Twsbi Precision Mechanical Pencil - Fixed Sleeve - 0.5Mm

November 18, 2013

OK, sorry for the delay, but as I mentioned earlier, I promised to to photograph a comparison of the TWSBI to the Staedtler 925 25, as well as a few of my other knurled steel grip 0.5mm mechanical pencils. Just like the last set, I tried lining them up from the back so you can get a relative comparison of length between the pencils.. Apologies in advance for the poor cropping and overall quality of the iphotos

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2827/10934144783_1cdc121f6f_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7364/10934018474_9af73f63c1_b.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/10933938056_18f6c1ab6e_b.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2863/10934145123_21b5849f91_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7391/10933939676_4dc2eb6d8e_b.jpg

Above, from top to bottom, we have the

TWSBI Precision v2 0.5mm fixed sleeve

Staedtler 925 25 0.5 mm fixed sleeve

Pentel GraphGear 500 0.5mm fixed sleeve

Pentel GraphGear 1000 0,5mm retractable sleeve

All of the above comparison pencils are less expensive than the TWSBI. Currently, Staedtler 925 25 is $14 on eBay, Pentel GraphGear 500 is $7 on Amazon, and GraphGear 1000 is $12 on Amazon. Hope that continues to help you in your comparison shopping, and best of luck with all your future TWSBI pencil purchases! The only comparison photo left that I want to do, that I think is actually more appropriate for price / quality of construction will be the TWSBI vs the Faber Castell TK Vario Fine, which I will hopefully do sometime next week..

November 18, 2013

Thanks !

I emailed twsbi Taiwan who offered a less expensive shipping option which I accepted.

Now awaiting delivery.

Congrats! I look forward to hearing about your impressions of the TWSBI pencil, as so little appears to have been written about it.

November 18, 2013

Noticed a design element in all of the pictured pencils that is similar to the Rotring I once bought. The feed tube at the end is rather long. My Rotring worked
perfectly until... I dropped it on the floor of the laboratory where I worked! The feed tube bent and the pencil was instantly rendered useless to me. I wrote to Rotring and they wrote for me to return it for repair. I sent it abck and never heard from them again. That was about 15 years ago. I'll never buy a Rotring again. Plus I no longer wiat for the return of my pencil. Just a warning.

BillZ, I think that's an important point to consider, thank you for contributing that. As I had originally mentioned in my review above, one of the advantages of a more evenly-balanced pencil like the TWSBI, compared to a "point-heavy" pencil, is that when dropping the pencil, there is a lower chance of damaging the lead sleeve, as it will less likely fall right onto the point and bend the sleeve. I'm not sure which model of Rotring you had, but if it was the Rotring 600, however, that's a fairly evenly-balanced pencil as well (i.e., not too point-heavy), so "damage from drops" is still something to carefully consider with heavier pencils. Given that the TWSBI is fairly weighty (even more so than the Rotring 600), the force of a drop may damage a TWSBI more often than a similar drop would for a lighter fixed-sleeve pencil, e.g., the Pentel P205 (mass x acceleration, etc etc). I tend to drop all my pencils all the time, and have yet to have any issues with the TWSBI, but I will certainly try to be more careful because I think this is definitely a possible issue with this pencil. I think that such potential decreased durability is the trade-off one makes for the increased precision / stability / visibility that a longer fixed lead sleeve offers. The one nice thing of the all-metal version 2.0 of the TWSBI is the all-metal construction appears to be fairly durable / rugged.

I'm sorry to hear that Rotring appears to have lost your mechanical pencil and never followed up with you. Fortunately I haven't had any experiences with TWSBI customer service for repair of this pencil, but hopefully they will be a bit more detail-oriented and responsive should that happen in the future!

Edited November 18, 2013 by 00aas

November 20, 2013

Just received the two mech pencils I ordered.

I am surprised the shipping was so quick. Registered trackable airmail.

Both black , one with retractable sleeve.

They look great . They are hefty. Weighty.

And look what came free with the order ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2462.jpg

Two pieces of TWSBI click eraser 2.5mm

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2463.jpg

Smallish. I guess the 2.5mm refers to the diameter of the tubular eraser.

Very small.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2467.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2464.jpg

On my cutting mat in 1cm grids

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2469.jpg

The business end ...

The shank is metal.

This is fully retracted.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2465.jpg

Here its extended.

Only two clicks ...

so you can imagine how short when its one click.

It should provide very good and accurate erasing in fine work.

I usually use an eraser shield. I have an old one which was superthin steel. I cant find that anymore today. These days they are just too thick. So this 2.5mm should help reach the edges pretty well.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/TWSBI%20Click%20Erase/DSCF2466.jpg

I am delighted ...

Well done TWSBI

November 21, 2013

Just received the two mech pencils I ordered....

Wow TMLee- those pencil click erasers look great, thanks for sharing! What a clever design for an eraser. Bummed mine didn't come with any such cool freebies! Enjoy your pencils and keep us updated on what you think when you get a chance!