Tommy And The Platinum Pro-Use 03 MSD-1000A

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, it's Tommy Turquoise! What have you got there, Tommy!?

"Thank you, Geezer! I have your Platinum Pro-Use 03 MSD-1000A Drafting Pencil! It's time that you reviewed it"

You are so right, Tommy! Thanks for the reminder!

"You're welcome, Geezer!"

The Platinum Pro-Use 03 MSD-1000A is a pencil that I have been looking at for a long time. I own 2 other Platinum 0.3 mm pencils, the Pro-Use MSD-300A , and the Pro-Use MSD-500A. I like both of these pencils a lot but they are either plastic or partially plastic on the exterior. The MSD-1000A is an all metal pencil on the exterior. I find that I have come to like all metal pencils. I'm not sure if it's the silver color that they usually come in or the weight that an all metal pencil has or the feel of the metal surface or a combination of all 3! Maybe it's the luxury of having a more expensive pencil in my hand. Even though most companies, like Platinum, put as much quality into their less expensive pencils as they do their higher end pencils, an all metal pencil just speaks to me of quality and luxury!

The Pro-Use MSD-1000A is a quality pencil. It's designed and built by the Japanese so the engineering and manufacturing are superb. The shape of the 1000A is a little unusual in that it suddenly flares out at the grip, emerging from a slender cylinder. The grip has 9 evenly spaced grooves, concentric the the body of the pencil, giving rise to 7 evenly spaced ridges and 2 unevenly spaced ones. The end cap, which contains the lead sleeve, is flat where it meets the grip but quickly rounds over instead of being angular. It inverse curves to a short straight shaft before tapering to the lead sleeve. The color is a stain chrome. Behind the grip, in line with the body, is the lead grade indicator. The sleeve is a bright chrome with a rectangular window. The characters are silver upon a black background. The straight shaft of the body, like the grip, is a silvery gray with the words "PRO-USE" in hollow, gray outlined, backward slanting letters, the numerals "03" in solid gray and the words "PLATINUM JAPAN" in thin gray letters. The satin silver pocket clip is unadorned but the blade is slightly curved downward at the hilt then again at the end. The push button is of the over-the-shaft mushroom type that is reflective in shape to the grip only with 2 evenly spaced groves. Atop the broad top of the push button is the lead size in the same gray characters as on the side of the pencil. All in all a very lovely pencil to look at.



And now for the stats: The pencil is 143.3 mm long, 9.4 mm in diameter at the grip, weighs 16.1 grams and has a balance point 69.3 mm from the tip of the pencil, making it 2.3 mm top heavy, but you won't notice it! The 1000A feels perfectly balanced in the hand. The lead reservoir is cavernous enough to hold a couple of dozen leads but the eraser does not have a clean out rod, which is typical of Platinum pencils. It only takes two clicks to produce adequate lead to write or draw with. This is very nice in helping to eliminate lead breakage. The 1000A is a ratcheting style pencil with an all brass chuck and chuck ring. Being all metal the end cap is secured from accidental loosening by a rubber O-ring. In order to adjust the lead grade indicator it is necessary to loosen the grip from the body just a tad.

While the pencil body is thin the grip is robust enough to grip comfortably. The satin finish on the grip combined with the grooves make for a nice gripping surface. It's very easy to hold onto and to write with. It feels balanced in the hand and easy to control. The broad head of the push button makes the ratcheting mechanism feel softer than it really is. The ratcheting mechanism has a metallic sound to it but it's quieter than one might expect from an all metal pencil. The lack of a clean out rod is typical of the Platinum pencils. This is a little disturbing. The average person who would buy this pencil may never need the missing clean out rod, but when the need arises, the average person is stuck with a broken pencil as 0.35 mm wire is not a common household item! With the other lead sizes common items can be found that will act as clean out rods.

The bottom line, despite the lack of a clean out rod, Platinum has a winner in the Platinum Pro-Use 03 MSD-1000A. It not only is it an attractive pencil (now tell me, does anyone really want an ugly pencil?) it is an easy pencil to use. Disassembly, should it become necessary, is easy and straight forward, as is reassembly. It is well designed and built pencil, a true quality instrument. If you are on the hunt for a quality 0.3 mm pencil then you should definitely consider the Platinum Pro-Use 03 MSD-1000A.

The Platinum Pro-Use 03 MSD-1000A can be purchased from our friends at JetPens.

I'd like thank the Platinum Pen Co. of Japan, and the Customer Service Department, for the pencil reviewed in this article.