I use an assortment of pencils, both mechanical and lead. The mechanicals are .5mm and used for paper. General use in the shop is a typical lead pencil. it is amazing to me that they have been able to screw up a lead pencil, but I’ve noticed the trend to make them out of compressed wood products. They look and feel the same as a “real” wooden pencil, but it you drop them, they do not support the lead and the point breaks off about 1/4” into the barrel. I almost always carry a short pencil over my ear inside my cap band. I cut a new pencil in about half. Full length pencils get in the way. I recently went to Pencils.com and bought a pack of Blackwing 602’s. Excellent pencil, but a soft lead requiring frequent sharpening. A fabulous drawing pencil, featuring low drag and great feel. Better in the hand than any pencil I’ve used. In looking at their site again they have a woodworkers section, but I haven’t stepped into that yet. I think I’ll order a box of pencils for a couple folks for Christmas. The 602’s came in a really nice box.