Pentel Twist Eraser Pencils

These Pentel pencils have been my favorite mechanical pencils for many years. The erasers swivel out using an internal scroll mechanism. In use they don't click while using the eraser. The erasers are large and don't spin when you use them. They also come in .5mm, .7mm, and .9mm sizes. I've started a project using one to provide the guts for a custom pencil. I'm using the pencils plastic housings as the tubes for my custom pencil by turning them to size on my machine lathe so that I can glue my blanks over them. I'm not easily able to get the click mechanism out of the tip tube so will likely be making between center bushings to hold the blanks for turning both on the metal and wood lathes. I'll be making additional hardware for the cap end and click transition where the tubes overlap. The tip is chrome plated brass that is threaded into the pencil tube and won't need to be re-made. The tip is quite complex and would be next to impossible to make using manual machine processes.
Has anyone else used these to make a custom pencil.

Following with great interest! I've had on my to-do list a project to see if I can get a Kuru Toga or Pentel Orenz mechanism into a wooden body using an approach similar to how P200 conversions work. Would be very cool to have more than 1 mechanism available.

Gordon:

Got a kit and took kit part and found building off the lower end 7mm tube is easy, however the screw system for the eraser looks like more of a challenge, Need to find a way to thread ID of tube with a 9mm tap as they use the upper outer clip cap with ID threads to move eraser up and down. Over all I don't think it's worth the time, as it's really a Micky mouse type of pencil.

Charlie

Dieseldoc said:

Gordon:

Got a kit and took kit part and found building off the lower end 7mm tube is easy, however the screw system for the eraser looks like more of a challenge, Need to find a way to thread ID of tube with a 9mm tap as they use the upper outer clip cap with ID threads to move eraser up and down. Over all I don't think it's worth the time, as it's really a Micky mouse type of pencil.

Charlie

Click to expand...

That's why I'm going to just use the pencils upper and lower parts as the tubes. I will turn them on my metal lathe to take out most of the variation in diameter. I'm thinking that I may want to encase them in metal tubes before putting them in the wood or resin. The click mechanism is integral to the lower tube so it will be easier and cleaner just to leave it in there and turn around it. The upper tube goes over the lower tube for the advancing click so a metal tube over it would make it more substantial when the exterior is turned so thin over it.
I've used these pencils as my go to best pencils for the last 20 years. The metal tip model is an especially nice pencil. They don't click when using the eraser the way more expensive ones do and the size and length of the eraser is just the best. I just want to make a customized version for my own use. If it works out and folks want to pay what it will have to cost then who knows... I wish I could afford to retire and just play with these kinds of design projects... My day job is custom saddle making, tool making for leather work, and silver smithing for saddles so I can't complain too much.