Posts filed under Pencil Reviews

Pilot Neox 2H 0.5 mm Graphite Review

The first time I touched the page with the Pilot Neox 2H I thought “Wow, I can write firm and fast with this lead.” Then I realized “Oh yeah, it’s a 2H lead, dummy!” Decades of stock HB mechanical pencil lead usage will poison your brain apparently.

Out of approximately two dozen packs of lead sitting on my desk right now, I chose a 2H first. Why? With wooden pencils, I enjoy the H side of the scale more than the B side. They are very firm, which results in two things: Great point retention and light color. Those may or may not be positives in your book. Finding the perfect combination of all of these things is the eternal search.

The Neox is marketed very specifically by Pilot. The short description on JetPens says it all:

“Enjoy a luxuriously smooth, clean writing experience with these Pilot Neox leads. They are made from high-quality graphite with very few impurities, allowing the carbon atoms to be more strongly bonded than in conventional leads. This results in strong leads that produce clean, sharp lines. It also lets the natural lubricating properties of graphite crystal shine, resulting in leads that glide effortlessly across the page."

This lead is as strong as any I have used in an 0.5 mm mechanical pencil. Even with my heavy hand, breaking it isn’t even a consideration. The strength of the lead plays into point retention too. I began the review below with two clicks of my Alvin Draft-Matic and wrote the entire page without clicking to advance the lead again. Impressive.

One of the sacrifices you have to make when using H-grade lead is that it will be light on the page. Hardness and lightness go hand in hand: The harder the lead, the lighter the line. For everyday writing, 2H is about as firm as I want to go, with this Neox 2H laying down a darker than expected line. I didn’t love it as much on graph paper as I did on lined paper where there is no background distraction, but overall it was plenty dark for me.

If there is a knock on this lead it's that “luxuriously smooth” is too smooth. Smoothness in graphite is nice - no one wants scratchy lead - but it can go too far. Once it starts to feel plastic-y when writing it is too smooth for me. It is especially noticeable on the hard side of the scale. I want a touch of feedback, not carbon atoms so strongly bonded that they need to add more fiber to their diet.

Overall, I’m happy with the Pilot Neox 2H lead. It’s not knock-your-socks-off great, but it is very good. How it stacks up with the rest of my stash is to be determined. These lead reviews are a learning experiment for me, and the more I test the more I will be able to compare them to each other. I can’t wait to narrow this batch down to a few favorites that I can recommend. Stay tuned!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on January 7, 2019 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Mechanical Pencil Lead, Pencil Reviews.

Carl Ein Pencil Sharpener Review

One of the most fun parts about being obsessed with stationery isn’t just discovering new writing instruments, but also the accessories that go with the writing instruments. I’ve developed a fondness for wooden pencils over the years, and as much fun as I have trying new ones and discovering my favorites, I also enjoy exploring pencil-adjacent accessories, like pencil sharpeners.

The Carl Ein Pencil Sharpener is the latest to hit my desk, and has a feature I wasn’t aware I needed: Two stages of tip sharpness. Why is this important to me? I’m so glad you asked!

Not all pencil cores are created equally. Traditional writing pencils, like your standard HB, have a graphite core. They sharpen to a pointy, durable tip and write well from the moment they hit the page. Colored pencils use a clay-based core, making them softer and more prone to breakage when sharpened to a point as fine as I like with my writing pencils. Have you ever sharpened a colored pencil in a regular sharpener and snapped the tip of the pencil off the moment it touched the page? That’s why.

The Carl Ein helps with this issue by having two settings in one sharpener: An 0.5 mm standard pointed tip for traditional writing pencils, and an 0.9 mm broad, stub tip for pencils that are softer or use different core materials, like colored pencils. This setting is simple to swap between with a simple twist of the knob on the handle side of the sharpener.

While the selling point of the sharpener works as intended, Carl and I had a rough start. When my package arrived and I pulled out the box I noticed a lot of rattling. Opening it up, there were small, loose parts everywhere. The front, slide-out panel had become completely disassembled in shipping. Putting it back together was a 20-30 minute exercise in frustration. It’s one of those things that requires three hands to assemble, and unfortunately, I was only born with two.

This had me worried about the overall build and sturdiness of the sharpener from the jump, but it has proven to be a workhorse and no further issues with functionality have been detected.

One design feature I noticed and appreciated with regular use was the sloped top cover of the sharpener. Desk sharpeners usually require two hands to operate, one on the crank and one on the top of the sharpener to hold it steady. I didn’t even realize this feature until I was switching back and forth between my favorite Uni KH-20 sharpener and felt that the Carl was easier to hold on to. It’s also slightly wider and has a wider base, so that contributes to its sturdiness.

*0.5 mm on the top of each pair, 0.9 mm on the bottom*

I’m happy overall with the Carl Ein, but their is one final gotcha to be aware of: The price. This is a $40 desktop pencil sharpener. I’ve used great desktop sharpeners in the low-$20 range, like the Classroom Friendly. My personal favorite is the aforementioned KH-20, which runs $30.

Does the Carl Ein offer enough in its added features to justify the extra cost? For me personally, no. I will recommend the KH-20 every time over the Carl. But, for hardcore colorists and soft-pencil core users I can see the benefit of having dual point sizes built into a single sharpener. And for that, I think the Carl Ein is a good choice.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on December 10, 2018 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Carl Ein, Pencil Sharpener, Pencil Reviews.

Retro 51 Tornado Dmitri Mechanical Pencil Review

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to mechanical pencils. Give me a classic design over most anything. Bonus points if it is an engineering-style mechanical pencil, like my beloved Rotring 600.

That’s what has kept me away from the Retro 51 Mechanical Pencil for so long. Not that this isn’t a classic style with it’s twist mechanism. In fact, it may be more classic than the standard click mechanism. But the twist pencil is no longer the expectation for mechanical pencils, nor has it been for decades.

It took Retro 51 to design one to get me interested. The Dmitri, named after Dr. Dmitri Mendeleev, the father of the Periodic Table, is not only a great bit of scientific history, but is beautiful to look at.

Unfortunately, that’s where my joy with this product ended.

Retro 51’s Tornado mechanical pencils are designed around 1.15 mm graphite diameters. I like larger diameters, regularly using both 0.9 mm and 2.0 mm varieties in various products I own. But, the graphite has to be good. I’m not sure this graphite is good. It has a more plasticky feel than I would like. That makes it smooth and firm, but it has no character. No depth. No darkness.

With a more standard lead size I would happily swap in a different brand, like I do with ballpoint and rollerball refills. 1.15 mm is such a peculiar size that it makes swapping the lead out more difficult than with other mechanical pencils. Quick Googling shows a dearth of options.

Even the times I am content with the lead situation in this pencil, I’m not content with the mechanism. It works fine extending and retracting the lead, but when I’m writing and the tip hits the page between words, the lead scoots back into the barrel slightly. Not every single time, but enough to be noticeable. It’s like there is some play in the twist, allowing it to backtrack if it’s hit in the right spot.

And finally, the eraser. It erases fine, that’s if it remains in place long enough to get the job done. I figured out immediately that if I erased in a left to right fashion, the eraser would pop out of the barrel. If I erased in an up and down fashion, it stayed in place. End of the world? No. Annoyance? Yes.

Does the style of the pencil outweigh the annoyances I had with it? No, it doesn’t. There is no doubt it is a stunner, and would make a great gift for the right person. But if you aren’t looking for a gift and instead want a great writing experience, you should look elsewhere.

(Retro 51 provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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