Pilot S20, Elegance In Wood

 

The first experience that I had with the Pilot S series was a pleasant surprise!  I really enjoyed my experience with the Pilot S10.  I liked it so much that I ended up buying an S3 and an S5 in 0.3 mm and an S3 in 0.4 mm.  But circumstances would not allow me to buy an S20.  But recently I was gifted an S20, the only one in the series made of wood.  There is no material more naturally elegant than wood.  And the Pilot S20 is nothing if not elegant! 

 

The other pencils in the series are made of plastic with either a plastic grip (S3), rubber grip (S5), or a metal grip (S10) and have a straight grip where the grip of the S20 is nicely curved near the tip.  The over all look of the shape of the pencil adds to it's elegance.  With the satin finish metal components the dark wood with it's satin finish gives the S20 a very sleek and elegant appearance.

 

But appearances alone do not make the pilot S20 such an elegant pencil.  The feel of the pencil is also elegant.  The shape along with the satin finish allows for a good grip and a good feel.  Writing with the S20 is a pleasant experience in part due to it's satiny smooth finish and shape, but the balance point is approximately 65 mm from the tip, just 6 mm shy from center.  This combination for me makes for a nice writing experience.  The pencil is not hard to hold and the wood feels so good in my fingers.

 

But enough gushing over the appearance and feel of elegant wood, let's get down to some stats.  Over all the S20 is approximately 146 mm long and 11 mm in diameter at it's widest.  it weighs 17.5 grams making it a semi heavyweight.  But I like a  weighty pencil, but then again I like a lightweight pencil as well.  Come to think of it, I like drafting pencils of all kinds and weights. Each delivers it's own experience.

 

 

Unlike the rest of the series, with the exception of the S3, the S20 breaks down into only 5 major components, the grip/body along with the metal pocket clip, the tip/end cap, the eraser with clean out rod and the lead indicator/push button.  I am sure that the pencil can be broken down further, but probably at the cost of breaking the pencil.  Besides there is no need to break the pencil down further in order to clear a lead jam.

 

The S20 is a ratcheting/clutch pencil which takes just two presses of the push button to advance enough to write with.  The mechanism is not loud enough to be a bother and the the mechanism is tight.  The lead reservoir is  cavernous enough to hold a tube of lead or more but works best with a tube or less.  To change the lead grade in the lead grade indicator window the push button must be removed so the tube can be held as the top is turned to the desired lead grade.  The pocket clip is removable but I would never do so for fear of damaging the wood. 

 

Weather you use the S20 at home or at the office, it will defiantly make a statement.  It's design, It's juxtaposition of wood and bright metal, both satin finish make the S20 the most elegant of the Pilot S series drafting pencils.  The entire series is available from our friends at JetPens.com.

Pentel Graph PG2 0.2mm Drafting Pencil

When is small too small?  I am a big fan of 0.3 mm drafting pencils and I own a few!  I like the very thin line that the lead produces, albeit at a cost - lead breakage!  So in order to use a 03. mm pencil I have had to train myself to write with a light hand.  If, like now, I use some other lead size, like a 0.5 mm lead sized pencil, such as the Kuru Toga Rouletta, then I have to retrain my self when I go back to a 0.3 mm lead size!  I like the Kuru Toga because I can use a pencil with the stronger 0.5 mm lead size yet get a near 0.3 mm line.  Lately I have been using a 0.3 mm Kuru Toga because it produces a sum 0.3 mm line!  But lead breakage is still a problem.

Then comes the Pentel Graph PG2 0.2 mm Drafting Pencil.  No, it's not a typo!  Not 2 mm but 0.2 mm!  Now that's a thin line (for a pencil)!  The pencils has been around for a while, since the late 70's, but I didn't notice it until a few years ago.  With my propensity for thin line lead pencils had I known of it's existence back then, I would have had several by now!  Or would!?

The lead grade indicator has 2 readings, HB and B and that's all the lead grades the 0.2 mm currently comes in!  Oddly enough the lead is also made by Pentel.  The Pentel Graph PG2 may be the only 0.2mm pencil made!  A quick search of the Internet provided some proof of my claim as the only 0.2 mm pencil that came up was indeed the Pentel Garph PG2!  And there may be good reason for this!

But before I get into this  lets dive into some stats!  Now who doesn't like to read about the stats of a fine drafting pencil (not a word out of you, Tommy Turquoise)?  All the mumblers tossed out at this point have been rounded to the nearest whole digit.  The PG2 is approximately 146 mm long making it of average length.  it is approximately 8 mm in diameter making it a slim pencil.  It's balance point is approximately 68 mm from the tip making it a little top heavy but you'd hardly notice and it weighs approximately 10 grams making it a feather weight!  It almost feels like there is nothing in my hand!

The grip area of the pencil is a set of concentric close set rings approximately 14 mm long.  They are smooth to the touch, probably rounded instead of square, providing a good non-slip grip with out a sharp bite.  The chromed metal pocket grip appear to be of the same type if not the same one used on the P200 series Pentel drafting pencils.  The good grip area along with the light weight and good balance would make the PG2 easy to control and fatigue free, except for one fact.  More on that later.

The construction of the PG2 is as what would be expected from Pentel, a leader in the world of fine and affordable drafting pencils.  It's solid, well made and easily torn down.  The body is plastic, along with the lead reservoir retainer/ lead grade indicator body and clean out rod handle.  The pocket clip, tip of the pencil, entire clutch and lead reservoir assembly and the but stock are metal.

The pencil can be torn down into 7 major pieces/ submersibles.  The body and removable pocket clip, the tip, the clutch/reservoir assembly, the clutch/reservoir retainer/lead indicator body, the lead indicator window, the clean out rod and holder/push button assembly and the tail stock.

 

To disassemble the PG2 into it's major components first unscrew the tip, which screws to the clutch assembly.  Unscrew the tail stock, lead grade indicator window and the clutch/reservoir retainer then pull the clutch/reservoir free from the pencil then pull the clean-out-rod holder/push button free. Reassembly is just the opposite.  due to the potential of losing an important part of the pencil, I recommend the average user do not break down the PG2 this far.  In order to clear a led jam all you have to do is remove the tip, tail stock and clean out rod/push button assembly.

The PG2 is a sliding sleeve retracts with the lead as it is used up, but only about 1/2 the distance to the base of the tip.  In my humble opinion the pencil would have been better if the sliding sleeve would have retracted all the way to the tip!  This would have given the pencil a little more versatility.

Now at the beginning of this review I ask the question, "When is small too small?"  The answer to that question, in this bloggerss mind, is when small become impracticable.  To me a 0.2 mm lead size is impracticable, which is maybe why there is only one pencil made in that lead size.  An extremely light hand must be used in conjunction with a slow, fluid writing style in order to prevent lead breakage.  But a light hand, even with HB lead, produces a light line.  This lightness combined with sheer 0.2 mm line width makes the writing/drawing produced with such a fine width extremely hard to discern by many people.  Even with the sliding sleeve the instrument is impracticable because the tip of the lead sleeve contacting the paper scratches and drags and one day will wear out.

While I do not recommend this pencil to anyone with out who does not have the lightest of hands and the keenest eyesight, does not mean that I don't like the pencil!  I do like it.  I like it's looks, light weight, balance, etc.  I just don't like using it.  A softer lead, like grade 'B' would be more practical, offering a dark line with less lead breakage.

Bottom line, for all practical purposes the Pentel PG2 is not for every one and certainly not for every day use.  It even has limited use as a drafting pencil.   It is however an elegant and beautiful pencil and it looks good in my pencil case.

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio 4 Multi-Pen

I have never been a fan of multi-pens.  Mainly because of the early ones like the Bic 4 color pens.  They were always ball points and in four colors, red, blue, green and black!  And the slimmer 2 color pens that came in either red and black or blue and red, again in all point.  Not a big fan of ball point pens either.  Refills, if the pen was refillable, were hard to find, expensive and the reservoir was small!  But over the years things have changed.  Now there are all kinds of refillable multi-pens!  Some are still ball-point pens, but even so many of these come with a built in mechanical pencil!  The best are the ones that are 3 to 4 pen/pencil multi pens that are sold empty.  The user them customizes their own multi-pen with a wide variety of refills, from ball point to gel to mechanical pencil.  Some can even be fitted with a stylus!  These multi-pens are a far cry from the earlier ones and can be custom fitted to suit the need of the user!

One of the very best of these is the very versatile Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio 4 (now that's a mouth full)!  This pen comes as a pen body with nothing in it!  A blank slate ready to be filled with the users desired components!  The components are each sold separately.  The body comes in Black, Metallic Blue, Metallic Pink, Silver, Blue, Gray, Pink, soft Green and White as sold by JetPen.com.  Mine is in silver.  The Hi-Tec-C gel pen refills come in 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm & 0.5 mm sizes in 15 different colors!  The mechanical pencil refill comes in 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm.  There is also an eraser component and a stylus component!  WOW!  That's a lot of different refills!  Choices, choices, choices!

I ended up choosing the 0.3 mm mechanical pencil (a no-brainer) and a black gel pen in all 3 sizes!  Sweet!  I'm happy with my choices as I do use gel pens often.  And 0.3 mm is my favorite lead size.  I carry with me, in a pocket protector, a 0.5 mm drafting pencil, a uni Signo 207 Micro, a Pilot 0.38 mm G2, a stick eraser, a retractable EF Sharpie and an X-Acto style hobby knife.  In a second pocket protector I carry a small top ring note book.  My lovely wife calls them my "Geek Gear".  Cute.  But at one time or another while out and about, I've had need of every item in the pouches!  What I am considering doing is to replace the 2 gel pens and the pencil with the Coleto Lumio 4!  I like it that much!  But to be perfectly honest, if I had not been gifted the body, I probably never would have bought one and the refills to fill it.

Filling the Coleto is easy as popin' the top!

Sliding in the refill, making sure all the grooves and tabs align (they practically thread themselves and lock in with a noticeable feel)!

Then closing the top!  It closes with a snap!  The Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio 4 is now ready for use, eh almost!  Before you insert the pencil component into the pencil you should put a few pieces of lead into the reservoir.  This is easily done as the tip separates from the reservoir easily where the plastic part of the tip connects to the metal reservoir.  Add a few pieces of lead to the reservoir then reassemble the component.  NOW insert it into the body...

Using the Coleto is as simple as any other multi-pen only smoother.  The components go down with a smooth, easy motion using very little pressure because the springs in the pen are light but strong enough to do the job.  Releasing the locked down component is equally as light and easy!  As far as the feel of the pen components goes, they feel like any other Hi-Tec-C gel pen of the size chosen.  Same goes for the 0.3mm pencil.  The tips of the pencils and pens look very similar.  This means the pencil's lead sleeve is short making it definitely a mechanical pencil component, not a drafting pencil component.  So long as excess lead is not extended and excess pressure is not applied then the pencil writes fine.

Pencil tip

Pen tip

Now I guess you blog readers want me to give you some stats!  Well I'm not going to do it!  Nope, not this time!  Ain't gonna do it!  Well, OK!  You talked me into it...  Or was that just the voices in my head...?  Anyway, the Coleto Lumio 4 is a lightweight weighing only15.7 grams filled as I have it.  Different components are going to change the weight to some degree.  The over all length with the components detracted is 142 mm making it of average length.  The upper body diameter is 12.3 mm and the diameter of the grip is 11.4 mm.  The balance point is approximately 72 mm from the tip of the pen body.  This makes the pen nearly perfectly balanced at the pens center.  The pen body is plastic with a metal pocket clip.  The body separates from the grip so the components can be accessed without excessive wear and tear on the pens cap.  The texture of the finish on the plastic is excellent!  Despite there being no roughness to the surface the surface provides an excellent gripping surface!  I have no problem holding onto the pen!

Bottom line...  Like I stated earlier, I would probably never have bought a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio 4 Multi-pen if it had not been for the gift of the body.  I like the pen so much I am now considering buying another one, maybe in blue, and filling it with both pencil components, the eraser component and the stylus component!  I'll certainly review it if I do!  So, if you are in the market for a good, customizable, multi-pen then I don't think you could go wrong by purchasing a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Lumio 4 from JetPens.com.

The Old Geezer

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Giveaway

 October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and since my lovely wife is a survivor of breast cancer I wanted to give away these special uni Signo Pink Ribbon gel pens.  I wanted to do this earlier in the month to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness, but I could not find the pens until now.  So better late than never!

 

All you have to do to win these pens is to send me an email with Breast Cancer Awarness Month in the subject line and include your name of on-line handle.  Please, one entry per person, please!

 

The Giveaway will lastuntil midnight the 31st of October.  The winner will be chosen by the Randon Integer Generator. at the end of the blog.

 

You can also enter my other giveaway, the "October Giveaway".

Enter now before it's too, late!

 

Thanks to all who entered, but the Giveaway is now CLOSED.

 

 

October Giveaway

I know it's late in the month for a giveaway, but better late than never, right?...  Right?...  Brother, tough crowd.  Anyway this month up for grabs is a Mitsubishi uni a-gel HD 0.5mm mechanical pencil.  Get this, not only does it have a squishy gel grip that some people love, it's a shaker!  That's right, blog fans!  Just shake it to extend the lead!  Or just used the push button!  Either way, lead gets extended!  But there's more!  To prevent lead from being extended accidentally while the pencil is getting jostled, (jostled, does anyone use words like jostled anymore?) around it has a catch.  Literally, there's a catch!  By pressing the push button all the way down until an audible "click" is heard the mechanism is rendered inoperable!  This helps prevent the user from getting stuck with a length of graphite!  It also helps prevent lead loss by preventing lead from being accidentally extended then broken.

Anyway, it's a nice looking pencil with a blur gel grip, chrome tip and collar between body and grip, chrome & plastic pocket clip, blue transparent collar around the push button, chrome push button and argent (graphite gray) body with silver lettering!  It's new, never used and it's up for grabs!

All you have to do to have a chance of winning this squishy grip pencil is send me an email, theoldgeezer@live.com. telling me why you like squishy grip pencils!  Because I can't stand them and can not fathom why anybody would!  So enlighten me, please!  Oh, in the subject line of the email put October Giveaway.  That way I'll spot it and keep it!  Please only one entry per person per email addy!  That's all there is to it!  Entries will be accepted until midnight on Oct. 31.  After midnight I'll use the Random Integer Generator at the bottom of the page to select a winner.  Entries will be assigned a number from 1 to whatever in order in which they are received.

So, thanks for reading my humble blog.

Oops!  Is my face red!  I forgot to publish the Giveaway soon enough!  So I'm extending the deadline until Monday, November 5th at midnight!   Sorry, blog fans!  Even the Old Geezer makes a mistake every now and then...  Don't you say a word, Tommy Turquoise!

Pleas, no more entries as the giveaway is now closed.  Thank you for reading my blog.

The Old Geezer

uni Kuru Toga Family of Mechanical Pencils

Some years ago Mitsubishi came out with a unique pencil under the uni (uni-ball) label.  They called it the Kuru Toga, meaning auto rotation pencil.  The idea was a simple one, rotate the lead in the pencil rather than having the user rotate the pencil in order to keep the end of the lead, where it contacts the paper, from ovaling, or flattening, out.  When the lead ovals out the line it produces is wider than the actual diameter of the lead itself.  The lead also ends up with a sharp angular point that causes the lead to dig into the paper, when the pencil id rotated, and breaks the lead.  This is especially true with small diameter leads like 0.5 mm and 0.3 mm.  Draftsmen once were taught to rotate the pencil in their hand as they drew a line to give the lead a conical point and avoid lead breakage.  However with so many of us using drafting pencils and mechanical pencils designed like drafting pencils to write with the draftsman's technique does not work.  But the ratcheting mechanism of the Kuru Toga does.

Basically the mechanism works much like the mechanism that operates a  "click" style pen.  Teeth in a clutch, under spring tension, hold the tip in place until pressure is put on the tip, such as what happens when one puts pencil to paper.  The clutch releases, rotates the lead a small degree the reengages, much like when one presses the push button on a "click" style pen.  As one writes the constant pressing and releasing of the lead to the paper causes a continual flow of energy to the Kuru Toga engine, rotating the lead continually, giving it and keep a conical point.  The result is less lead breakage and a written line with a diameter less than the actual diameter of the lead.  Thus a 0.5 mm pencil delivers close to a 0.3 mm line and a 0.3 mm pencil close to a 0.2 mm line.  Brilliant!

0.5 mm version

The original Kuru Toga was an almost entirely plastic pencil with a metal tip cover and a clear grip.  The grip was clear so the user could see the auto rotating mechanism in action and be amazed at the brilliance of Japanese engineering!  Or something like that.  The tip cover has a rubber ring around it to enhance the grip of the pencil.  This pencil was first offered in 0.5 mm only, then later in 0.5 mm and 0.3 mm.

0.3 mm version

But the pencil, as awesome as the design was, is as inelegant as it is functional.  Enter the High Grade.  This was the next phase in the Kuru Toga line.  It featured a more elegant looking and smaller diameter upper body as well as a metal pocket clip and more traditional mushroom style push button.  A metal conical ring separates the upper body from the lower, which retains much the same shape as the original Kuru Toga.  Only the clear grip is now opaque, being a sliver/white silken plastic with a small "port hole" window with which to view the rotation Kuru Toga Symbol.  The tip cap was also redesigned, being slightly longer with a tighter fitting rubber grip ring.



High Grade version

This was a major improvement over the original Kuru Toga as far as athletics goes. The auto rotation engine was unchanged in the High Grade.  There was no real reason to change it.  It works so why mess with it in order to make it slightly slimmer?  Or perhaps the design had reached it'd limits miniaturization wise while being made from plastic and using other materials may have not been cost effective!  Who knows?  This design may have been the final version had it not been for, in my opinion, the grip!

The grip retained the original shape and size as the original Kuru Toga, which in itself is not a bad thing.  The bad thing is the material it is made of and it's lack of any knurled surfaces makes the High Grades grip less effective than the original!  I personally find the grip hard to hold.  The pencil has a tendency to ride up in my hand making it hard to write with.  I have little idea as to why they chose the material they did to make the grip from.  It almost feels like a hard silicon grip!  Had they made the grip from a less slick material or had they put some type of knurling on the grip then the design may have reached it's peak.

Enter the Roulette.  This is what the High Grade should have been.  The upper body of the Roulette is the same as the High Grade, but in silver, and so is the tip cover.  The big difference between the two pencils is the grip.  Here they finally got it right.  The grip of the Roulette is made from aluminum and is a straight barrel with 3 wide knurled rings at the bottom of the grip where it meets the tip cover.

Roulette version

The knurled rings add a considerable amount of gripping surface to the pencil.  I find the Roulette by far the easiest Kuru Toga to grip and write with.  I really like mine and I use it all he time.  Up until the Roulette my "go to" pencil had been a Pentel P203 0.3 mm pencil.  But like all 0.3 mm pencils, the lead still breaks too often.  I really can not recall the 0.5 mm lead breaking on me while using the Roulette with the proper amount of lead extended.  So the Kuru Toga Roulette has now become my "go to" pencil.

Other than athletics the Kuru Toga family of mechanical pencils all share the same auto rotation engine.  The also share the same low capacity, hard to feed lead into lead reservoir!  Lead has to be fed into the reservoir one-piece-at-a-time and the reservoir fills up fast (well as fast as it can being fed one lead at time).  They also share the same basic take down.

The push button comes off, the eraser pulls out, the tip cover unscrews and the lead sleeve/tip pops off.  The lead sleeve/tips and tip covers are different between the two basic pencil designs and so is the end of the pencils where the tips/lead sleeves and tip covers fit.  The erasers and push button/eraser covers also are completely different.  So of the 4 removable parts none are interchangeable between the 2 designs.

Bottom line is that while all the Kuru Togas have their fine points, my favorite by far is the Roulette, for reasons already stated.  However the roulette may not be, and I'm sure that it isn't, every ones favorite Kuru Toga.  The best way to find out which one is best suited to you, the reader, try each one out and see which one fits you best.

The Old Geezer


Retro 1951 Hex-O-Matic In White

Every now and then I come across a pencil that I'd never seen or heard of before.  That shouldn't surprise me as I am not arrogant enough to believe that "I've seen them all".  But when I do come across something strange or unusual it's generally something old or out of manufacturer or from a company that I've never heard of or has long gone out of business or has had a name change, etc.  It's rare that I come across a new, modern pencil that's still being made in one form or another that I've never heard a bout or seen.  But that's just the case with the Retro 1951 Hex-O-Matic drafting pencil.  Until I was gifted the pencil I didn't know they existed!  But then again, I've been away from blogging for a while, so anything could have slipped by me!

Apparently the company has been around since 1990!  But the reason they have slipped under my radar is because the manufacturer ball point pens!  They have a line called the Tornado, which seems to be their best seller, which also includes a few mechanical pencils.  The pens/ mechanical pencils all share the same basic shape!  They all look like a round metal spike!  The design of each is unique but the shape is always the same!  While not unattractive pens/pencils, they just aren't for me.  The Hex-O-Matic is more in line with what I look for in a drafting pencil.

The overall look is indeed retro.  As one can see the overall design on the outside looks a lot like the rotring 600 and family as well as the Koh-I-Noor Rapiodomatic series.  It has a hexagonal barrel forming the main part of the body, and a round knurled grip which is slightly smaller than the barrel itself.  Integral with and above the body is a pocket clip, which rests in a recess in the body.  Then there is the area above the pocket clip which on similar designs houses the lead grade indicator but on the Hex-O-Matic is just knurled bright metal with a satin bright metal push button with the numerals "51" painted on the end.  The pocket clip is also satin bright metal as is the tip with the lead sleeve being bright stainless steel.  There is a black band between the body and the knurled top ring where the two join.

The only wording on the pencil aside from the "51" on the push button is on the pocket clip, which has stamped into the ring, "RETRO 1951 HEX-O-MATIC".

The body is made from aluminium which on most pencils is clear anodized giving the pencil that raw metal look.  Or it is anodized black.  If the surface of the pencil is rough when anodized it has a flat, rough texture!  If smooth, then it will have a smooth texture.  But this version of the Hex-O-matic is not finished in the traditional way.  It's been painted white!  I have never seen a white drafting pencil before.  Now let's not confuse the color white with the term "white metal" or "In the white", which means in both cases, the raw color of the base metal.  This is usually a silver tone of some sort.  But this pencil has actually been painted white (backed on enamel, I hope).  While not an unpleasing color, it is unusual.  However it is not offered in white on the Retro 1951 website!

The only 2 finishes currently offered on the Hex-O-Matic pencils and companion pen, is black (anodized, I assume) and silver (clear anodized).  It appears that the white painted finish is no longer sold.  Probably because of paints lack of durability, especially on such an item as a pencil which is going to get banged a round a bit!  It's also a much heavier finish than anodize.  This means when it chips, there is a hole where the paint used to be.  Just like a chip out of a car body!  So I'm not surprised that the company dropped the painted white pencil from the lineup.

The Hex-O-Matic has one very nice feature, a sliding sleeve!  Most pencils will have a fixed lead sleeve about 4 mm long.  This can be a hazard when the pencil if placed into a shirt pocket!  Ouch!  So some pencil makers have come up with various ways of hiding the lead sleeve to protect it and the user!  One way is the hide-away or projecting sleeve.  Another is the sliding sleeve.  The difference between the two is that the former will lock in the extended position while the latter  is free floating and as the lead wears down the sleeve moves with it, protecting the lead.  The Hex-O-Matic is a true sliding sleeve pencil.

Some other features of the pencil are a smooth, but noisy, ratcheting action, smooth transition from hidden to extended lead sleeve and a hidden clean out rod under the eraser.  That's becoming a rarer and rarer find in drafting pencils now a days.  The grip is nicely knurled however I think that the fact that it's painted detracts from the bite it could have if it were anodized.  As is the grip is adequate.  The overall fit and finish is very good.  The paint job is even with no drip marks or runs.  All the joints are tight with no gaps.  Over all the appearance is very pleasing, it's a very attractive pencil, even in white.

Hum... I suppose that you, the reader,  would like some stats, huh?  Well, OK, here goes...  The pencil,with tip hidden is 134 mm long, 137 with it extended.  Across the flats the body measures 8.4 mm while the diameter of the grip is 8.2 mm.  The pencil weighs 21.8 grams and the balance point is64 mm from the tip and 72 mm from the bush button.  Technically this means the pencil is top heavy, but in reality when held in the writing position the pencil feels quite well balanced. From a "cold start" (lead sleeve hidden) one push of the lead advancement button (push button) extends the lead sleeve. a second push extends a minimal amount of lead while a third extends enough to write with. The lead reservoir is of average capacity and can hold 6 leads easily. All things considered the Hex-O-Matic delivers a pleasant writing experience.

The only time you may need to break down the Hex-O-Matic is to clear a lead jam.  but in order to do so you practically have to break it down completely!  First, hold the grip and body in opposite hands and unscrew the two apart.  Next, separate the tip from the grip in the same fashion.  Now do the same to separate the tip from the clutch assembly (hint: they separate at the point the metals change colors).  Now hold the tube so that the clutch is pointed down and remove the push button to reveal the eraser.  Remove the eraser and replace the push button to avoid spilling all the lead from the reservoir.  See All Jammed Up for further instructions.  To put the pencil back together simply reverse the breakdown procedure.

My over all impression of the Hex-O-Matic is a very good one.  I like the way it feels and writes as well as how it works internally.  The white paint issue aside there is just one thing I dislike about the Hex-O-Matic.  And that's the fact that it comes in one lead size only!  That one size is 0.7 mm!  The only thing, for me, that could make the pencil less appealing is if it came in 0.9 mm only!  Having said that, well, regular readers of my humble blog know my prejudice against any lead size above 0.4 mm!  So with that in mind I'd say Retro 1951 has a winner in the over all design and construction of the Hex-O-Matic!  Thy would reach a broader customer base, however, if they would produce the pencil in the full range of available lead sizes.  But, if you are in the market for a 0.7 mm drafting style pencil, then by no means overlook the Retro 1951 Hex-O-Matic.

For Hans and Penelope.  Thanks for reading my blog.