Customer Reviews

I agree with other reviewers--this is an excellent pencil. I was a little surprised, because of the dozen-or-so "drafting" pencils I own, this quickly became one of my favorites--even though it was only about eight bucks. The Promecha 500P (SP-504P) was my first 0.4-mm also, which I've found to be a be-yoo-tee-ful compromise between the more popular 0.3 and 0.5-mm sizes. If you find 0.3mm leads break too easily and a 0.5mm just isn't fine enough, try a 0.4mm. They're not that common, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I can't think of another under-ten-dollar pencil with a METAL barrel offhand, either--like this one. The nose-heavy balance is just right, and the metal knurling on the grip is comfy and what I call "non-distracting." The Promecha also seems to have an extra-long distance between the grip and the lead--putting your fingers further from the page and making it easier to see what you're writing. I noticed this right away.

And yes, after a suitable "test drive," I go at my pencils with a scale and micrometer for comparison purposes, so--the Ohto Promecha 500 is definitely light (at 12.6g), heavier only than my bantamweight 0.3mm Pentel Graphlet (10.1g) and Uni M5-552 (12.44g). Compare this to 19.65g for the Uni Shift Pipe Lock (nice, but a real Buick compared to the Promecha or Pentel). The grip is 9.3mm in diameter--about average. Compare that to the tiny 8 mm of the Alvin Draftmatic and the 9.7 mm of the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette.

It's well-made, and I couldn't find fault with the quality of any pieces or parts or the mechanism, which has a solid feel and no "sloppiness." This is a case where "light" does NOT equate to "feels cheap."

I'd definitely recommend it--it's really a great pencil and it's inexpensive enough to buy several, and either give one away (guaranteed to make a friend) or not lose sleep over losing.

Nice pencil in hard-to-find 0.4mm. Clean, attractive design. Nice grip & smooth satiny finish. Thin & light, the weight is way towards the front. If you want a big heavy pencil this is not it. Standard sized eraser (i.e., very small) worked surprisingly well. Comes with guide pipe wire (nice! some companies are leaving this out now). Good deal for the $.

Nicely designed pencil. The barrel steps back from grip to push-button cap, nicely mirroring the step-nose of the writing tip. Very clean lines and square edges lends to it's beauty and practicality. The grip itself consists of a square tile design eliminating the factory , industrial feel of the more common diamond knurl pattern. definitely a designer's pencil or anyone with a keen eye for symmetrical design and understated and practical good looks. At 138mm long it's compact and light for a metal body and I find the lead size on the cap more useful than the absent hardness indicator which I personally don't require. The ISO colour coded lettering is a nice touch as well. Definitely one of the best looking and better designed pencils out there and I'm glad I bought it.

This pencil is very light -- I prefer a heavier pencil but everyone is different. I do like the eraser: it worked better than some drafting pencils I've tried. However, I don't like the cap over the eraser. It's very small and easy to lose track of. It won't stand up, and when it's on its side it likes to roll (and hide).

I do like the .4mm size. I'm using the B lead and still breaking too much, but not nearly the frustration I had with a .3mm. If nothing else, this pencil inspired me to find a .4mm that might work better for me.