After reading several thorough
reviews and informative
blog posts on it, I finally picked up a
Uniball Kuru Toga 0.5 mm mechanical pencil at an
Office Depot discounted Back-to-School section. This pencil came loaded with 3
Uni Nano Dia leads, a tube with 10 spare leads, and 2 eraser refills.
Used a handy
Rhodia Pad No. 11 to test this new pencil. Its lightweight plastic body is reasonably comfortable, and its translucent molded grip section provides a secure hold and adequate control while writing and drawing with it. Its unique design and new
Nano Dia lead really produce a steady dark line of uniform thickness without any lead breakage.
The
Uni-ball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil works as advertised. The translucent grip section allows a clear view of the lead rotation mechanism in action - the white circular logo slowly moves across the pencil's axis every time the pencil tip is lifted and pressed back against the writing surface.
While this innovative lead rotation feature earned it a spot in my collection of mechanical pencils, the uniform line it produces would be more of an asset for writing applications rather than sketching. I am not sure I like the small "give" felt every time the lead sleeve is pressed against the paper to gradually rotate the lead, but it is not too distracting and it might just be a matter of getting used to it. Recommended product for writers, but artists might be better off sticking to drafting pencils with truly fixed sleeves for increased control.
After reading several thorough reviews and informative blog posts on it, I finally picked up a Uniball Kuru Toga 0.5 mm mechanical pencil at an Office Depot discounted Back-to-School section. This pencil came loaded with 3 Uni Nano Dia leads, a tube with 10 spare leads, and 2 eraser refills.
Used a handy Rhodia Pad No. 11 to test this new pencil. Its lightweight plastic body is reasonably comfortable, and its translucent molded grip section provides a secure hold and adequate control while writing and drawing with it. Its unique design and new Nano Dia lead really produce a steady dark line of uniform thickness without any lead breakage.
The Uni-ball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil works as advertised. The translucent grip section allows a clear view of the lead rotation mechanism in action - the white circular logo slowly moves across the pencil's axis every time the pencil tip is lifted and pressed back against the writing surface.
While this innovative lead rotation feature earned it a spot in my collection of mechanical pencils, the uniform line it produces would be more of an asset for writing applications rather than sketching. I am not sure I like the small "give" felt every time the lead sleeve is pressed against the paper to gradually rotate the lead, but it is not too distracting and it might just be a matter of getting used to it. Recommended product for writers, but artists might be better off sticking to drafting pencils with truly fixed sleeves for increased control.
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2 comments:
Hi, i don't like the slight 'give' either. I really wanted to like this pencil, but i found that it didn't really feel that responsive when used for drawing because of the 'give'. This 'give' is most pronounced when doing hatching and cross-hatching.
There was a lot of excitement over the Kuru-Toga when it first appeared, which was why i got it, but i now find that perhaps it might have been over-hyped.
In any event, i am glad that at least some pencil makers are making an effort to improve their product and to generate excitement in the market. In the final analysis though, the true test of whether the product lives up to the hype must come from the user's actual and personal experience.
Thank you for your comments. I suspect that the Kuru Toga was probably not developed with artists' needs in mind. Its end users are most likely writers that would benefit from its uniform line, lead resistance to breakage, and probably would not mind the "give" factor.
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