Legendary Lead Company - new source for pencil leads

[jonveley]

Hey all,

I've started The Legendary Pencil Company to supply mechanical pencil refills in more than 50 different sizes, grades and colors. I've got common sizes as well as ones you won't see anywhere else.

Over the last couple weeks I've been building a new website for the venture. Please poke around - I'd love to hear feedback.

http://www.legendaryleadcompany.com

[Crazyorange]

Awesome!! Any chance you will be making multicolored leads?

[Pelikan-Vera]

Great site. I wondered whether you could have the sizes also in metric for those of us that do not know the inches? this might help you to attract clients from europe. :-) Vera

[KBeezie]

Awesome!! Any chance you will be making multicolored leads?

Hmm rainbow lead... (of which only 'regular' occurrence of which seems to be made by Koh-i-Noor as a 'magic' pencil).

My mom remembers using one that took a tiny lead that couldn't find elsewhere (I'm guessing in the 70s it would have to be a 05~0.7 or so as opposed to 0.9)

[Farmboy]

Awesome!! Any chance you will be making multicolored leads?

I don't think Jon is making lead, rather he saved the back-stock lead from destruction and has started sorting and selling it.

[KBeezie]

Awesome!! Any chance you will be making multicolored leads?

I don't think Jon is making lead, rather he saved the back-stock lead from destruction and has started sorting and selling it.

Seems that way based on the history on the front page :



...

By late 2013, Panda's leadmaking machinery had been sold for scrap, and in November, the owners sold the building. Inside were several decades' worth of unsold inventory and leftovers. Since the building had to be cleaned out when the keys were turned over, the daughter of Panda's president began searching for someone to buy what was left.

With just a week left before all the company's stock would wind up in the dumpster, her internet search for people who might be interested in vintage mechanical pencil lead brought her straight to Jonathan Veley, who has written several books on the subject of mechanical pencils, was publishing a daily blog on antique pencils called The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, and who by coincidence lived in Newark, Ohio, only about two hours away. It didn't take any convincing for him to make the trip that Saturday, and it didn't take long when he arrived to see how important Panda's stock was to anyone interested in vintage mechanical pencils.

That afternoon, Veley purchased everything Panda had left -- standard sized .046" and .036" leads, boxed in 1,000 gross cases in numerous hardnesses and colors as well as box after box of leads made in unusual sizes and compositions. The earliest leads appear to date to the late 1920s; the latest, from 1989,

None of these leads are made in the United States anymore. Cheap Asian imports, combined with domestic environmental restrictions, have wiped out the American mechanical pencil lead industry in its entirety. You might be able to find some of the sizes Panda made -- but you won't find any made in the USA.

...

[jonveley]

Awesome!! Any chance you will be making multicolored leads?

We offer 1.1mm leads in green, blue, red, yellow and (gulp) an uber-rare silver.

0.9mm leads are available in green, red and blue.

1.9mm leads are in green, red, blue, (gulp) orange, (double gulp) brown and indelible purple.

.120 inch checking leads are available in blue, red and yellow.

[jonveley]

Great site. I wondered whether you could have the sizes also in metric for those of us that do not know the inches? this might help you to attract clients from europe. :-) Vera

Absolutely - I posted a page under the "choosing the right lead section" for metric conversion . . .

http://www.legendaryleadcompany.com/metric-conversion.html (http://www.legendaryleadcompany.com/metric-conversion.html)

[KBeezie]

I wish the pictures were a little better exposed (like it's underexposed consistently on each picture by 2 stops, which would show a heavy-left histogram), and that the zoom function didn't go like 500% inward and without enlarging the view window, for example:

http://i.imgur.com/Q0M4v2g.jpg

[jonveley]

I wish the pictures were a little better exposed (like it's underexposed consistently on each picture by 2 stops, which would show a heavy-left histogram), and that the zoom function didn't go like 500% inward and without enlarging the view window, for example:

http://i.imgur.com/Q0M4v2g.jpg

Thanks for the feedback, Karl. Of course, if you had any questions I would have been happy to answer them had you emailed me. The pencil and pen sale page wasn't my first priority when I set up the site - but I had a bit of time this evening so I uploaded pictures I think will be more to your liking.

http://www.legendaryleadcompany.com/store/p32/Eagle_%22Jot%22_pencil_-_paint_over_brass_red.html

[mrcharlie]

Do you know what hardness your drafting 080/2mm leads are?

[jonveley]

Do you know what hardness your drafting 080/2mm leads are?

They are grade HB, equivalent to a number 2 pencil.

Depending on the application, our Mighty "75" leads are only .005" narrower and will work in many clutch pencils - we have those available in all hardnesses ranging from 2B to 4H as well as several colors.

[VertOlive]

Only newly interested in pencils, I missed this thread. The site is well done and fascinating.

As an utter newbie, I might suggest an informational section something like what Jetpens has so that I can learn what a "tallboy" lead might be, etc. The metric conversion chart is very helpful.

[mathchr]

Do you ship the leads to Denmark?

Thanks in advance

Kind regards

[Ron Z]

John hasn't posted in this thread in 8 years. His company is on line - try asking him directly.

[mathchr]

John hasn't posted in this thread in 8 years. His company is on line - try asking him directly.

Hi Ron Z.

Ive tried but with no answer. So im trying to reach out to him every possible way i can.

Thanks anyway!

Kind regards