Saturday, July 23, 2022

How many leads should you keep in a mechanical pencil


How many leads should I store in my mechanical pencil, is a question that I ask myself regularly. Well maybe not as often, or not at all, but why not find out.

Depending, from where you get your information, you will find out that you can store as many leads as you want or there is a strict number that you should put in two or three pieces at most.

The main worry with keeping more leads inside the pencil is that the leads will break and produce fine dust which will clog the pencil eventually, the mechanism will jam, or the leads will be unusable due to breakage.

Rotring in the product care states that you should refill with two or three leads. "We recommend refilling your pencil with 3 fine leads. It’s the best balance for longer use without creating too much dust inside the tube due to an overload of refills."

Staedtler for example, doesn't mention the number of leads that you should keep inside your pencil, but the refill is designed to dump the entire content in one go. "Simple “12-a-go" refilling for many Staedtler mechanical pencils such as Mars micro 775 and graphite 779"

I do believe that the producers of pencils are taking all the needed precautions in advising you to keep just a few leads inside.

At the same time, I have a feeling that the leads have improved a lot over the years. The resistance is a lot better, while the quality of the writing (line darkness and smoothness) remained the same if not improved over time. A good argument for my opinion is the lack of the needle that used to be present in all mechanical pencil erasers, used to clear clogs in the advance mechanism,. Nowadays, the needle is missing basically from all modern mechanical pencils. Some producers still keep it around, but it is more and more a rarity.

To see if the recommendations are still valid today, I will do a test for a 4 week with two Rotring Tikky III 0.5. One of them will be loaded with 3 leads (1 in the chamber ready to write and 2 loose in the barrel), while the second one will carry an entire refill,12 leads. I will carry around both pencils and use them in rotation, trying to keep it as impartial as possible.

From the beginning I can feel the mass of leads slushing around in the pencil which holds an entire refill pack, and defiantly they create more noise and commotion compared with the 3 leads pencil.

I feel like I am a master of the mechanical pencil, like badass movie characters that know the difference between an empty gun and a fully loaded gun (Lian Neeson Taken reference)

Ant the results are in...

So from what you can see, the leads came out just fine from both pencils. None of them broke, and no dust came out of the barrel (white paper test). In conclusion, I wouldn't care too much of how many leads there are in a pencil, as this non-scientific tests seems to point that even a big number of leads will do just fine in day to day scenario, stored inside your favorite pencil. Generally, it is a good idea to keep a few extra leads on hand, or in this case in the pencil, so that you don't have to worry about longer writing sessions.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Graphgear 500 used by Gerard Butler in the movie Greenland

In the movie Greenland starring Gerard Butler, right in the starting scene you can see a glimpse of a GraphGear 500 used for a brief moment by the star of the movie.

The movie starts with John Garrity (Gerard Butler) as an engineer on a construction site looking over some designs and taking some notes with a Pentel GraphGear 500 mechanical pencil. It is a disaster movie, a comet is going to hit earth and, and a few selected people are notified to go to a shelter.

This is the first and last time the pencil appears in the movie, but I am sure the pencil survived the comet and is still working today.

In the rest of the movie, you can see the trip to the shelter and all the misfortunes that happen on the way.

I do not know if the crew chose with a reason the Graphgear 500 over its bigger brother 1000 (braking issues) or it was just what they had lying around. Either way I think this is a solid choice, in case of a disaster, to have such a good mechanical pencil.

Monday, June 6, 2022

GShock GA810 MMA long term review

GShock GA810 MMA, GA800 (metallic watch gshock)

My view on the Gshock GA800 / GA810

This is my review of the G-Shock GA800 (810), after a period of 4 years of intense use of the watch.
Before getting the watch, I didn't think too much about it. GShocks are big and useless, right?! Who needs a watch that can survive a drop of a few meters and withstand 200 meters of submersion underwater? I was skeptical that any of these features are meaningful characteristics because I considered them just a bunch of check boxes that Casio has put on the data sheet. The watch has this and that, but I will not use it, and probably most people won't. I am not a diver, and I don’t intend to drop it from the top of the building.
After two years with the watch, I think I get it. The watch definitely has more features in terms of resistance than most people will need. And this makes it bulky, plastic, basically a grownup's toy. On top of the look, the big list of can dos gives the user confidence. You forget the watch is on your wrist, and not just because it is very light. It most likely has to do with the fact that the watch will probably outlive you, so there is no need to worry about going in the pool with it on your wrist. The watch has a unique look, people associate similar styled watches with Gshoks. Even non watch people, at least heard about them. Gshocks can be a fashion statement, or can be whatever you want it to be. It can take the abuse without complaining too much, it can look cool and trendy with see through cases and bands...

So this model in particular the GA 800 (my version is 810 MMA, which has a shiny metallic dial instead of the resin one), has been with me for almost 4 years now. At first, I was consciences about the bold looks, the size and the fact it was making it awkward to put on or take off a jacket, but after some time with it, I realized I keep reaching for it every time I get out of the house. It managed to charm me in this time, to the point that I want more Gshocks.

The watch shares its case with the GBA-800 and GBD-800.

The GA800 (810) is an analog watch with 5 pushers (one dedicated light button on the face of the watch), The module is one of the “smarter” ones. The hands will adjust to the digital time (older Casio's didn’t have this feature, you would have to adjust the digital time and separately adjust the hands to match the digital time).
Another nice feature of the watch is by pressing the C and Light button simultaneous, to move the hands in a position in which the digital display is visible. It can be very useful as the hands on the GA800 are quite bulky and can cover most of the digital display.

What is the GA800 specialty?

The main feature of this model is the stopwatch, which can be easily accessed by pressing D button in home screen. Once pressed, the stopwatch starts instantly. It also has the ability to record lap time. The recall function shows you the date of the timing and the laps recorded.
The stopwatch is 24 hours. It also offers the ability to recall on the times (laps). You can scroll through the memory of the saved laps. The watch will display the date on which the laps were recorded.
Only a 99 minute timer though, which is a pity, the standard 5 alarms and a simple dual time feature.

The battery lasts about 3 years, which is just ok.

The hands have a bit of luminous paint on them, but it is not very durable in traditional Casio fashion. The marking on the dial do not have luminous paint applied to them. I do not consider this a problem, as the watch has a backlight that can do the job well.

The light on the watch is good and compared to other models you both the analog and the digital display are illuminated. It uses a LED placed under the 9 o'clock marker and backlighting on the digital display. It has an auto-light function that can be turned on by holding the light button for a few seconds (I do not use it). You can also set the duration of the light at 1 or 3 seconds. This could be another decisive feature for you, not all Gshocks illuminate both the analog and the digital displays.

Like any other GShock it is robust, bulky, covered in black resin and too big for most of the wrists out there.
The GA-800 is one of the few G-Shock that features second-hand. Right off the bat, if you're looking for a G-Shock with seconds hand, you can pick up the GA800 or 810, and you won't be disappointed.
It's an affordable model that offers just the basics, it doesn't have atomic timekeeping or solar power, or anything fancy, but it has the seconds hand :). It is a bit weird bragging with the fact that you have a watch with a seconds hand, but it is what it is.

My version as I mentioned is the GA810, which has a metallic silver dial with metallic hands, and a small negative display. The analog face of the watch and the negative digital display are not the best in terms of visibility, I think the basic standard model GA-800-1AJF does a better job. But I like the fact the metallic face makes it a bit less plastic. It is a better rounded watch in my eyes.
The writing on the dial is very unobtrusive, also on the resin case, you can see it only if the light hits it in a certain way.

The negative display at the bottom of the dial is small, and the visibility is not great. In good lighting you can see it clear and that is about it. I like the watch has a dedicated light button, and it doesn't share one of the standard buttons. It is more accessible and easier to press.

The digital display on the main screen shows either the day/date or the hour in digital format. To switch between the two, press the A button.

Why do I like it?

It is very comfortable on hand, light, I have all the features I need on it, and it gives me more confidence, knowing that my watch is more capable than me. I don’t shy away from activities and labor with the watch on my wrist. At the beginning I saw it more as a sports watch, outdoor watch. Now I just wear it almost anywhere. Plus it looks nice on my wrist even though it is a bit big for it.
It is a very accurate watch, my model gains about 3-4 seconds per month.
I like the fact it can show two different time zones at a glance. The analog hands plus the digital display set on dual time.

What would I change about it?

I would like a longer lasting battery in the watch, it takes a CR2016 which lasts about 3 years.
A second neat pick is the digital display which is a bit small for my eyes to see it clearly especially if the lighting is not the best (being inverted, black background with white lettering doesn’t help either)
Module wise, I would like it to have a world time instead of dual time. But Casio usually puts just a feature on these low end models, on the GA800 is the lap timer that can be accessed super fast from the home screen by pressing the C button.
Small pet peeves is the luminous paint, only applied on the hands and not on the markers, plus the quality of the paint is not the best. This is not a real issue because the watch has its own illumination system, which is actually good. I would put this in the category nice to have. (Seiko, Orient, even Lorus has very good luminous paint applied generously on watches that have a low price tag)
Another feature that I am not that fond of, but for many it might be a plus, is the fact that the back of the watch is held in place by 4 screws instead of a threaded back case. I feel that I am going to strip the holes when I have to open the watch to replace the battery (the case is resin after all and the screws are metal). Not all people might consider this a negative, just because it is more common to have a small Philips head screwdriver lying around in your home, or you can easily find it at the store near you, rather than having a specialized watchmakers tool to open watches back cases.

Would I recommend the watch?

Yes I would. I like the fact it has a traditional 3 hands. There are other models, but usually you will find the 3rd hand on the expensive masters only.
It gets a lot of attention from other, especially from non watch people.

Is it too big?

My wrist is about 16.5 cm in circumference, and the watch is 54.1 x 48.6 x15.5 mm. It looks big on my wrist, and it is big. It is difficult to get a coat cuff over it. But it is supposed to be this way, to be bold and tough looking. I’ve tried smaller Gshock and I can’t say they look better. Even though I prefer smaller watches in general, and I am against the dying trend of wearing oversized watches with G Shocks I am making an exception

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Computer keyboards

Related to writing instruments but in a different category, typing is the most common method of writing for most people. So in a way, keyboards are part of the writing instruments we use on a daily basis. My first experience with a keyboard was with a vintage mechanical Compaq leaf spring. At that time membrane keyboards were everywhere on the market and for me were much cooler looking (mine was an old, big and noisy hunk of metal and plastic), some of them had multimedia keys or even short travel. So I put the keyboard in a bin and went out and bought the first of a series of crap membrane keyboards.

Recently seeing a surge in mechanical keyboard popularity I made the leap back to the mechanical side and bought a mechanical keyboard, the cheapest I could find, as I was unsure if it will be something that I will appreciate or even enjoy using. I was also skeptical about the noise mechanical keyboards make. Apparently after a certain age you are not as sensible to loud noises :), so I have to say I like it very much, even though it is a blue switch keyboard which is known for making lots of noise. Also, the board itself being a cheap one is hollow and amplifies the noises generated by the clicks and the keys bottoming out, and resonates a bin, "ping" which is a bit distracting. It is especially true for when I keep the feet up, and is less noticeable if the entire back is on the table and I put something between the table and the keyboard.

After using it for some time, I realized what crap of a keyboard I am working with every day. So I took it to work. I have to say, my colleagues were not so impressed by the clicks the keyboard makes, even though I took the time to explain how much cooler mechanical keyboards are and how better they feel to the fingers. So, long story short, I took it back home and went back to the membrane keyboard I was using until that point, because the blue switches were a bit overwhelming for an office environment. 

Because the feel of a rubber dome is so different* from a mechanical keyboard, I was curious if this makes any kind of impact in my typing ability.

Do mechanical keyboards have an effect on your typing speed?

* Many people refer to mechanical keyboards being mushy. It is hard to describe in words but, a rubber dome is like pressing on a sponge, while a mechanical keyboard has a very crisp feel, and you can feel the end of the travel very abruptly. Also, a blue or brown switch as a distinctive bump when the key registers (before bottoming out), and offers a very crisp sensation when the button hits the tactile bump and when it bottoms out.

I tested my typing speed on the following setups:

T-Dagger Bermuda blue switch mechanical keyboard / Rubber dome keyboard Dell KB1421 / Dell Laptop Latitude series 5501

I did 12 typing tests with all the aforementioned keyboards, and taking out from the average the slowest and fastest session. I did the testing using 10Fastfingers.com, top 200 English words. 


 The detailed results are:

I am accustomed to all the keyboards, and type of them almost daily. At this speed, I would be cataloged as an average or just above average typist. Of course, the "real" typing speed varies based on the complexity of the text, how familiar you are with the language you are typing in, the length of the text etc.

As you can see in the typing speed on all keyboards is rather similar, the mechanical having the highest average typing speed and the top typing speed (70 words per minute / 76 words per minute), followed closely by the membrane with an average of 69 WPM and a top speed of 75. Last place goes to the laptop switch keyboard that only offered me an average speed of 67 WPM and a max of 70 WPM.

Even though the speed doesn't vary much between keyboards, the typing feel and colleague's liking (or better said disliking) might.
To better explain this, I made this graph, where the vertical axis represents the satisfaction factor and on the horizontal axis the keyboards types are enumerated.

 

If you do not value being liked or having friends for that matter, you should go and buy a mechanical keyboard. For the rest of you, just keep using the keyboard you have, as it doesn't make much of a difference for most of you.

Monday, May 16, 2022

New colors for the Rotring 500 and 600 in 2022

Rotring now offers the infamous Rotring 600 and Rotring 500 mechanical pencils in new colors. The Rotring 600 featured on the cover of the catalog is now available also in: white, gold, and rose gold. I think the white one especially stands out with a very clean and professional look.

The Rotring 600 3 in 1 has received 2 new colors, the royal blue and the dark green. Until now it could be purchased in black and silver.


Rotring hasn't forgotten about the little brother, the 500 which was available only in black. Now it can be purchased in pink, royal blue, and dark green. Compared to the 600 the 500 still keeps the grip section, the clip, the lead hardness indicator and cap in the standard back color. Probably a cost saving decision, to keep the pencil affordable. Even so, the pencil looks rather nice, I especially am intrigued by the green / black version.



Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Faber Castell Grip 2001 pencil

This Faber Castell Grip 2001 pencil is part of a range of products that Faber Castell has put on the market under the Grip name. The characteristic of the pencil are the doted patches of rubber that offer comport and "grip" to the user. The pencil is on the higher side of pricing, being a step up from the competition's classical pencils. It has a triangular shape that is great for comfort, it has a cool metal gray color and dotted black grip patches as implied by the name. At the top it has a black eraser which gives the entire pencil a very slick and modern look, at least in the one I have, because the pencil can be found without an eraser.

It has a unique look and feel that I enjoy. The pencil is made in Germany and has a very premium feel when you pick it up. I've got the HB version, which corresponds to the US 2 1/2. The pencil comes sharpened and has a very nice pointy tip. It has a total length from tip to eraser of 18.5.

The cost of a pencil without the eraser is about 0.7 - 0.8 Eur while the eraser version comes just above the 1.1 Eur mark (0.76 - 1.2 USD).

The Faber Castell website, states that they produce over 2 billion pencils per year, and are taking great care of the woods used to produce these pencils and the labor workforce involved in their operations, and 82% of the energy used is from renewable sources. So let's take into account information like this when buying a pencil.

How does the Faber Castell Grip 2001 performs?

In the end the most important is how the pencil writes, how does it feel when the lead hits the paper.

The pencil writes well, it has a bit of a harder composition that you can feel while writing with it. It offers a bit of feedback, it is not as smooth as a mechanical pencil lead, for example. Because it is a harder, it saves you from resharpening it very often, in retaining the tip quite well. At the same time, it is not producing the darkest line possible. Compared with a generic pencil it did better, and compared with the mechanical pencil leads from Rotring it produced a similar line.

In the smudge test it performed very well, it was almost smudge free which is great.

The pencil erases just fine, and with a single pass over the writing, the result was satisfactory. Usually the attached eraser is not on par with standard erasers, and this is no exception. The quality makes it ok for when you are in a pickle, but a block eraser will offer much nicer results.

In the end the pencil performed well, it will offer better results compared with a generic brand, but it will not

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Bast everyday ink, Koh I Noor Black Ink

The Koh I Noor brand is mostly known for the mechanical and especially the clutch pencils it offers. Today, instead of a pencil, I am testing the black fountain pen ink. The review for the blue ink, you can read it here.

This is the cheapest or better said the most economical / affordable ink on the market, because cheap will make you wonder if this ink is any good, or will it ruin my precious fountain pen etc. The ink works fine and will not clog your pen, but be careful as Koh-I-Noor has in it's offering pigment inks as well. 

The ink is addressed to students and comes in a basic plastic bottle of 50 grams. Produced in the Czech Republic, the bottle comes as is, no cardboard box.

The bottle has a basic design, nothing special. You can tell right away, just from looking at the package, that this is a no fuss ink. It cost about half what the Pelikan 4001 60 ml costs. Probably a lot of the savings are done by replacing the more expensive and better looking glass ink well with a plastic container. Also, it is offered in a bigger container compared to the more standard 30 ml ink bottles, thus making it a good every day for most students. 

But is it worth using this ink if you are not a student anymore? Does it perform well?

The ink performs well on every day paper, without fathering or showing throw the thinner paper, while still having a nice saturated black look. The ink is not very wet and dries rather quickly. Thus, it can be used even with broader nibs on cheap paper. For the testing purpose I used the Faber Castell Loom with Fine nib.

The ink is not water-resistant and washes out rather easily. I've placed a water droplet on the paper and waited for it to dry. The text smudged a bit, but it is still in a decent shape.
 
I keep talking and comparing with the price of the Pelikan, because the Pelikan is a well known and used ink, that has a lot of reputation behind its name, and it is an affordable ink as well.

I did a quick comparison with the Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black, and it holds its ground well. I would say that the difference between the inks is minimal and nobody will know if you are using one or the other, probably not even you.

It is a hair wetter than the Pelinkan which dries almost instantly. So if you like the Pelikan but you or your pen would like it to have a bit of wetness, try the Koh I Noor.

My conclusion
If you want an everyday ink, to use on all kinds of paper, it is a perfect contender with its availability (for me at least, it can be bought at every stationery shop), for the good performance it has and of course I can't ignore the great price it is available at. I would go so far to say that it is the best ink you can use as a daily workhorse.

On the other hand, if you are interested in a more refined experience when using your awesome fountain pens, probably you will get more joy using a higher end ink, that comes in a nicer refined glass bottle.

Friday, April 8, 2022

Faber Castell Poly Matic mechanical pencil

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 only shiny parts on the pencil are the tip of the pencil, the clip and a small ring that delimits the pencil from the eraser.

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.


Monday, January 24, 2022

Narcos, pens and fountain pens

I am a big fan of the Narcos series and during this long winter break, I had time to watch Narcos Mexico, the third and final season. After 6 seasons of Narcos 3 in the original series where the action takes place in Colombia and the Narcos Mexico, will make a recap of the pens shown on the movie. There were many pens and pencils.

In the original series, first and second season, the action revolves around the Medellín Cartel, and mostly around Pablo Escobar. In the third season the action is shifted in a post Escobar Colombia, to a rival cartel, the Cali cartel.

Murphy and Pena the DEA agents which are trying to take down the Medellin cartel.

Looks very much like a Parker Jotter.

The second one not very clear.

A possible silver gold Parker IM ball point

In the third season, the action has shifted from Pablo to the Cali cartel. In episode 3 of the third series there is an insert with president Nixon, signing the act in which American banks have to announce all transactions over 10k $.

The act seems to be signed with a Parker 75 
 
The Cali cartel is being controlled is represented by Miguel
He is writing with a Parker Urban Premium


Narcos Mexico, which followed the original Narcos starts with a Parker Jotter used by the director of the newspaper La Voz

A typewriter, a notebook and a Parker. Great setup.
Season 3 of Narcos Mexico, Benjamin, the leader of the Tijuana cartel, receives a gift for his 40th birthday. It is a fountain pen that is supposed to be used by three presidents. It doesn't specify which presidents used it but still a cool gift.

It is not a clear image, it could be an Aurora Talentum. All this just before an intense moment, where in a club Chapo is trying to get them (a lot of shooting involved)
 
If you haven't seen the TV series, I highly recommend giving it a try. It is very good and even if you think things or characters will not live up to the previous season, you will be in for a treat.

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