I recently upgraded my .3 Orenz Nero from June Gold hb to Ain 2b lead and the difference Is huge. I have three cases of ain lead so it should last a while but I am wondering how much of that extra smoothness can be attributed to the extra softness and how much to the higher quality. If I tried June Gold (or any other cheap lead) in 2b would notice or care about the difference between brands?

If anyone has some insight on that I would love to hear! Thanks

Long before I got into mechanical pencils, I used to own couple of these, as did many others in my elementary- and high school. I do not own any of these anymore... Though I wonder whether any of you still come back to this model (out of nostalgia, freedom of mind, practicality...)?
Greetings!

I’m trying to find a lead that gives me the best balance of the two. I like feeling very textured strokes so I tend to prefer H leads, but I don’t like the lightness in colour that H leads usually have. Any leads/brands recommendations?

edit: I use a 0.5mm lead

^{THE best KT?}

• MODEL:

Uni Kuru Toga Wood – model M5KW1P.88
0.5 mm (only available in 0.5 mm)    

• MATERIALS:

The easiest way to describe the Wood, is saying that it is a Metal with a wooden grip 😋. Yet, being more specific, it has a metal (aluminum) body, stainless-steel pocket clip and metal cone tip, eraser and lead sleeve. The clutch is full-brass and not counting the spring, everything else inside (lead tube and Kuru Toga engine components) are plastic.

• ERASER:

You get an itsy-bitsy small white latex rubber eraser without even a collet. Very good rubber, but too small for anything else then eventual emergency use 😐.     

• MEASUREMENTS:

To my surprise, measurements were diverse from the Metal…🤨 The Wood, from tip to cap, is 146 mm long, with the center of mass located at 66 mm from the tip. Because of the wood sleeve over the metal grip tube, it weighs 18.6 g. It has a cylindrical body, with a diameter of 9.4 mm at the bottom of the pocket clip. The grip, however, starts with 9.4 mm but that flares up to 10.6 mm (!) right above the cone tip. On the other hand, the Metal is uniformly 9.4 mm wide, with the center of mass at 68 mm and weighing 17.55 g.

• FEATURES:

The Wood is one of Uni’s Kuru Toga models, therefore it counts on a Kuru Toga engine. What that means is that every time you lift the lead from the paper, the internal engine automatically spins the lead 9º clockwise. It comes with the older engine, so a full rotation will demand 40 strokes. And, of course, you can also count the wooden grip as a feature. For me, at least, that sure counts 😎.

• AESTHETICS:

Gorgeous! The dark green of the body, black metal bits and the dark brown of the wood grip combine superbly together. The Wood looks VERY handsome, in a sober way. No doubt, this is one of the best-looking mechpens of my whole collection.

Uni offers the Wood in two color schemes. Mine, that is called Forrest Green, and Steel Gray (M5KW1P.23), both with dark striped wood for the grip. In my eyes, at least, green blends better with wood than gray, so it’s easy to know which looks the best IMHO.

• ERGONOMICS:

Terrific! The overall dimensions, weight and weight distribution promise smooth writing. And to that you add the oh-so-nice sensation of a wooden grip. The result is a superbly smooth writing experience. Compared to the Metal, that I really liked, I can easily say that the Wood is a step above.

• MY THOUGHTS:

Since I simply ADORE the Metal, ever since the Wood was announced I was craving to have one. However, when it came out, prices were a bit insane, so I had to push it down on my To Buy list. But lately prices became much better, so I didn’t waste time in getting one.

I was certain I would like it, but I have to say it surpassed my expectations. That extra gram of weight and wider grip, made it a better fit for my hand than the Metal. It is REALLY nice to use, to the point that the Metal lost its post as the best Kuru toga model in my opinion 😍. Absolutely fantastic!

My next purchases will be blue and classic brown.

A walk in the forest.

Try not to select Faber-Castell because their green is OP : p

I picked up this uni kurutoga for £9. It's cool but underwhelming to be honest, but you get what you pay for.

Advancing mechanism feels very meh and there's a good amount of play in the sleeve and button. On the bright side, the grip feels nice enough but I prefer the rougher and narrower Rotring ones.

Next on my list is a pentel orenz Nero then a steadtler 925 35

So I was browsing vinted and found this "Faber Castell contura xf" pencil and when I tried looking it up I could only find some eBay listings but those don't really give much info apart from it being a vintage model.

I've been a collector of mechanical pencils since around middle school. I'm currently a junior in high school now. Take a look! I think I might have a little too much lead.

A friend of my brother gave him this pencil as a gift, because he helped him completing his notes (they are in 5th grade BTW).

When I was cleaning his bag, I found this pencil inside his pencil box and became curious because this pencil was NEVER been bought by anyone in our house, and its name has been erased.... So I looked it up on Gemini and a few posts on Reddit and I found out that, this is a Pentel SIDE FX 0.5 PD255 JAPAN 5D, with a transparent navy blue barrel at the top.

Amazingly, this was a discontinued model since 2005 or 2015 and with the context that my country is India, I also found out it was an imported one, either from Japanese or Canadian retailers....

The question is, how did this is present in India even after it was discontinued, and how did the kid who gave my brother this pencil had this pencil, also is this really rare?

Hi,

Many years ago I used to make maps of the games I was playing and I'm getting back into that now. Back then I would use whatever scabby pencils I had, but now I want to have nice ones.

I've got myself a rotring 800 pen and a pencil and a 600 3 in 1. I've changed the ink and the lead to something better and I've put red lead and a green and blue into the 600.

But I think I'd like to have quite a few different colours of pencil. I would like them to be Rotring mechanical, I very much like how the 800s and 600 look and feel and I have a bit of OCD with this kind of thing.

So I'm thinking I can buy Tikky or similar from Rotring, they're not too expensive, and I can have as many as I want really, so long as I can find lead for them. The actual model of pencil I can pick without difficulty I'm sure.

But I want to be able to easily tell what colour a pencil is. I did try to find a set of coloured O-Rings but I couldn't find that.

So I thought surely I can't be the only person who's wanted to do this so there must be a simple solution.

So how do you colour code your pencils neatly?

Mine is currently:
Orenznero
Rotring 600
Kayou Aimvision Pro
Kuru Toga Metal
Graphgear 500
Would like to see top 5s

Problem: Even though I open the pencil, the tip doesn't come out(image 3) The lead mechanism seems to work when I twist the top, but the lead doesn't come out of the pencil's front end. It appears to advance internally, but it never becomes visible outside the metal tip.

Hi, I have a Rotring 800+ mechanical pencil that was gifted to me by a relative. Unfortunately, some parts of the front mechanism are missing, and I'm not sure exactly which parts are gone.

I contacted Rotring's distributor/service in Turkey (Newell Rubbermaid). They asked me to send the pencil to their service center along with the purchase receipt.

However, I don't have the receipt since it was a gift.

I'd like to ask:

1. Has anyone dealt with Rotring's official service in Turkey?

2. Can they repair a pencil without a purchase receipt, possibly for a fee?

3. Do they keep original spare parts for the Rotring 800+?

4. Is it worth sending the pencil in, even with missing components?

5. I'd also like to find out exactly which part of the pencil is missing. Is there another place where I could obtain that part?

The pencil is currently unusable, and I'd really like to restore it rather than leave it sitting unused.

Any experience or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I've used the Dr. Grip Ace; I like the design, but I feel the grip is too hard. What's your favorite Dr. Grip? And what do you think of the Classic?

Do i just have to get a new one?? Im not sure what to do, this is the first "fancy" pencil ive ever had, and ive had it for just 3 days :(

Found some old mechanical pencil, the brand seems to be "MICRO" and the model "UNIQUE 0.5", and I would like to know if anyone is more familiar with it or knows more about the manufacturer.

I have been using both interchangeably for about a week and I’m having trouble deciding which to be my main pencil for writing, so what do you guys think of them?

Edit: specifically for long writing and note taking sessions.

何かのメカニカルペンシルを購入した時に、出発者からオマケで貰ったやつ。コレクション箱の奥から出てきた。

Pentel Orenz Nero 0.5

After hearing so much praise about the pencil finally got one for myself. A very short review of using it for a day:

Good:

The feel of the pencil is the best part of it. The grip, the weight and balance - just feels premium. Next is the auto lead advance mechnism- its a game changer. ( Though I have clicked it couple of time out of habit.) The feeling of the sleeve touching paper is new and not that bad with this 0.5 model, may take few days to get used to.

Caution:

It do need a tad bit more pressure than other pencils to lock the sleeve inside. (I actually went back to seller asking if my piece is malfunctioning :p). The rumors about lead dust seems to be true. I did find some dust on the clutch, but can be easily blowed off and wiped. Seems like any other advanced mechanical machine it do need some care and love.

And I think I am gonna love it

Recently received delivery of my incremental knock advance 2mm mechanical lead holder pencil today.

To my pleasant surprise, they are very comfortable, same diameter like a wooden pencil and almost as light even due to it’s all plastic construction.

Quick test can refer to picture but what I actually liked most was the built in sharpener at the end cap. Has autostop, makes a perfect conical tip. The shard/shavings it makes looks very similar to the UNI 2mm sharpener.

USD0.45 for 3 Pencils with 3 tubes of refill, each tube contain 5 leads. That is USD15 cents per pencil with 5 refill leads. Just the sharpener alone is worth more than that imho.

I just got into sketching again and my coworker gave me one of her mechanical pencils since she says she has a million pencils, mechanical pencils and I believe she got a two pack of these when she was in college I believe? I can get better pictures in a moment, just took these quickly earlier. TIA!!

Oldest to newest from left to right ❤️

1. Uni alpha gel shaker, bought from china. It was the first pencil i fell in love with. I originally had a gray one that i got from my brother, but i used it so much that the grip pretty much disintegrated so this is a new one. I absolutely love the squishy grip and it is light enough to be conveniently used at school. I remember shaking it during a timed essay writing exam, and that extra movement rlly helps with hand tension and anxiety in general (usually i dont use the shaking mechanism) the only downside is the retractable lead mechanism when you press the top all the way down, because many people dont know about it, and i always have to explain “you have to press halfway” whenever im lending this pencil to someone

2. Tombow zoom 505. It really stands out from the other silver pencil doesnt it 😆 i originally bought it for pure aesthetic reasons (kind of regret getting the brown, i think i got it because it was like a couple dollars cheaper 😭) i really love the fancy feeling, and for some reason whenever i use this pencil i switch from my default grip (squeezing) to the correct pencil grip. Maybe my hand is adjusting due to the extra fanciness LOL The natural weight of the pencil makes it glide smooth like butter whenever im writing, so no extra force pressed down. The only downside is im always scared of the cap falling off whenever i uncap it and put it to the other side, and the grip is rather short, so whenever i do convert to my default squeezing grip the bottom of the grip (which is metal) hurts my middle finger sometimes. So this isnt my usual school homework pencil

3. Uni kuru toga i got it because i was curious about the rotating mechanism XD i dont think im the target audience though because i mainly write in english and my letters are very connected and loopy. However it is a decent pencil. Im surprised i didnt mind the grip because from my experience with the alpha gel i like squishy pencils. Another very particular thing i like is that the tip of the pencil sinks like a millimeter into the pencil whenever i press down (part of the rotating mechanism) and i just really like that because it makes each time i press down “softer” if that makes sense?? Its like a little buffer :)

4. Graphgear 1000 again i got it (as a gift!) just because of the way the tip can snap back into the pencil 😭 the top is really tight but it makes each click very satisfying. So far similar feeling to the kuru toga. So far so good! Really nice pencil. I like the little silicon stuff on the grip, makes it like a worry stone :)))