I am trying to determine the generation of these two pencils. Using Nimrodds Blog
This can go a few ways…
They both are similar:
So these could be a gen 1b P205 or maybe a 4th generation P325?
Is it possible to tell from the internal mechanism?
A Gen 1b P205 would have the size printed on the bottom. It may be rubbed off.
I do not have enough P320 pencils to know exactly how they would fall in the flow chart on the early side.
However, the mold marks of 7 & 8 do seem to indicate a Gen 1 pencil. Do the brass spring rest on the reservoir have a bevel or is it flat? I believe the beveled one is the earliest model.
For now, the 1971 P205A’s container tube doesn’t have a stopper for the eraser cap, so the cap sinks quite far into the body. A 1975 example is the same. I think @nimrodd will agree.
Yes, those are the beveled stops.
You could make a stop with the metal piece around an eraser. That is what was originally used. Just take it off the eraser, then expand it on the tip a little bit at a time until it is larger than the cap. Then compress it to put it in the cap, smooth side first until the ridged side is just inside the cap. Then slowly slide it over the eraser nail it stops.
Like this? I’ll insert the ring inside the cap. You can still use the eraser, right? Of course, using another metal ring.
Yes, that is the correct way to do this.
