Me and ‘boo getting work done today.
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Is that an uncirculated series 2017A $2 note in the background? 
I love the pencil and the note. (Fun Fact: Many banks today carry $2 bills. Just ask the teller the amount you want to withdraw.)
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It’s not uncirculated. $2 bills are kinda my thing. I do all of my tipping in stacks of $2 bills. Restaurants, marina, workers, etc. Makes everyone happy. And I get to be the $2 dude.
I get them from my bank in stacks/bands of 100.
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Wow… the $2 bill is still being made?? I had no idea. I thought it went out of circulation years ago (I’ve got like 2 of them in uncirculated condition, sequential numbers, stashed away in a safe box). I love the design. Such a classic looking bill.
Do you ever get weird looks from people or someone saying “Hey, is this real money??” 
Speaking of the Sharbo, I really like this line by Zebra. It has an interesting evolution. My only gripe with the Sharbo X is that there’s no detent for retracted… so you have to fiddle with it. The early all steel etched Sharbo also lacks a detent for retracted but it seems easier to hit. The mechanism on the 3 I’ve gotten are all a little “clunky” while moving between refills, while the Sharbo X is super smooth. Have you ever tried to lubricate yours, Thom?
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Yeah I have three from the first series and they all have a bit of a janky feeling to the twist mechanisms. Not horrible but not an awe inspiring twist.
Oh and there’s three things you don’t ask someone.
- their weight
- their age
- have you ever tried to lubricate yours
I’m calling your mother.
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Darn it… and I forgot to ask your favorite brand! Now, I’ll never know. 
Also noted, I’ll never ask if your pipe slides. 
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Somehow the price for these classic Sharbo is always hovering at the 2500 yen mark… and I still haven’t pulled the trigger unlike for various PILOT multipens.
I wouldn’t say you’re seriously missing out. I have like 3 of them, one in plain stainless steel. The mechanism is OK, but not super smooth. It makes the Sharbo X feel like a high end time piece.
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Grab one 
For people who don’t pay much attention to Sharbo, I recommend you try its etched rod series. Very special, with good quality and it’s not expensive (about 2000~4000 yen)
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I’ve been pretty selective when it comes to Sharbo… will try to do a group shot soon 
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Compared with modern products, these pens don’t contribute much to practicality today. If you are not interested in their appearance, they really cannot motivate you to buy them. Those etched model attract me cause while achieving fine patterns, the surface feels completely free of burrs, and there are often opportunities to meet interseting special customized models
Compared to these vintage model, sharbo’s mechanism lubrication is a fine level, while rotating type Pilot 1+1 is the best I have used. Of course, modern models completely exceeds them in this aspect.
One thing that is very special about the first gen sharbo is that its mechanism is all metal, while most of mulit pens, including later versions of sharbo, use plastic mechanisms. Their mechanism’s feeling is sometimes ordinary, sometimes is perfect since they work well with grease
One of my sharbo got stuck because of water, it became almost as good as new after adding some wd40. For plastic mechanisms, wd40 will completely ruin it, and grease sometimes makes it feel better (usually the ones which feels ordinary before), sometimes worse
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OK, good to know. I may try one of my old Sharbo 1+1 multipens with some WD40 and see if there’s improvement. Perhaps the grease they use dries out over time, and hence all of my examples aren’t very smooth in operation.
Try silicone grease, it doesn’t dry out — or takes forever
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