Thursday, March 14, 2019

Pencils, Part Three

Today we're moving upscale. The Rotring 600. Of all the mechanical pencils I've ever used, this is my favorite. Not that the others I've used and written about in this series are bad. They aren't. You mostly get what you pay for and seeing as how the others are much cheaper, well... You get what you pay for. 


Rotring literally translates to "red ring", and every pen and pencil made by Rotring has a red ring somewhere on it. Usually it's subtle and not at all obtrusive. On the Rotring 600 the ring is at the top, just below the cap. 


It has an all-metal brass body with knurled grip and hardness indicator. This pencil feels extremely solid. The classic Rotring hexagonal body shape keeps the pencil from rolling on the desktop. There is also a removable pocket clip.

The Rotring 600 used to have all brass works inside, but I've read that when production was moved from Germany to Japan they redesigned the inner works and they now include some plastic parts. I've had one for over a year and have not noticed any issues related to the lead advancing mechanism. It still has a solid feel and clear "click" when you press on the cap. 

The Rotring 600 is available in 0.35mm, 0.5mm, and 0.7mm tips. The body is available in black and silver. Rotring does make lead to fit in the 0.35mm pencil. I don't believe any of the Pentel leads would fit properly. The Pentel leads work just fine in the 0.5mm and 0.7mm pencils. 

I'm not entirely sure why I like this pencil better than the others. Perhaps because it works flawlessly and just feels good in the hand. 

Rotring also produces a model 500 and a model 800. The 500 has a plastic body. The 800 has an all-metal body and a retractable tip, much like the Pentel GraphGear 1000 I've written about previously. If you plan to carry the pencil around with you and fear dropping it, investing in the 800 may be money well spent. You can buy replacement tips for the 600 but they are rather expensive, costing more than most of the other pencils I've written about. 

The prices on the Rotring 600 at Amazon fluctuate wildly. Over the last year the prices have ranged from a high of $28 to a low of $13, with $18 being the most common price. As you can see, this pencil is a bit of an investment. I'd suggest watching for spot sales if you'd like to try one.

You may have noticed that in all I've written about these various models of pencil, I've not said anything about the erasers. They all have them hidden under the cap. The reason I've not said anything is I don't use them. I have a couple separate eraser sticks I use when the pencil goes astray in a way I can correct. 

I should say up front I highly recommend the use of an eraser holder, regardless of what model you use. With a standard block eraser the oil from your hands ends up on the eraser and can cause the graphite to smear rather than erase. That's not an issue with a holder. The narrower eraser sticks used in the holders also tend to allow for more accurate erasing.

The Tombow Mono Zero is a slender eraser holder that has a click advance mechanism much like the pencils. The eraser itself is also very slender at a sleek 2.3mm diameter. This can work into tight spots without aid of an eraser shield. 

In all honesty, I think this one is a bit gimmicky and much more costly than is necessary. I bought one just to try it. I probably won't be buying another. Not that it doesn't work. It does. It's just that there are much better bargains available.

The Pentel Click Eraser ZE22 is an example of one of the better bargains. 



It's not as sleek as the Tombow, but what it lacks in style it more than makes up for in actual amount of erasing that can be done for the money spent. At 7mm diameter the eraser is almost three times the diameter of the Tombow, and the usable length of the eraser is significantly longer as well. That all translates into a lot more erasing for your dollar. The larger diameter does mean the Pentel can't work in tight spaces as well, but if that's a concern, get yourself an eraser shield and you'll still be money ahead. 



The eraser shield isn't a bad idea regardless. Isolate the area you want to erase using the shield and then you can scrub away with the eraser without fear of erasing what you didn't intend to. 

That's the end of what I have planned for this series on pencils. I'll write more in the future if I come upon other pencils I feel merit discussion. 

Do you have a favorite pencil I've not covered? Mention it in the comments and I'll check it out.

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