Pencil kits

[Rob Matarazzo]

I recently turned a pencil from one of Woodcraft's .7mm kits. It came out very nice but I was surprised at the awkwardness of replacing the lead. You can only put in one piece at time, and it gets inserted from the nib end. Most of the pencils that I've bought at the store allow you to put several pieces of lead in from the top end. Does anybody sell a kit for this type of pencil?

[David Walser]

Rob,

Craft Supplies USA has several pencil kits that use a "click" mechanism. You might give them a call to see if one or more is a "rear loader".

Cross pencils use a twist mechanism (just like their pens). All the twist pencils I've seen (kit or those you'd buy in an office supply store) load from the front. Click pencils, as a general rule, load from the back and allow for multiple leads to gravity feed, one after another, into the mechanism. So, CSUSA's new kit might work for you.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Pencil_Kits?Args=