Rubber Madness

Back in the mid 00's there was an outbreak of the dreaded Rubber Madness in the Avery design department.

They got swept up in some sort of mass hysteria and next thing the Avery Nexgrip ballpoint pen and the Avery doubleClick multi-pen ended up in my hands. Urggghh! Now you know I would never buy those rubber horrors, so don't ask me how I got them, I just did, okay.

It's awful. I worried about breaking out in hives when I first touched the Nexgrip.

Full body rubber grip.
Quelle horreur!
Es una abominación!!

Not so terrifying, but still enough to put me in a spin, the doubleClick multi-pen. 

Only a partial rubber body :) It is a twist action multi with one ballpoint tip and one 0.5mm mechanical pencil tip.

But there's more bad news.

Another red card for Dave!
Can you see it?
"doubleClick TM"

In my One-Man War Against 'Double Knock' it appears that like Vanishing Point, Double Click is also toast.
Double Action is probably gone too... I think I'm in trouble.... Retractable Tip, Retracta Point... so few options left :)

Luckily the I think the rubber madness outbreak has been brought under control at Avery, because I believe both are discontinued.

Newman Mechanical Pencil

I have tripped across a few Newman mechanical pencils over the years, but know very little about the company, and their pencils haven’t leapt up and slapped me across the face to get my attention… until now.

What little I can find out about Newman can he summarised as follows. Newman were a reasonably common and successful Japanese brand in the 1960’s through 80’s. The end. If you know more, then please do enlighten me.

Anyway, quite a few years ago, Germ of the now long gone Pencils11 blog sent me a box of “odds and sods” and within it a Newman mechanical pencil caught my attention. With this blog being on hiatus for so long, it has taken me all this time to get around to posting about it, but here goes.

At first this seems like a reasonably ordinary slim line stainless steel mechanical pencil with lightly grooved grip section and a rather attractive bright red push top button.

Let’s push the button to advance the lead.

That’s a bit strange; the red push top button is actually a sleeve around the real inner stainless button. Pushing the button down has pushed the sleeve about half way into the body, and it stays there. Also, the sleeve is attached to the pocket clip, so the pocket clip has also slid down a channel in the body and now exposes the letter “BP”. I’m confused. Ballpoint? The multi-national oil conglomerate? I don’t know.

But the pocket clip channel is longer still, so you can slide the pocket clip and the sleeve further down, all the way down, down and out.

Now just a tiny little red ring is left. Rotring as some might be tempted to say.

Really, I’ve got no idea what this system is all about, perhaps the sleeve is some sort of anti-accidental activation device? Or perhaps it is just purely aesthetic, for when you have the pencil clipped in your shirt pocket the shiny red sleeve is fully extended? Has anybody got any other ideas?

A couple of other images for you.

White Lead and Embroidery

When I first started this blog I thought it would be of interest to a few people from the mechanical pencil using groups like engineers, architects, designers, artists, writers, etc. This has largely turned out to be true, but there is one group of readers that I did not anticipate, and it’s rather silly of me to have not anticipated some interest from them, especially because my mother is one of them. The group I am referring to is the one I have come to call “The Crafty Ladies” with a subset of “The Ladies Who Sew”. Mechanical pencils and multi-pens find favour with many who scrapbook, make cards, sew and embroider, etc. The search for the ultimate multi-pen is not taken lightly, and the quest for the perfect white lead is a True Quest.

White lead? Yes. Over the course of this blog I have had quite a few contacts from ladies trying to find the ultimate in white lead for material marking. For many, the traditional soap and chalk markers just don’t cut the mustard. Strong enough to not break when marking woven fabrics. Thin enough to be accurate. Preferably temporary in that it can be washed off. Definitely non-running or bleed through. These are just some of the desired attributes of the mechanical pencil white lead. I am afraid I haven’t been able to offer much help. Sakura have some white leads, but they generally seem to be 0.9mm. The white lead for the Striker mechanical carpenters pencil has some possible uses but requires sharpening. Pergamano offer a 0.5mm lead which many seem to use. These and the others though all seem hard to obtain and not entirely satisfactory. Recently I was contacted by Christine who was looking for some multi-pen and lead assistance for her embroidery hobby. I suggested she might like to do a little blog article about her use of pencils, and she agreed. So, without further todo, I will now hand over to her.
****

My name is Christine and I use colored pencil leads and multi pencils in my craft work. During my pencil/leads quest, I came across Dave’s blog. My hobby is Japanese Embroidery, which you may have seen on Japanese kimonos. While my pieces are smaller ones intended for framing and hanging on our walls, kimonos are even more intricate, and may take several professional stitchers a year or more to complete. The tools, techniques, fabrics, threads, designs, and colors have remained largely unchanged for 1600 years. There are 2 Centers of study, located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA , and in Japan. These 2 Centers create all of our designs, color schemes, and techniques for completion. To provide some general information, the embroidery is done on silk fabric stretched on a frame, using silk thread:

We use only a few tools, specifically, scissors, needles, a laying tool called a tekobari, and an awl (not pictured):

I some times need to mark on the fabric, for example to note the direction of stitches. Depending on the color of the fabric, we use either a white or non-photo blue 0.5 mm pencil lead - whichever will show up better. The blue lead is one which has been tested by the professionals at the Japanese Embroidery Center, and its color will not run during the finishing process, when we apply a wheat starch to the back of the piece and steam it thoroughly. My teacher gave us several leads, it is a Staedtler Mars product per the printing on the container. Historically, the white lead is a Prismacolor Verithin pencil, which can be sharpened to a fine point. For us, the finer the point, the better, as we may stitch with silk threads as thin as 0.1 mm. Recently, I have discovered a 0.5 mm white lead from Pergamano, which provides the fine point we like. I find the Pergamano color to be shiny, sometimes appearing silver/grey, and the lead is soft. The Pergamano white lead is designed for a card-making process called Pergamano, and I’ve only found it via one supplier. In this photo, I’ve drawn on white and brown paper with 4 leads - 0.5 mm regular lead, Verithin white lead, Pergamano 0.5 mm white lead, and 0.5 mm Non Photo blue lead.

Here, I’ve drawn directly on the silk embroidery fabric as I would do when working, placing direction lines in the small rounded areas in the middle of the picture with blue and white leads:

To reduce the number of pencils I need to carry, one of my favorite toys is a multi pencil, created from a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 3 Color Multi Pen Body and 3x0.5mm Mechanical Pencil Components (blue, white, and regular):

My other multi pen is for travel use, and is a Uni-ball Style Fit 5 Color Gel Ink Multi Pen Pen Body, containing 2 pen cartridges and 3x0.5mm Mechanical Pencil Components.

Both of these multi pens are super for my needs. I wish I needed more lead colors so I could have more of these multi pen/pencils. They have turned me in to a pencil geek.

Here is a photo of this portion of the embroidery completed:

If you’re interested you’re welcome to view my facebook albums (you don’t need to be on facebook to view them) here  and here. More information is at http://www.japaneseembroidery.com/.

Cheers,
Christine, Washington DC area, USA.
****
Great stuff. Thanks Christine. The hours of work in those Facebook embroideries….
Dave.

Platinum Pen Company Interview

Platinum Pen Ltd Interview

I recently made contact with Mr Osamu Fukuoka, International Marketing Manager of Platinum Pen Company of Japan, and he agreed to answer a few questions about Platinum and their products.

Dave - Platinum Pen aren’t particularly well known outside of Asia so some readers of this blog won’t be too familiar with your company. To start with, could you tell us a little about Platinum’s history?

Osamu - Platinum Pen Co was established in 1919 as manufacturer of fountain pen. During 1930’s, Platinum started manufacturing Maki-e fountain pen. Maki-e is the Japanese traditional hand crafting. Also Platinum is the first company to adopt the fountain pen cartridge system. Mechanical pencils were added to range in 1935, multi-pens in 1978.

Dave - And what about Platinum today?

Osamu - Platinum main office is in Tokyo, Japan, and we have two factories in Japan. We also have the factory in Shanghai (China), Shenzhen (China), Taiwan and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).

Japan’s factory is making the middle-high end writing instruments; other factories (China, Taiwan, and Vietnam) are making the low writing instrument & OEM products. In Japan we have 250 persons, overseas factory staff total 400.

Dave – I note that compared to many writing instrument companies Platinum seem to have a large selection of multi pens. What is Platinum’s speciality, your strongest product group?

Osamu - Platinum’s main product is fountain pen and multi-function pen. We have good sales of multi function pen in Japan market. Best sale is 3 action multi pen - black & red ball pen with mechanical pencil. Market price JPY 1000 - 3000 model is good sales.


There are lots of multi pen company in Japan. Platinum supply the standard multi pen, also we’re supplying the wood body, leather body, sterling silver body, modern maki-e multi pen etc. We have many multi function pen types, so for that reason we think that we are the leading brand of multi pen in Japan market.

Dave - What sells more in Japan – technical drafting style pencils like the Pro-Use, or general writing style pencils like MOL-500 and A-Pen MAQ-1000?

Osamu - Pencils like Pro-Use MSD series are suitable for drafting, however these item are specialised, our sales of general everyday writing pencils are better sales than MSD series.


Our biggest selling model of pencil is MSIQ-200 series; they are using the soft silicon grip. Price is JPY200, reasonable price. This model is good selling mechanical pencil in Japan market.

Dave – Can you give us some data on the sales ratio of pencils by lead size?

Osamu - We don’t have many mechanical pencils, so our pencils are 90% 0.5mm. The pencil’s standard lead is 0.5mm in Japan market, most everyday writing pencil is 0.5mm. Other size 0.7mm and 0.9mm are not so popular in Japan. This is the same for fountain pen. For example, Japanese prefer fountain pen nib of Fine or Medium size. However European or American market prefer Medium or Broad nib.

Dave - Which countries are your primary market?

Osamu - Platinum’s biggest market is Japan. Our main export market is USA, Korea and Taiwan. USA and Korea’s main exporting products are fountain pen. In Taiwan main exporting items are fountain pen and middle class products. For our pencil sales, 90% is Japan market. USA, Korea & Taiwan are not big.

Dave – Do you have plans to try and expand sales in Europe, America, etc?

Osamu - Our next trying market should be Europe. We think that there is the custom to use the fountain pen in EU market, so we’re trying to expand sales in Europe market.


Platinum main products are fountain pen or multi function pen. Last 20 years main item is multifunction pen instead of fountain pen. We would like to export the multi function pen to overseas market. However in USA or Europe market they are not so popular. We’re thinking how to promote the multi function pen in overseas market. Also regarding the pencils, we’ll try to promote them for overseas market.

Dave – Thanks very much Osamu. I wish you luck with expanding the Platinum brand around the world.

Zebra Sharbo X Multi Pen Review

Well readers, today we have a guest review, sent in by Jarmo from Finland.

Zebra Sharbo X Multi Pen Review

I’m one of those people, who love not only pencils (and some pens too), but also various gadgets or anything with a useful or at least semi-practical “trick” to it. So when I found out multipens exist, they seemed right up my alley: the Swiss Army Knife of pens, neat! Besides, I need both pencil and pen at work, which made the combination seem all the more attractive. So I bought a few of them. My favourite ones by far are Zebra Sharbo X and the similar Tombow Zoom 414, but I like the Sharbo X a little better, so that’s the one I’m reviewing here.

The Sharbo X is available in many materials, finishes and colors. The ones you see here are Zebra Sharbo X LT3 in matte grey and matte green. They are cheaper than most of the other options and I figured the matte finish would provide a better grip. These pen bodies are made of brass, but there are aluminium and even carbon fiber models available as well. The innards are almost completely customizable. In addition to the pen body, you will need to buy at least three refill components. One of them must be a mechanical pencil, the other two you can fill with any D1-pattern refills. The mechanical pencil components are available in 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 mm. They only fit one pencil component at a time.

The pen itself is 134 mm long (writing tips retracted, add 3-4 mm when extended), about 9.4 mm in diameter and weighs 23 grams with the internal components installed. I think it’s a fairly compact pen. See pic below with good old Pentel P205 for size comparison. The body is fairly smooth with almost uniform diameter, and the only external features are a few markings, grooves and a pocket clip. There’s no rubberized or knurled grip section.

The pocket clip appears to be steel and feels like it’s spring-loaded, but I haven’t disassembled to check. It has a fairly strong grip. Under the tailcap is a replaceable eraser, but the tailcap must be unscrewed to access it, so you’ll probably want to use a separate eraser. Still, it’s there if you need it.

About midway on the body are three marks: I, II and III with the Sharbo X logo under the I. The number that the pocket clip points to marks the function that is currently selected. I is where the obligatory mechanical pencil component is, II and III are the other components. That’s right, the pencil is always number I.

The different writing components are selected by simply turning the barrel in either direction, so whichever mode you have selected, the other two are always just a single quick twist away. There’s a definite tactile feedback when a given writing tip is extended and clicks into place. The selector can also be left in any in-between position, in which case the writing tips are retracted, making the pen pocket safe.

The best thing about the selector mechanism is, however, that it rotates endlessly in both directions. Personally, I infinitely prefer this system to any other, such as gravity feed where you have to hold the pen in a certain way to (probably) get the function you wanted, or those pens where the barrel begins to unscrew if you turn it too far. No such woes with the Sharbo! Just keep turning in either direction until you find the tip you wanted. (Note: the Tombow Zoom 414 works the same way, so this is not a unique feature.)

Naturally, the barrel can still be unscrewed so you can change the internal components. Simply pull out the one you want to replace and push another one in its place. You can also change the refills without disassembling the pen, but you may need pliers to get the old one out. The pencil part won’t fit through the opening, however, so if you want to change that, you’ll have to disassemble.

The lead is advanced by clicking the top of the pen, but instead of a button, the whole top half of the pen moves on each click. It works smoothly, but still requires a slightly stronger thumb action than most other mechanical pencils. With 10 clicks, the 0.3 mm component gives you 3.5 mm of lead, whereas the 0.5 mm one gives you 5.5 mm. In the pic below, the grey pen has a 0.5 mm tip and the green pen has a 0.3 mm tip.

One disadvantage of multipens is that the mechanical pencil part is tiny and will not hold many spare leads. I haven’t tried stuffing them to see how many they can take before jamming. I usually keep 3 spare leads in the 0.5 mm one and 4 in the 0.3 mm one. To refill the lead magazine, you can push the tail section to release the lead holding mechanism and feed in one lead at a time through the tip. Of course, you can also disassemble the pen if you want to put in several leads at once.

The lead sleeve is only 2 mm long, so this is not a drafting pencil by any means. Due to the nature of the beast, the writing components also have a tiny amount of wobble to them, but not so much that it would bother me. Indeed, I didn’t even notice until I deliberately checked for it.

Ergonomically, the pen is good, though it could be better. While the grip isn’t bad by any means, it’s not as good as knurling once your hands get sweaty from a lot of writing. On the other hand, unlike some pens with a built-in grip area, you can grip the Sharbo fairly close to the writing tip, which I like. When you pick it up, it seems surprisingly heavy for its compact size. The point of balance is located just a little beyond the halfway mark, about 70-71 mm from the tip. Technically, it’s slightly tip-heavy, but not enough to feel that way in practice. In other words, it feels neutrally balanced.

As far as durability goes, it’s perhaps too early to say much, since I’ve had them less than a year. But I’ve used them daily at work, and so far, I’ve had no issues with either one. I have dropped them a few times, and once the green one landed on a concrete floor, right on the tip of the 0.3 mm pencil component. The lead shattered, of course, but the pencil component itself shows no signs of abuse and works fine. And even if it had broken, it would have been very easy to simply replace the pencil component with a new one.

Since this is a pencil blog, I’ll only briefly touch on the other refills. There are many, many types and colors available from different manufacturers. Ballpoints, gel ink, highlighters etc. Tombow even has a pressurized Space Pen type refill, if you need to write upside down or underwater. I’ve found Zebra’s ballpoints to be very good, they start easily, write without skipping and seem to last a long time considering their tiny size. Their gel refills, on the other hand, seem to dry up and/or become scratchy fairly quickly. Also, it has turned out that D1-pattern refills are not quite universal. Tombow and Zebra ones seem to be interchangeable, but I tried a Lamy refill and it was slightly smaller in diameter, so it didn’t fit properly.

Overall, I really like the Sharbo X, but I did make the effort to write as impartial a review as I could (and yes, I paid for both of them and all the refills with my own money). As I mentioned, I frequently need both a pencil and a pen at work, and these multipens work quite well in both roles. Switching back and forth between the modes is effortless. While there are some mechanical pencils that are better pencils that the Sharbo X, it’s still a perfectly satisfactory pencil. If you are looking for a multipen to add to your pen collection, Sharbo X and the Tombow 414 are the best ones I’ve tried.

• Good points – easily customizable, three writing functions, excellent selector mechanism, high quality, pocket safe.
• Bad points – grip could be better.
• Other points – lot’s of material, finish and color options to choose from before you even get to the refills.
• Price range – high, if you include both the body and the internal components.

Dimensions - 134 mm long, diameter ca. 9.4 mm, balance point about 71 mm from the tip end of the body (with writing components installed but tips retracted).

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Great stuff! Thanks Jarmo.

Kanoe Multi Pencils

Kanoe Multi Colour Mechanical Pencils

Here’s two vintage Kanoe multi colour pencils that I have. Kanoe was a Japanese company, now long gone, and I don’t know much about them. I have found some information indicating Kanoe was a brand of the Morita Seisakusho company and they exported primarily in the decades prior to and after World War 2. I can only assume they must have exported quite a lot because although they are not common down in my part of the globe, you don’t have to look too long or hard to find a Kanoe. They seem to be quite well made and most are still generally in good condition.

First then the lower of the two multi-pencils shown above – it’s a two colour round bodied model. The clip is marked “PAT” “KANOE” and “JAPAN”. You slide the appropriate slider button down to extend the colour tip of your choice – red or black. Black is of course just ordinary graphite.

The other model is a four-colour octagonal bodied multi pencil. The clip is marked “PAT” “KANOE / PEACE”. I have noted some pencils to be marked with and without the word Peace and wonder if that might date them to prior / post war? The colours are red, green, blue and black (graphite). The leads are all 1.18mm, same as the two colour model.

Spare leads are housed beneath the top cap.

Having selected the tip of your choice, to actually advance more lead you push the slider down even further to push the tip further out of the body and then you rotate the tip to wind more lead out. It’s a one way system – once wound out the lead cannot be wound back in.

I have read some statements that the bodies are mirror polished stainless steel, but I figure both of mine are plated brass.

Papermate PhD Multi Pen Review

Papermate PhD Multi Pen Review

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I recently had a little overseas holiday. In the past I have often taken mini pencils as part of my travel kit but this time around I thought to myself that surely international travel was one of those occasions when one should consider a multi pen. So I swept aside the usual contenders and grabbed the Papermate PhD Multi that was lurking around in my office.

The Papermate PhD Multi has three tips to select from, and a quick bit of web-time lead me to the conclusion that Papermate offer the PhD Multi in two formats. The first format is ballpoint pen, mechanical pencil and stylus. This is the only format mentioned on the Papermate website. However, there is a second readily available format, namely two ballpoint pen tips and a mechanical pencil tip. The ballpoint pen colours available are black and red, but 0.5mm seems to be only the mechanical pencil option. My PhD is this second version – two pens and a pencil.

Being a fairly substantial size, and a multi pen, the PhD Multi is a heavier than your average mechanical pencil, and a little top heavy in the hand.The grip zone of the PhD Multi is a fairly deeply scalloped grooved rubber triangular grip. It’s a fairly large sized grip, the sides of the triangle are about 12mm long. The rubber compound is reasonably hard but quite ‘grippy’. Now, I’ve had plenty of bad thoughts about rubber grips over the years but this is a rubber grip that unquestionably improves things. The rubber compound, the grooves and the contoured shape all combine to provide an extremely positive and secure grip. I note that the Papermate website states the grip is “endorsed by the American Physical Theraphy Association.”
One thing I do not usually cover in my reviews is the long-term reliability and durability of a writing instrument. That’s because I’m usually only using the review item for a week or two, and taking good care of it, so that I can put it back into my collection in “as new” condition. So, long term durability is beyond the scope of my reviews. The rubber grip on the PhD Multi just felt a little thin to me and the triangular grip would tend to concentrate the wear pattern, which made me think about long term durability, so I took the unusual step of doing a bit of searching for feedback on shopping sites, etc. I wasn’t too surprised to find a number of commenter’s stating that the rubber grip stretched or loosened and came off over time. Peoples expectations of durability and life-expectancy are very subjective and highly variable, but there might be a bit of an issue with the rubber grip. But hey, I think there’s one problem or another with all rubber grips! Seriously though, no rubber grip is going to last as long as bare metal or a section of hard moulded plastic body, and I imagine the softer and squishier your rubber grip, the more prone it is to wear and tear. Everything’s a compromise; it’s just something to keep in mind.

Right, let’s get back to writing with the PhD Multi. You select your desired tip by twisting the top half of the body to the left or right. This is not a continuous twist mechanism; in other words you cannot just go round and round. When you have reached the far left position you must then twist back to the centre position and on to the right position, and then back again, etc. Coloured dots and a pencil tip logo indicate which tip is where. You twist to line up the desired tip indicator with the small depression in the silver centre ring. This depression is quite small and not particularly conspicuous, so you might need a second glance to locate it.The ballpoint pen tips write very well, with a nice smooth ink flow. They really do glide across the paper. The black ink appears good and black, and the red is a proper red.

When the mechanical pencil tip is extended it is a short cylindrical lead sleeve leading into a cone. Of course the very nature of this type of multi pen mechanism means the writing tip extends out of the front section at a slight angle. Remember the writing tip is on a long stalk which is just bent and thrust out of the front section when it is selected. I mention this because somehow this is the first multi pen that I have really noticed the axis of the mechanical pencil is not aligned with that of the pen body. You can see it is protruding out at an angle. This is normal with many multi pens, it’s just I don’t normally notice it, but somehow with the PhD Multi I did.

The mechanical pencil is 0.5mm lead diameter and operates as a push top button ratchet mechanism. Ten clicks will get you about 6mm of lead. For a multi pen the push top action is quite light, easy and smooth, although it has a fairly long stroke on it as is common with multi pens. I often find that multi pen pencil tips are prone to more lead breakages than normal, but I didn’t notice that with the PhD.

Refilling the pencil tip or replacing the ballpoint pen tips is done in the usual way. You carry on twisting past the end stop to unscrew the body and reveal the three tips, rip the empty tip out of its mounting and replace or refill. You can really only get one or two spare leads into the pencil stalk, and take care not to snap them when putting the pencil tip back onto it’s stalk.
Beneath the push top button is a medium sized eraser. The top button clicks on fairly firmly and securely. The pocket clip is a basic sturdy springy metal clip and it joins on at the very top of the body.. I tended to carry my PhD Multi clipped to the centre of a small wallet-folder which held our passports and other travel documents. Now, because there is no part of the main body above the top of the pocket clip this means that the top button is the first thing you go to grab when you want the pen, and of course the top button just pulls off the body leaving the pen still clipped to whatever. This is hardly an earth shattering disaster, but it was a little annoying each time it caught me out, maybe because it reminded me I was being a slow learner. I’ve got my doubts about how long that top button would last before it was lost, or no longer stayed securely stuck on

Markings on the pen are "PhD Multi" and "Papermate, Japan" on the barrel.
Overall then, I’m reasonably impressed with the Papermate PhD Multi, and as a concept I think multi pens might be the way to go when travelling. Black ballpoint for filling out customs and immigration documents, pencil for a quick sketch and the crossword, red pen for a highlight – all came in handy at one stage or another.

• Best Points – The grip.
• Not So Good Points – Eraser cap can pull off when pen is clipped to papers.
• Price Range – Low.
• Does this pencil make it into the Top 5? - No.

Dimensions – Length 150mm, diameter 15mm at widest point. Balance point about 75mm up from the tip.

“Holiday Apartment”

Real Life

And Still Life?

A Little Aussie Battler?

Cross Tech 3 Multi Pen Review

Cross Tech 3 Multi-Function Pen Review

As you would expect, the Tech 3 comes in a selection of colours and finishes. To give my specific model its full and proper name, it is a Cross Tech 3 Satin Chrome Multi-Function Pen, item #AT0090-5C. It occurs to me that this blog has been going over three years, and yet this is the first Cross writing instrument to be reviewed. Ahhh, my oversights continue to build!

The Tech 3 is fitted with three tip selections – black ballpoint, red ballpoint and 0.5mm pencil. I won’t go into any detail on the ballpoints except to say they are the usual sort of mini cartridges, and write very smoothly and produce good solid lines. Your only quibble will be the size of the ink reservoir. The ballpoint tips are coloured red and black so you know which is which.
You rotate the lower half of the pen around to push the tips out. Unlike many multi-function pens you don’t twist left or right for a particular tip. This one is just a continuous twist, you can go round and round in either direction to your hearts content. At first I thought I preferred the directional concept, you know, from the retracted position, left for red, right for black or something like that. However, after a while with the Tech 3 though I think I have been converted to this continuous twist concept - just spinning around as it were.

So, let’s select the 0.5mm pencil tip. I have sometimes felt that multi-pens suffered from more lead breakages than normal mechanical pencils, bit I didn’t notice this with the Tech 3. Like most multi-pens the Tech 3 has some tip wobble. No worse than average, but that’s definitely too much for the precise folk out there. I did sometimes hear the tip move against the body hole when I first started to write.

The lead advance mechanism is a standard push top ratchet. Like many such multi-pens it is rather laborious and imprecise feeling compared to the nice crisp mechanism that pencil fans are normally accustomed too. Ten clicks will get you about 6mm of lead, which is not a huge amount for a general writing pencil. But then again they maybe more concerned about reducing breakage from over-advancing and so on. The actual lead sleeve itself is a short cone with final short pipe section. Of course the whole tip retracts when not in use so this writing instrument is fully pocket-safe.

There is a small emergency use eraser under the top cap. You have to unscrew the cap to get at it.To refill the pencil or replace the ballpoint cartridges you simply pull the top half of the body away from the bottom half to reveal the internals. Then pull the relevant tip off its stalk and replace. For the pencil in between the ripping off and sticking back on you of course shove some leads in the tip and up the stalk. This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to be careful when pushing the pencil tip back onto the stalk that you don’t break any leads. Cross say the Tech 3 is filled with five leads, well I won’t dispute that you can get five leads in there, but personally I’d say you were pushing your luck and I’d only stick two or three in. Unless of course you like a bit of break and jam.

There is no specific grip zone or grip enhancements. My satin chrome finish seemed to offer reasonable grip though. The combination of satin and lustrous chrome trims is pleasing to the eye, and overall this is a fairly nice looking pen. Personally I think the tip is a little bit blunt and rounded, and that they could have done a little better with that part of the styling, but then that’s just my opinion. Obviously the folk who actually get paid to design these things disagree.

The Tech 3 is not a heavyweight and is fairly neutrally balanced, perhaps a little on the top heavy side of the line.

The pocket clip is the standard Cross design, good sturdy and functional, although not spring loaded. The only marking on the pen is the Cross name on the pocket clip. Overall then, this is a pretty good multi-function pen, and I enjoyed using it, and took the opportunity to use the red and black tips to underline some pencilled notes in meetings, etc.

• Best Points – Continuous spin to select point.
• Not So Good Points – Limited ink and lead capacity. Lead advance mechanism is a little laboured.
• Price Range – Mid.
• Does this pencil make it into the Top 5? - No.

Dimensions – Length 139mm, diameter 9mm at lower body half. Balance point about 75mm up from the tip.

I often like to have a themed background in my photos. I was trying to find some suitable backdrops for the Tech 3 but wasn’t having much luck. Then my neighbours turned their stereo up, and inspiration came. Unfortunately I didn’t have any suitable images to use, but I took a couple of shots against screen images that I googled. There’s no prize other than honour and glory (and maybe an empty can of XXXX) for the first person to leave a comment about the relevance of this images to the Tech 3. Sorry to most of you out there, but this quiz is slanted in favour of Aussies and Brits, and of course Kiwis too.