Hicks "gravity pencil"

**gweddig** · July 21st, 2014, 02:36 PM

Found this little thing in a local shop. As usual it was a consolation piece I added to the couple of parts pens and Balance pencils to sweeten the deal and it ends up being the most interesting piece!

Not sure it's in working condition. That nozzle (on the left) slides in and out but it seems when the pencil is held point down it takes the pressure of writing but when tipped upside down with a little twisting it retracts into the barrel. The patent indicates it should simply retract when turned on end. Might need to be cleaned.

I'm not planning on using it but do we know if the lead is simply held in by friction? When one needs to advance the lead in the holder, they grab it and pull on it or is there some simpler way? (or am I being dense)
There doesn't seem to be a way of opening it, were they soldered closed during manufacture?
For those interested the ringtop has "STERLING SILVER" with a split egg shaped looking hallmark. The nose "HICKS' PAT. MAY 9. 05."

**Cob** · July 21st, 2014, 02:58 PM

Fascinating, thanks for posting this.

The ingenuity of the makers of mechanical pencils often amazes doesn't it?

You wrote: "There doesn't seem to be a way of opening it"

I am still waiting for someone to help - I don't understand how any pencils come apart!

Best wishes - a nice find and I hope you get to use it sometimes at least.

Cob

**jonveley** · September 18th, 2014, 04:27 AM

Sorry I'm late to the party -

Nice piece. I haven't seen one of these before. Patent number 789,386 was issued to Richard H. Ryan and was assigned to W.S. Hicks' Sons. Interestingly, the drawings show an external "gravity sleeve" that moves up and down outside the barrel to advance or retract the carrier.

The drawings only refer to the pencil part as a "carrier," and there isn't anything shown inside it to see what's going on, which means there isn't anything unusual about that part of it. A typical carrier of this sort would have a finely threaded screw drive to advance the lead - if it doesn't look like it's doing anything when you turn it, that's because it advances the lead so gradually. It may have a leadholder (catch and release only), but if that's the case you should still be able to twist the nose a bit to release the lead so you can reposition it.

Let me know if you are parting with it!

**KBeezie** · September 18th, 2014, 04:31 AM

Don't a lot of the older ones simply feed the lead up the same way it came out, as opposed to opening and refilling?

**jonveley** · September 18th, 2014, 08:03 AM

Originally Posted by KBeezie

Don't a lot of the older ones simply feed the lead up the same way it came out, as opposed to opening and refilling?

Yes. This one included, regardless of whether it's screw drive or a leadholder. There's no opening up the back end and dropping something in on this one.

**gweddig** · September 18th, 2014, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by jonveley

Originally Posted by KBeezie

Don't a lot of the older ones simply feed the lead up the same way it came out, as opposed to opening and refilling?

Yes. This one included, regardless of whether it's screw drive or a leadholder. There's no opening up the back end and dropping something in on this one.

The nose (on the left of the photo) does provide a finely threaded lead advance when it's extended. No matter the position of the lead advance, its still possible to retract the entire nosecone into the barrel for storage just by tipping the pencil upside down. Mine has to be given a little help likely due to a shallow dent in the barrel.

Jon, I'm not going to part with it yet but if you'd like to see/photograph it I can send it to you.

--greg

**jonveley** · September 18th, 2014, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by gweddig

Originally Posted by jonveley

Originally Posted by KBeezie

Don't a lot of the older ones simply feed the lead up the same way it came out, as opposed to opening and refilling?

Yes. This one included, regardless of whether it's screw drive or a leadholder. There's no opening up the back end and dropping something in on this one.

The nose (on the left of the photo) does provide a finely threaded lead advance when it's extended. No matter the position of the lead advance, its still possible to retract the entire nosecone into the barrel for storage just by tipping the pencil upside down. Mine has to be given a little help likely due to a shallow dent in the barrel.

Jon, I'm not going to part with it yet but if you'd like to see/photograph it I can send it to you.

--greg

I'm happy with pictures - why don't you come to the Ohio Show and bring it for a photo shoot?