Pencil leads

I recently found this nice mechanical pencil / ballpoint pen hybrid
that has been lying in a drawer for years (a cousin gave it to me as
it wasn't working properly) and I managed to clean it up and fix it (I
think, at least). I don't know the brand, model, or period, but it
takes leads that are 0.5mm in diameter. Is there a standard dimension
below 0.5mm? I browsed through the leads on swisherpens, and saw a few
that are 0.3something. Is there such a thing as a 0.4? Does it
matter if I put a 0.325 lead in a 0.4, or 0.35 pencil? And is there a
way of figuring out what the pencil needs without buying and trying
all different kinds of leads? Finally, does anybody know where in Palo
Alto, CA or surroundings I can find a store that sells 0.3 leads (I
haven't checked anywhere yet, so I apologize if every stationary sells
them).

Thank you.

Matteo

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Matteo Slanina wrote:

I recently found this nice mechanical pencil / ballpoint pen hybrid
that has been lying in a drawer for years (a cousin gave it to me as
it wasn't working properly) and I managed to clean it up and fix it (I
think, at least). I don't know the brand, model, or period, but it
takes leads that are 0.5mm in diameter. Is there a standard dimension
below 0.5mm?

0.3 is fairly common, but not available everywhere. If you search the
stores, or order on line, I think you'll find them without too much
trouble.

New pencils don't have a size called 0.4 - I don't know about older ones.

David

Matteo Slanina wrote in message ...
Finally, does anybody know where in Palo
Alto, CA or surroundings I can find a store that sells 0.3 leads (I
haven't checked anywhere yet, so I apologize if every stationary sells
them).

Try Mai Do Stationery in Town and Country Village, Palo Alto (El
Camino and Embarcadero) phone (650)330-0284. They have 0.3, 0.4, 0.5
etc. leads and a staggering collection of different mechanical pencils
from Japan.

(Mark Glusker) writes:

Matteo Slanina wrote in message
...

Try Mai Do Stationery in Town and Country Village, Palo Alto (El
Camino and Embarcadero) phone (650)330-0284. They have 0.3, 0.4, 0.5
etc. leads and a staggering collection of different mechanical pencils
from Japan.

Thanks, I'll take a look. I actually know that place and like it a
lot, but I didn't think about it for this. I did not follow up
earlier, but I did find 0.3 in the meantime, I realized these are
quite common, together with 0.7 and 0.9. It does seem that my pencil
is 0.4 though, 'cause 0.3 looks too thin and breaks all the time.
(And, before somebody jumps in, I do write with fountain pens, so
don't blame the bic or my heavy hand )

Matteo


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Matteo Slanina writes:

(Mark Glusker) writes:

Matteo Slanina wrote in message
...

Try Mai Do Stationery in Town and Country Village, Palo Alto (El
Camino and Embarcadero) phone (650)330-0284. They have 0.3, 0.4, 0.5
etc. leads and a staggering collection of different mechanical pencils
from Japan.

Thanks, I'll take a look. I actually know that place and like it a
lot, but I didn't think about it for this. I did not follow up
earlier, but I did find 0.3 in the meantime, I realized these are
quite common, together with 0.7 and 0.9. It does seem that my pencil
is 0.4 though, 'cause 0.3 looks too thin and breaks all the time.

YES! My pencil is definitely a 0.4, and now it works great. Thank you
Mark. I also got a new refill for the ballpoint end.

Now of course I am curious: does anybody recognize the
brand/model/anything from these pictures?

http://theory.stanford.edu/~matteo/Pencil/

There is no inscription of any sort that I can see. I got it some time
in the Eighties from a cousin in Italy, don't know where he got it
from. The wooden box in the pictures is the one that came with the
pencil/pen.

Matteo

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For my email address, remove .invalid and reverse the domain.