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uni-ball Kuru Toga 0.5mm - Self Sharpening Mechanical Pencil - Pink Barrel + 12 Free Leads and 5 Free Erasers

£3.695£7.39Clearance
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Of course with drawing, it's a mix of long and short strokes. In the picture above, one sketch was drawn with a normal mechanical pencil while the other with the Kuru Toga. I've forgotten which I've used for which. The visual difference is actually quite subtle. But when it comes to drawing, it does feel better to be drawing with the Kuru Toga. The thing that bothers me about the Kuru Toga most though is the play that is needed to use the mechanism. I prefer to write very small characters, and precision is important. When writing much larger, it’s not an issue, but for tiny, complex characters, there’s a bit of a tactile disconnect, which makes the whole thing feel less precise. It reminds me a bit of some retractable-sleeve pencils with a lot of wobble to them. Pressing hard to advance the lead gummed it up completely. The only solution was to retract the lead and start again. It might be a substandard pencil, and other Kuru Toga Engines work with less pressure. This would would mean that there is a quality control problem at uni / Mitsubishi pencil. This is probably not the case.

I recommend getting the transparent grip version if you want to see the gear turning. The Starter kit (above) has a grip tinted in colour and it's not easy to see what's inside. So with each stroke, the lead will turn, and you will get a sharper point to write with the next stroke. The turning mechanism works great for writing where there are plenty of strokes. When it comes to drawing, whether or not the pencil will turn will depend on how long your lines are. So if you draw a long line, that pencil lead will only get turned once. And in that case, it's actually no different from using any typical mechanical pencil. I haven’t found any problem getting the engine thingy to work even at very light pressure so I deliberately tried to make it fail.The Kuru Toga’s unique selling point is that its lead rotates which keeps the tip sharp when writing. When pressing the lead against the paper to write or when lifting it the gears of the “Kuru Toga Engine” revolve, rotating the lead slightly. The Uni Kuru Toga is a fantastic mechanical pencil for writing. When it comes to drawing, the turning mechanism may or may not work that well. But even so, it's still a mechanical pencil and will work like one. Nothing much to complaint about. And it's not too expensive. Availability Sadly this pencil just isn’t for everyone. The construction seems good, though the material choices and weight aren’t my particular favorites (the regular Kuru Toga is almost entirely plastic, quite light, and neutrally weighted). The Kuru Toga has been a disappointment for me, as the lead is not rotating, eliminating the advantage of this pencil while the disadvantages of this pencil remain:

I’ve been looking at the Kuru Toga for a long time, and finally I got one yesterday. I sadly have the same problem as memm, and can confirm that it isn’t merely a defective pencil. My wife and friend have no problem activating the mechanism consistently, and there are two pencils involved with consistent results.So the conclusion I’ve drawn is that it’s indeed a matter of pressure and perhaps angle when writing. I’m used to mechanical pencils and I generally never break leads. I hold the pencil at a roughly 40 degree angle, and usually rotate it myself every couple of words (something I had to consciously stop when trying the Kuru Toga). I’m not a fountain pen user, and generally use a mix of ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil at work. All Kuru Toga pencils are available in 0.5 mm and in a variety of colours, but some models are also available in 0.3 mm and 0.7 mm. I might not press the pencil down hard enough to get the gears to revolve. This could be because of many years of using fountain pens (which do not need a lot of pressure) and a relatively infrequent use of ballpoint pens (which need much more pressure). When I went to school you had to write with a fountain pen and today I still like to use fountain pens and avoid ballpoint pens. My wife, for example, is using much more pressure when writing.

The design of the Kuru Toga across the different models is relatively similar. The bodies are generally slim and lightweight. The grip sections are made of plastic, metal, or rubber. Some Kuru Toga pencils feature Uni’s Alpha Gel grip, which is made of soft silicone and offers a balanced feel of comfortable cushioning and ergonomic support. Extremely low angles would do it but the angle is about where you’d be using a pencil to shade a drawing – almost parallel to the paper. The Kuru Toga eliminates this problem with the use of an ingenious lead rotation mechanism that continually rotates the pencil lead as you write. A spring-loaded clutch twists the lead incrementally every time you lift the pencil from the paper. This allows a uniform wearing of the lead to create a conical tip shape that provides a fine, consistent line.

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You can spot the Kuru Toga logo inside the grip section or under a window in the barrel. It's printed on the rotation mechanism—which comes in different colors depending on the lead size—so you can watch the logo turn and rest assured that your Kuru Toga is working properly. You know how sometimes when you draw for too long, the pencil becomes blunt, sometimes you may rotate the pencil to the sharp side of the lead that gives you a thin line. When you're writing, you'll immediately see and feel the difference. With the Kuru Toga, I can actually feel the difference but can't really see the difference unless I'm really looking out for it.

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