Uni Kuru Toga Roulette Model Auto Lead Rotation Mechanical Pencil - 0.5 mm - Silver Body

I bought this pencil to try it out for sketching, as I prefer mechanical pencils for that. As a sketching tool, I found the Kuru Toga mechanism didn't have much effect. While the pressure needed to advance the mechanism is small enough to be well within comfort range for writing, for sketching I tend to prefer a lighter touch, and so the mechanism rarely activates.

The fact that he mechanism is pressure activated gives the tip a bit of "squish" in terms of controlling your line strength via pressure. This combined with the slow/infrequent activation at lower pressures actually serves to promote line width unpredictability rather than consistency.

Ergonomically it's very nice though. The combination of knurling and slightly thicker barrel (1cm) makes for a very comfortable no-slip grip (many drafting pencils I've tried have very skinny barrels that feel awkward in my long-ish fingers). It seems very well constructed over all, and I did not find the plastic sections objectionable.

For writing I'd give it four stars: I can see this being a satisfyingly good tool for that, and that's what most people who are reading these reviews are looking for, it would seem.

For sketching I would give this only two stars. It sits very comfortably in the hand, but the Kura Toga mechanism kinda works against you rather than for you.

As a P.S., this uses size C (3.4mm) erasers. Just putting that out there for folks who want to pick up extras in the same order (like I wanted to, but couldn't because the info wasn't in the description).

This pencil has both good and the bad. Being a high school student, this gets used... Often.
Goods- Writes well. I enjoy the feel. The weight balance, is a little off for me, but to each his own. The Kuru Toga actually works which is something I did not expect. (Itdoesnt rotate as much as I though it would per turn)
Bads- Once you run out of lead (As in a single piece) it is a long drawn out process of getting another to feed out. That is very crucial when it comes to taking notes. The only other bad thing (partially) is the top. I mean really. Could Uni not have raised the price 10 cents and made it metal? It doesn't really fit the design on the pencil as a whole

I would fully recommend it!

This pencil is amazing. The rotating engine really works as it says it does, but the thing that amazes me is all in the details. The metal barrel with the knurled grip is absolutely wonderful and really does mean it won't slip. It has a comfortable balance and weight to it, too. I like the feel of the brushed metal of the rest of the barrel and at the end of the barrel, there is a very thin band of rubber, so even if you like to hold pencils close to the tip there is a bit of something from stopping the slipping. The eraser cap also has this small band of rubber. This is a wonderful fact because it makes it all the more easier to get it off. One of the problems I have with pretty pencils and their eraser caps is that some of them are hard to grip. Not so with this one, all because of that little bit of rubber. This pencil is definitely worth the price.

I just got this pencil in the mail and tested the pencil with Tombo 3B lead and Pentel 0.5 4B.

The lead rotation Just. Works.

No question. This is amazing since the dullness that I get from using mechanical pencil is the most annoying thing. (Having to rotate the pencil manually.) This pencil fixes that completely.

Even with Tombo 3B lead, and the lack of pressure from using a softer lead, rotation works flawlessly.

I love this pencil!
Having to turn the pencil has always annoyed me, but I didn't know someone had invented a solution. It's very nice. Line width is consistent, with no lead scratching the paper like when I had to turn the pencil manually.
It feels great in my hand too. I really like the knurled aluminum grip area. The pencil even has a small o-ring near the grip to keep the grip from scratching the table if it is slid across it.
I use the pencil mainly for doing math homework and printing notes for other subjects. The tip rotates at a perfect rate.
There is just the slightest give to the tip of the pencil, and a very slight ticking sound, but no louder than some other mechanical pencils, and about the same loudness as the lead actually writing on the paper. Nothing to worry about, I'm one of those people that hears everything.
I think this is the best pencil I've ever owned. It would make a great instrument for yourself, or a great gift.