My smallest mechanical pencil

Maybe “vintage” doesn’t refer to the stuff but to the man :wink:

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That is a twist lock drafting tip, but I am not sure that it is/was meant to hold a lead. Many older drafting sets, and definitely ones of this caliber has a ‘pricker’ which is a needle-point which is used to pierce the paper or film that is laid on top of a finished drawing. This paper or film, was used to make overlays or copies.

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Yes, there are two regular pencils in the set, one holding a pricker tip. In addition, there is the smaller handled item and it also has a pricker tip in it.


I’ve been buying stuff from Elton (Singapore Mechanical Pencils) for a few years.

Occasionally he throws in a “bonus” pencil.
This one came today and I’m really jazzed.

It’s a Tie Clip! I don’t wear a tie to work anymore (thank God) but really like this little fellow.

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Just when I thought I had seen enough unusual stuff, some of you drops these kinds of oddities.

Truly remarkable. :smiley:

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Found a similar piece in my Uchida set:

(Ethics has references)

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A user on the MP subreddit identified it as an “Extend A-Pencil”
And I also did not realize it was a telescoping pencil!

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Very neat!

That beats my Mitsubishi mini pencil on stowed size.

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Not exactly a tie-pencil, but rather a magnificent compass insert of the twistaction type; some luxurious sets can have the 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 tips, both in the long version (for standard compasses) and even in the short variant (for tinier bow-compasses).

The last company still selling this stuff to this day should be the DRAPAS (or “Dorapasu”); they have an outstanding range of such tiny compass inserts, even though they all come with a less stylish knock system with safety lock, but I’m afraid that getting the specific pieces, even with some reference numbers from their catalogue, might be a nightmare.

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Swank also made a pencil tie clip, but not telescoping.

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I just got an Ohto Minimo from Amazon today (under $6), and i can’t believe how small it is. I thought it would be a bit bigger, the listing didn’t have any pictures with a size comparison. I love the plastic card you mount it to so it won’t get lost as easily.

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Just found out I had these in a drafting kit. Astounded I never noticed before.


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If you have a Lego minifig, its hands can hold the Minimo perfectly.

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Minuscule size, but all relevant lead diameters; super-aggressive knurling, totally disproportionate with respect to the overall size (the super-deformed version of a compass leg attachment); universal dimensioning, so that they can be accommodated into both standard size compasses and smaller bow-compasses.

That is why I love Japan. One way or another, they nail it. Every single time.

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Love the minimo. The Muji version is even nicer – it was sold in a blister with a ballpoint mini pen which is basically the size of the D4 refill.

Fave stuff, if I had a spare I’d carry the bp all the time but it’s so tiny I’d probably lose it.