Whats the difference between a drafting pencil and a normal mechanical pencil?
That would depend on what you consider a “normal mechanical pencil” A drafting pencil will have a cylindrical metal sleeve around the lead long enough to use as a guide against a straight edge, while some of the cheapest all plastic pencils will have a conical plastic sleeve which is not so good fo guiding along an edge. However, any pencil I would buy has the cylindrical metal sleeve and could be used for drafting, even the less that $3 Pentel “Forte” which I use a lot. I happen to have a $9 KOH-I-NOOR “Rapidomatic” laying next to me, it has has a fancy knurled grip and lead hardness indicator and was found in the drafting section of the office supply store rather than the regular pencil section like the Pentel, but either could be used for “drafting”. The more expensive one does have a slightly longer sleeve, so if one is using a rather thick t-square or triangles that might be a significant difference, but the Pentel works fine with my drafting machine scales and any templates I hav
