Hi, I wonder if you guys can help. I bought this little antique pencil for my wife recently and would like to get it working. It slides / extends and has a driver (?) pin that goes in and out so I think its functioning! A couple of questions I hope you guys can help with:
How can I make the ‘sliding’ to extend / close up smoother / easier?
What type / size of lead will I need?
Should the end with the ring screw off to reveal a storage compartment? Its stiff and doesn’t seem to want to unscrew but I don;t want to force it if it shouldn’t unscrew!
Any help / guidance would be very much appreciated. Many thanks,
If it is like mine, I would try 1mm and 1.1mm, something in that range, unfortunately some antique pens can use anything from .9mm to 2mm.
You can try to measure the opening of the very tip and it should be the approximate size but usually they will only accept pieces that are about 1 inch long.
Hi @mf11 : most of these pencils used to work with 1.18mm lead cores, and those are moderately easy to find, especially in old European stores back shelves (there are also coloured variants).
As for the other questions: such old telescopic pencils are both very durable, and somewhat delicate, so I would not try to push or twist too much the ends. Someone a bit more expert (fountain pen shop owner, perhaps?) might quickly inspect and fix many of the reported issues, but taking a look at the pencil in person is a basic prerequisite.
