Greetings!
I think I found another one for this list: the Ohto Words SP-10A. Here you can appreciate it in all its posted glory: DMP - Dave's Mechanical Pencils: Ohto Words SP10-A Mechanical Pencil Review
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Don’t forget the granddaddy of capped autos, the Penkala pencil, patented in 1906.
Thinking about it, the purpose of the cap may have been to prevent the retracting “automatic” sleeve from being accidentally pushed back. Whatever the reason, it is the earliest capped pencil that I can think of.
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Ha! Just when I thought the design of some modern versions of the carpenter’s/workman’s pencil — e.g. the Bosch 1 600 A02 E9B, or the Pica Dry MP — was entirely original, here comes the past, to remind me that whatever we do, is just mere repetition of what someone else has already done, probably with more interesting materials, and more ingenious internals.
Very humbling picture, @Alan , thank you for sharing!
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@Leonov I’m grateful that you brought these pencils to my attention. In all my years of using and collecting mechanical pencils (and even working with carpenters), for some reason I have never noticed these modern carpenter’s pencils.
I see exactly what you mean about their functional relationship. The Pica Dry in particular looks like the offspring of a Penkala and a Rotring Core!
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Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 03-2050… I somehow enjoy it’s overall feel more than the 3051 (to my FLABBERGASTED mind…)
Second is the Meister by Point. Just a clean, solid MP.
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Neither did I: I think I saw an Adam Savage video on carpenter’s markers, and I got dragged into the rabbit hole for a short period of time. I still prefer standard MP’s, but I have to admit some of those contraptions can be useful at times.
Note, by the way, that most of those pencils use very weird lead cores, both in terms of diameter and composition: the material is such that it writes on most surfaces (glass, leather, ceramics, and so on, like some old wooden pencils dedicated to field work), and the diameter is an impossibly rare 3.00 mm, which makes those pencils practically useless when it comes to switching lead.
Still, nice additions to anyone’s collection, especially if paired with “workpeople’s tools”.
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