Any Mac users here? Remember the ‘cheese grater’ PowerMac G5 tower? Yeah, now we got the designer pen to go with it: the Sakura craft_lab 009. Released in 2024, it took me a fair bit of budgeting and shopping around before I commmitted to purchasing both the ‘Asteroid Silver’ and ‘Nebula Black’ versions.
As can be seen, these pens feature full length perforations that both allow for a nicely tactile grip anywhere on the body, while also showing off a colored accent inside the metal shell. I don’t think these are easily disassembled, or else I’d be sure to fiddle around with the colored cores.
Other notes… the clip continues the signature slotted design from earlier models and it is of course a nicely dampened twist deploy mechanism. I guess I was attracted to the 009 because the punched array of holes reminded me so much of the uber hard to find Sakura Archi Y series. Seeing them side by side is quite a feast for the senses!
At first I’d thought the milling at the front meant it would twist at the cone. Anyway, one thing I really like about this is that the clip doesn’t touch the body when you rotate it. Small things matter
OK, here’s what I managed to do with the Kayou automatic unit… after shaving down the diameter of the tail-end, I manage to add a small spacer (for length) so that the Kayou acts like a pen refill — fully retractable and writes immediately when extended and put to paper.
Here’s the original unit in the pen(cil) body. The clicker only extends the tip like a ballpoint and DOES NOT impinge on the clutch at all. It is fully automatic and self-contained unit as seen in the middle. It is also easily disassembled: the tail knob is friction fitted with 2 tabs, and it just needs a firm twist to pull apart. Inside is a long white ‘guide sleeve’ that helps to align a single 9cm long lead core straight down into the clutch. The auto clutch unit is plastic and only works ‘one way’. The tip is spring loaded and is the only way to advance the lead.
A quick comparison of the original and modified units. I used a power drill to hold the unit securely and grind it against sandpaper. I guess that makes it a lathe? Ha.
