There are some pencils in my collection that I don’t know anything about. One of them is this one.
It reminds me if the Uchida Drawing Sharp.
The plain box has only the sticker “JAPAN”, and the lead tube also doesn’t allow any conclusions.
On the upper part of the barrel just above the grip there is the embossing
C-THRU
DP-2
JAPAN
Does anyone know anything about this pencil?
Are there any other markings on the box?
Looks like a rebrand of a Kent/Uchida Drawing Sharp by C-Thru Ruler Co. (USA)
Probably more rare than the OEMs!
I agree with @ulfesharpe - looks like a Kent? It has all the looks, plus the octagonal ring to prevent rolling, etc. Interesting that the instruction sheet is in English, as I have only seem them in Japanese, but that would make sense if it was a US distributed model like Vasco suggested.
I mentioned the late 60s Kent/Uchida because the box it came with was exactly like that one, only difference being that it had “Kent 0.5” etched on the barrel. They’re always beautiful imprints to look at.
(pic of a Kent I had a few years ago — the U on the logo is Uchida’s, so technically it’s a Uchida/Kent, eh!)
I believe that when the “Kent” denomination disappeared from their catalogs they changed the branding on the packaging completely including that distinctive blue colour.
The vintage Uchida DS (i.e. the 2 version) is hard to find complete ITB, as far as I can tell. Sometimes you see them without the plastic clip, normally without the box or sometimes in a box that is not the original and belongs to the new models…
so was “Kent” a brand/model that Uchida sold? I always assumed it was a different manufacturer.
I believe it was the original name of the same manufacturer. Kent changed its name to Uchida.
It’s all I know… Not much actually. I got this far from a Japanese blog, but this sort of thing actually requires you to know Japanese to go further online… I was using google to translate bits of text, not very reliable 10 years ago… Maybe someone else here has better information about this.
C-Thru made (makes?) drafting and technical drawing implements. My dad used a C-Thru clear ruler with a red grid on it every day as a technical analyst. It was an analog stock chart interpretation tool in his hands.
I remember very clearly the daily delivery of a thick book of updated stock charts - this was in the days before even the Bloomberg machines, 70s & 80s.
also
But what actually happened seems like a little different from company’s statement. Twitter user @nikichi73 claims that Uchida D in '76 catalog had a ‘KENT’ mark while in '79 catalog, it became ‘UCHIDA’. Or maybe they just didn’t replace the catalog images in time
is what happened
Nice one, thanks.
Btw, and rather off topic, there was also another Japanese (super) brand that made these complete drafting tables with attached architect lamps… I wouldn’t say they were futuristic, but they were very fresh in concept — any body recalls?
I ask here because somehow I always associate it with Uchida and Uchida usually obliterates its name in my mind. They were completely different companies, I just associate them with the same “freshness”.
Please note the year, it’s not correctly identified.
昭和46年→1971
Ah, it was Mutoh
i’d love to have one of these
Wow, this is great!
As soon as I saw the pictures, I was going to say “It’s an early KENT/UCHIDA!”. The “granddad” of all Uchida Drawing Sharp models.
Kent was a maker (or possibly retailer) of nice drafting supplies, later renamed “Uchida” — maybe after a fusion with another company? Occasionally, one can still find online pairs of compasses, lead inserts or other accessories with both markings. And MP’s too, of course: I’ve seen boxes of Kent Drawing Sharp D around, even though they are rarer than the regular Uchida Drawing Sharp D’s.
I have some drafting instruments from the company, most notably a portable mini drafting arm which can be attached to a wooden slate to make a fully-operational small-scale drafting table. Works like a charm, after so many years.
And since many of these instruments were sold on the U.S. market for a while, it’s quite possible that they have been rebranded with an American company name: very nice find indeed, @Gunther!
