A while ago, I bought a Caran d'Ache Fixpencil. This is a lead holder, an ancestor of the modern mechanical pencil. It does not have a lead advance mechanism, but a simple clutch mechanism holding the lead in place. To advance the lead, you push the button at the end of the pen, releasing the "claw" that holds the lead, push or pull the lead until it is where you want it, and release the button. It also takes much thicker leads than a modern pencil; mine uses 2 mm leads, but there is also a 3 mm version (and other brands go up to 5.6mm!). With such a thick lead, you need to sharpen it, and for this purpose, there is a built-in sharpener in the button. Equilibrists use a sand paper to shape the lead anyway they want it.
The pen body is hexagonal, like a traditional wood pencil, made of aluminium with a dark grey (near-black) powder coat finish. It is surprisingly light, but still has a nice solid feel to it.
Maybe not the most practical writing implement to jot down shopping lists or outlining your next shaving soap review, but is is the sort of slightly anachronistic gadget that might appeal to some people here. It being primarily a draftman's tool, now surpassed by CAD systems, it gives you a strange urge to wear a bow tie and a white coat, grab a slide rule, sit down at a drawing board, and design something.
The pen body is hexagonal, like a traditional wood pencil, made of aluminium with a dark grey (near-black) powder coat finish. It is surprisingly light, but still has a nice solid feel to it.
Maybe not the most practical writing implement to jot down shopping lists or outlining your next shaving soap review, but is is the sort of slightly anachronistic gadget that might appeal to some people here. It being primarily a draftman's tool, now surpassed by CAD systems, it gives you a strange urge to wear a bow tie and a white coat, grab a slide rule, sit down at a drawing board, and design something.
