Do any collectors who have early versions of the Pentel Graph, know if their pencils have a split tip?
https://x.com/syake1505/status/1912862839540531710
http://x.com/fK2kKLybNukn2Xp/status/1071285843724140544
I have a split tip on the Pentel 350, a picture of which is in the Pentel Book.
Normal tip on my ‘early’ Graph. Went to check right after I saw that tweet.
I have what I thought was a first gen Graph (large-diameter chuck like the first PS-350 and 11, hexagonal flat-profile clip, single digit “4” on the barrel) and the tip does not seem to come apart. Dammit, now I want one of those.
The split tip suddenly makes sense of the small step that has remained on Pentel P200 tips to this day. I had always assumed it was an arbitrary design decision, but now I see that it is a kind of vestigial structure (a bit like the ornaments on ancient Greek temples that were derived from their timber-framed forebears). I wonder why Pentel kept it for so long?
Having just checked my early-ish Pentel Graph Pencil with the number “3” on the barrel, I can confirm that it has an ordinary tip, although the projecting brass thread is quite short at around 2.5 mm. Mine came in its box if that is any clue to its age.
I might have to check some of my older Pentel Pencil models to see if there are any unusual tip configurations.
I love this
This is surprisingly a pretty big revelation to me. Very interesting indeed.
Looks just like the 350E tip I have.
Yes. This is what I suspect as well. Also the 11 rings on the grip of the P200 being a tribute to it’s predecessor, the Pentel 11.
This is all great stuff. I’m still trying to work out how Pentel arrived at the split tip. Was it somehow an evolution of the shorter conical tip of their earliest thin-lead pencils?
I had another look at my Graph Pencil, this time under a microscope (!) which revealed some odd details. The tip looks like it was made in two parts, like the split tip version, but I can’t unscrew them. The front edge of the upper section is slightly rounded, as if it was finished separately. Meanwhile, the nose cone abuts this quite sharply, with some striations around the base as if it has been tightened with some kind of tool (I should probably try to photograph this, as it is difficult to describe).
In contrast, the later P200-style tip is very clearly machined from one piece, with a slight change of angle at the “step”. This angle change may explain why Pentel retained the step feature.
It would be interesting to see the inside of the two parts from the split tip, to compare them with mine, and with later P200 tips. I’m still not sure if my Graph Pencil tip is a split tip that is either jammed or intentionally stuck together, or else an intermediate design, still possibly made of two parts.
I believe these (350 & Graph) were the first 0.5mm pencils, and at that point they used the split tip to do what today is done with the rubber retainer.
Yes, I believe Pentel did the single-piece, step design to make it look like the first tips that were used, then they had the machines to make them, so they kept on doing so.
I will try to take pictures of my 350 split tip and post them here.
Here are photos of my Pentel 300E with Split Tip. My 300 D has a solid tip that looks just like the split tip when put together.
I just checked my 350D and it seems to be all one piece… or maybe my hands are just too sweaty
