alt.hn

5/31/2026 at 12:25:12 AM

Mechanical Pencil: An illustrated celebration of the engineering around us

 https://mechanical-pencil.com/

by Muhammad523

5/31/2026 at 11:06:35 AM

Reminds of Mechanical Watch: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

by vismit2000

5/31/2026 at 12:56:06 PM

I agree, that's what I feel the moment I read the post. Although the writing more shorter than Chichanowski.

by alfirous

5/31/2026 at 5:59:47 AM

Bryan has been working on this forever! Truly a labor of love. Neat to see it pop up here. He also does illustrations of homes around San Francisco (amongst other things), which I highly recommend checking out: https://www.instagram.com/bmacomber_art/

by mattegan

5/31/2026 at 12:25:12 AM

"Illustrated tear-downs and break-downs of everyday products, like mechanical pencils, lighters and pez dispensers, that you may have taken for granted. Drawn by Bryan Macomber, a mechanical engineer and artist."

The description above comes from the following post on mastodon: https://merveilles.town/@rek/116658587354593919

by Muhammad523

5/31/2026 at 4:51:40 AM

Such a beautifully done site. I might be in love already . Many kudos.

I dropped in a suggestion to do one on an umbrella. There's a lot going on in these. One can study the differential geometry of surfaces. The mechanism design of opening and closing.

I find both the spring ones (push button) and the ones without spring quite fascinating. In fact the ones without a spring has implicit ones imposed by the bending of the spokes.

by srean

5/31/2026 at 6:15:04 AM

I've always enjoyed that the cam surface for that particular push-push mechanism design (click pen) is not that dissimilar from a Leibniz wheel. It's so tempting to add more steps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leibniz_wheel

I can't help myself and have to link some of my favorite youtube channels.

Engineerguy: https://youtube.com/@engineerguyvideo

Chris Staecker: https://youtube.com/@ChrisStaecker

by sublinear

5/31/2026 at 12:31:41 PM

It would be interesting to have further links/resources/research.

Apparently, Japan reigns supreme in the manufacture of mechanical pencil components w/ brands such as Rotring and Skilcraft importing, or contracting to Japanese companies either for manufacture (my Rotring Quattro is labeled as Made in Japan), or parts sourcing (my Skilcraft B3 Aviator multi-pen was noted as including mechanical pencil components imported from Japan).

One of my favourite mechanical pencils is a "357" imported from Japan which uses a Rotring-like gravity mechanism to select a 0.3mm, 0.5mm, or 0.7mm lead.

Wasn't always so --- I can still remember playing w/ a Norma 4-colour mechanical pencil my father had (which sadly wasn't among his effects when he passed --- just ordered a replacement off eBay...) Unfortunately, the page on this at: http://www.roger-russell.com/ is off-line.

by WillAdams

5/31/2026 at 11:00:36 AM

The website works like crap on Android Firefox. Scrolling is borked.

by startpage_com

5/31/2026 at 2:07:51 PM

Weird/forced scrolling on FF desktop as well.

by badmonkey0001

5/31/2026 at 2:59:34 PM

I took a look at the pen, but it's missing an explanation of what gets the cam to rotate clockwise in the first place, such that it catches a tooth of the barrel.

by LoganDark

5/31/2026 at 4:08:50 PM

I was also confused by this at first but after looking at the explanation closely I caught it. The plunger itself has grooves, and when the pen is closed, the cam's grooves and plunger's grooves aren't aligned. When pushed open, the cam is unconstrained and the pressure from the spring below causes the cam to slide into the plunger's grooves. That's what causes the clockwise rotation of the cam.

Really cool site!

by smahendrakar

5/31/2026 at 5:51:16 PM

Lovely!

by jt2190

5/31/2026 at 4:16:11 PM

The mechanical pencil, though disclaimed by the webmaster as not an exclusive theme, is a subject worthy of worship. I have a handcrafted cocobolo holder for my Pentel GraphGear 500, and a protective travel case too. Despite not being very active for the last 4 years, I keep a pile of refills nearby.

I think the Japanese really mastered the pencil, though others have done their own wonders. I sometimes consider the work and design iterations behind the best designs and really admire it. Some designs are astonishingly sophisticated, with mechanical 'sensors' and more. I prefer the sweet spot of simplicity and reliability though, which I find in the Pentel.

The mechanical pencil is a modern magic wand for me.

Note: in a time of what I consider anomie and war on quality, I am pleased to have witnessed Pentel really standing behind their products. They repaired or replaced two pencils without fuss, and one rep even compiled and mailed a brochure of pens and pencils exclusive to my preferences.

As for pens, however, I am a Fisher Space Pen zealot, and push them upon all who do not defend themselves. But I do recommend the fine cartridge over the menacingly rotund default, which you can request with each pen order.

by eth0up

5/31/2026 at 4:45:35 PM

Apparently we have similar tastes. A Pentel mechanical pencil was indispensable to me through college and a Fisher Space Pen is my daily carry in the working world. Though at my desk it is other pens with finer points.

by NetMageSCW

5/31/2026 at 6:08:48 PM

I am in Florida, where as little as a summer week in a hot vehicle can destroy a fine pen. Not a Fisher though. My work-pen has seen two years now and still writes. And a Fisher draws a substantially longer line than just about any other pen. Obviously the GraphGear is indifferent, but the nib is its achille's heel, and it can bend without serious abuse. For that, I use a Write in the Rain 1.3mm, which is also dear to me and doesn't flinch on a sodden 2x4 one bit.

PS: I highly recommend the Fisher raw brass version. It ages with character, is partly anti microbial and is an all around great pen. This is the part where self defense becomes an issue. But I swear I am not sponsored. It's honest fanatacism.

by eth0up

5/31/2026 at 9:57:03 AM

Nice, embodies the quote;

"What one man can invent, another can discover" -- Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Dancing Men.

by rramadass

5/31/2026 at 5:15:16 AM

Meta: confusing typo in title. Mods , please fix penciN -> penciL. Thanks.

by unwind

5/31/2026 at 7:16:14 AM

Fixed, thanks!

by tomhow

5/31/2026 at 2:08:22 PM

[dead]

by edgardurand

5/31/2026 at 5:02:28 AM

[flagged]

by niraj898