Sheaffer Balance

[snedwos]

I bought a balance pencil in DC which now seems unable to grip the leads properly. It worked fine at first. Should I just buy thicker leads?

[chiaroscuro]

Unscrew the "nosecone" to see if you've got a jam. You'll also observe how the lead slots or seats into the mechanism and thus you'll know how hard to press it in the first time. Hope this makes sense.

[snedwos]

The retraction mechanism works fine, the problem is that the lead slips out.

I wonder if I did something when I did unscrew the nosecone, since I didn't seem to have a problem until after I fiddled with it.

[Big Tex Rex]

I've had this problem when using harder leads. I had installed an "H" and it would not attach so I went back to softer leads and have not had a problem since.