Ohto Super Promecha 1500P Drafting Pencil - 0.9 mm

I had three major problems with this pencil:
1). The day I got it, the eraser cover/lead indicator broke (I dropped it, but that was the first and last time I did so, and who doesn't drop their pencil at least once in their life?). While this provided little inconvenience other than being visually unappealing, it indicates a poor material quality.

2). The second issue I had with it was that the lead dispenser adjustment feature slowly began to "drift" towards the tip of the pencil, by this I mean that the piece was sliding (not twisting) in such a manner that eventually, to keep the pencil at the same lead-dispensing level, there was a physical gap where the twistable section ended. This is difficult to describe with words, but the end result was that it became more difficult to adjust the lead dispenser as time went on, and it was again visually unappealing.

3) The third and worst issue I had with this pencil was that as time went on, the lead dispersal became more difficult, in that pressing the eraser to release more lead would often time fail entirely. The best way I can describe this is with the analogy of prairie dogging; the lead would simply push out slightly before retracting back into the shaft. End result being that the pencil became completely useless.

I recieved this pencil today and thought I'd share some initial impressions:

I was rather leery at first about the sturdiness of this pencil, given my expectation that the guide pipe moved in and out of the body but was more than plesantly surprised. It isn't the guide pipe which moves but the entire assembly from the knurled gripping area to the outer sleeve which protects the guide pipe.

I was attracted to the fact that you could vary the amount of exposed guide pipe and the fact that you can adjust the amount of lead advanced per button push. I've long since gotten used to double-clicking a pencil and then tapping in the lead to adust before resuming so I've been wating one of the Steadler Regulators. The only down-side to getting the Steadler was the fact that they had fixed guide pipes. While the fixed GP promotes strength and durability, I've had too many incidents which caused damage to those oh-so fragile components from drops or bangs. This in spite of the fact that I tend to be very cautious with my pens and pencils. So a retractable GP has always been pretty high on my list of desirable features for any pencil. The fact that I can advance the point guard and grip instead of retracting the GP means I don't have to face the compromise of strength for the sake of protection.

While the lead adjustment was initially somewhat inconsistent, it soon "wore-in" and provides uniform feeding now that I've used it for a little while.

Since its arrival, I've given it a real workout. I've used it to complete over thirty sketches and have gone through two leads. Overall, I'm very pleased.

A previous reviewer mentione that the build quality seemed to have suffered compared to a previous version of this pencil. While I can't make any such comparison myself, I have to say that I was expecting something a bit sturdier than this struck me as being when I first began familiarizing myself with this pencil, but so far it has impressed me.

Another previous reviewer commented on the oddity regarding the hardness indicator and I have to agree that it's rather annoying that I can't indicate anything softer than "B" since I usually use HB, B, and 2B leads but it's not something that's going to make me absolutely insane.

The price is rather steep for most people, but I look at pens and pencils as tools since I use them on a daily basis for work. Given that the cost of one of these is 1/10th as much as I paid for any one of most of my pens, it seems quite reasonable to me. The cost involved doesn't bother me so much since I look at them as work-related investments... and tax deductable. ;-D

I'll try to remember to write a follow-up after I've abused this machine for a while.

I have been collecting drafting pencils for over 25 years and this is hands down one of the best.

I really like this pencil. It feels very good in the hand and writes very well. I did not like the eraser assembly that much though, kinda cheap for such a pricey pencil. I rarely use erasers on pencils like this so not that big of a deal.

This is my number one preference for a quality metal barrel drafting pencil. I draw portraits with this pencil and have had zero problems with it after 4 years. The lead never slips, and is made sturdy. I agree completely with the above review. I use many drafting pencils as a caricature artist; sizes range all the way up to 3 mm. For small detail work, there is not a better drafting pencil that I have experenced yet