Does anyone have information on the TK series?
I’m trying to find out about the various models in the TK-Fine series and when they were released.
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I did find out that there are at least 3 types of grips on the 9705
(edit: not my photos photo credit Vici81)
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I have information—the Vario is one of the worst pencils in existence 
OG TK-fine 9705 is legit, tho
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just curious - what makes you say that? Is it the grip?
The grip is godawful and miles from the tip.
And then the lead indicator window spins around at the point of contact with the index finger.
Just a disaster of a design from a usability standpoint.
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It’s a real tragedy. Sure looks nice, though.
I’d flirted with the idea of a flared grip section, as option featured with the Spoke 4 pencil, and some of the pens. But I like the flexibility of a standard taper… especially if you like to change your grip and get closer to the tip for some instances of writing/drawing.
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What I did with the lead indicator is to remove the metal sleeve, squash it a little (like an oval instead of a circle), and reassemble. Now it has enough friction to stay put.
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I’ve been looking around a lot at these in the last two years since I started collecting MPs. What is below are my own observations.
Version 1 has the shallow checkered grip. The text on the barrel is FABER-CASTELL . TK-fine . 970x . GERMANY
There is no text on the clip.
Version 1a is the same but with the lead hardness ring pinned in a single position, unmovable. Both can be seen in the photos with dark wood background posted by Patrick above, those are in my collection, posted on Reddit a while ago.
Version 2 has the deeper circular grooves on the grip, the text on the barrel is 0,5 (or 3,7,9) FABER-CASTELL . TK-fine . 970x The word GERMANY is moved on the clip ring.
Version 2a has a bunch of color coded lines on the back of the barrel: yellow for 0,3, brown for 0,5, blue for 0,7 and orange for 0,9.
On both version 1 and 2 the cone has no grooves for 0,3, one for 0,5, two for 0,7 and 3 for 0,9.
Version 3, with the longitudinal grooves on the grip I dont know much about, for example the cone looks different, the color of the grip is off, dont know if its metal or plastic. Would appreciate any additional info on it.
Version 2/2a are the most numerous and easy to find, followed by 1/1a with version 3 the scarcest.
As far as lead size, I’d say 80% of those for sale online are 0,5, followed by 0,3 and 0,7 in roughly equal numbers. 0,9 is by far the rarest.
It had a companion, the cheaper 971x series, with plastic longitudinal grooves on the grip and fixed lead sleeve instead of semi-retractable like on 970x.
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Thank you for sharing your insights! I’d gathered that the metal longitudinal grooved version was probably related to the plastic-grip 971x but I wasn’t sure if the concentric grooved version was earlier than the checkered version. Your timeline seems to align with the manufacturing progression from ‘more complex / more steps’ to ‘simpler / less steps’:
- Checkered grip requires processing in 2 directions.
- Concentric grooves only needs processing in 1 direction.
- Longitudinal grooves is also 1 direction but has fewer grooves than the concentric.
- Reduce cost by substituting molded plastic grip for processed metal.
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I am currently eyeing a F.C. TK-fine 9705, but pencil-money is always short, and must be dealt with carefully, especially around Christmas time.
Do the people who have this model recommend it? A guy on Ebay once told me it was his best pencil, and he was saying so while selling me an old, beaten-up Alpha Matic, which I consider now one of the finest writers I’ve ever met.
What is your opinion on this MP? Would you consider it an essential piece to have around? I think I have a 9715 or 9713 somewhere, but with broken internals, so it does not count. Any comment is welcome.
PS: while I agree that the endpoint geometry of the TK-Fine Vario L might look unfortunate, whenever I use it I find myself pondering that, after all, it is not as bad as it might seem. Still, the lead hardness indicator is flimsy, and when it comes to tips keeping the fingers far from the writing end, there are indeed much better solutions.
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