After a long intermission, in which I had a more busy schedule and a lot of procrastination and excuses, I read the book Atomic Habits and I started reading The Power of Habit. Now I am trying to apply the principles from the books to my life. Apparently when setting better daily habits I forgot about adding the blog as a daily or weekly activity :) Now I am back and want to share with you my opinions on the recently acquired Faber Castell Poly Matic, mechanical pencil.
I saw this pencil available in local stores only recently and at first look I liked it a lot. The design is very nice and modern. This is a general writing mechanical pencil, t is not intended for drafting. The Poly Matic had an automatic lead advancement as well as a traditional push to advance system, and it has a retractable tip. The automatic lead advancement works ok. The push isn't that satisfying, even if it works perfectly, but there is no click to it.
I bought the 0.7 mm version. The Poly Matic pencil comes with 0.5 mm lead, and it can be bought as a ball pen. It has a plastic body that is the star of the show. The body is a very smooth and satin like plastic that is a joy to the fingers. It is quite chunky at the back and slims down to a perfect fit around the grip area. For extra comfort, it has some circular grooves in the grip section for extra comfort. Even though it has a triangular shape, it is very subtle and pleasant in hand. I have the black or better said dark gray color which looks impressive. The finish is mate and gives it a premium look. The pencil of course comes in other colors, some of them quite bold.
The clip of the pencil is curvy, shiny and very strong.
To refill the pencil, you have to pull out the eraser unit, and this is how you get access. The Eraser unit is quite big, and to extend the eraser you have to rotate it. The erasers protrude one or two mm even when it is retracted all the way.
I have found you blog looking for alternatives of pencils with twist erasers. I find it delightful, a lot of subjects I can relate to over here. I have a question regarding this pencil. I love the look and I have the ballpoint own somewhere in my collection but I wonder, the mechanism inside... Is it plastic or metal? I am interested especially in the claws that hold the lead.. They are brass made in the Faber-Castell Executive. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello Inya. I am glad to hear you found interesting subjects on the blog. To answer your question, the insides of the pencil are plastic, unfortunately. From how it looks, the mechanism is similar if not the same with the one in the Faber Castell Gripmatic (a much cheaper pencil, with a "twist cap" that reveals the eraser beneath). I guess it makes sense to reuse the internals instead of redesigning them.
DeleteAn option could be the Faber Castell Grip 1345, which has metal claws to grip the lead, and a twist eraser. Although the eraser is much smaller in diameter, and it has a sliding sleeve instead of an automatic action.
You can find pictures and a review for the Grip 1345 on the blog. For the Gripmatic I haven't released a review yet, but I will add it at the top of my list.
I haven't written intensively with the Poly Matic, but I think even the plastic internals should work flawlessly for a few years. Of course will not be as reliable as metal construction, but if you like the looks it is worth getting one.