full catalogue feels large.

Browse the Vignettes →

Stuck, or curious

Ask a plain question

There is no wrong question about this collection. If something on an entry is unclear, or you want to know why a pencil sits where it does, write to me and quote its accession number. I read everything.

Email Kenn