If you want to see the Ridge in action, there is a clear plastic demonstrator available on Yahoo:
Unfortunately the auction pictures don’t show much.
Edit: there’s another one
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This thread is turning into an exploration of the internals of 2+1 rotation selector multipens… and we have a new member in the family!
I recently came across a decently-priced Rotring 600 3 in 1 (probably because of the wear, but I don’t mind a little brass showing). The selector part is light grey instead of black, but apart from that the mechanism is identical to the Tombow Zoom L104, including the grip attachment.
I still don’t know who manufactures this mechanism but they deserve congratulations for this hugely successful design.
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This design was first from the US, by the Chromatic Corporation. Zebra Sharbo adopted it a decade later. It’s surprising to see that the Rotring 600 3in1 is the same as a Tombow Zoom. The Tombow seems to be from 2015. I thought the 3 in 1 was older, but apparently it was only released around 2019?! Thanks to Patrick’s great timeline.
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Thanks for the info. I’ve seen quite a few of the early Chromatic 2-colour pens but I still haven’t got one (I do have an early Sharbo though).
As far as I can tell, the Zoom L104 is a reissue of the 2005 Zoom 414. Assuming they use the same internals (given their identical appearance I’m quite confident they do) it would push the origin of this specific mechanism way earlier than the Rotring.
(not the one highlighted in red, this isn’t my picture)
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Yes it’s pretty much the old Shabo mechanism.
OEM companies I’ve found for multipencils
- http://www.papilla-net.co.jp/. Rotring, Sailor, possibly Ohto and more. Whole pencils. Exclusively pendulum mechanisms, seemingly all with ballpoint-pencil combination. None with side button.
- https://www.ohhira.com/ Mechanical pencil refills for multipens
- http://koto-com.co.jp/ Rotary system multipens, one likely candidate for the Rotring 600 3-in-1. Possibly also the manufacturer of the MONO pencil’s eraser mechanism.
- 株式会社パイオニア｜ボールペン・シャープペン・筆記具、ファンシーギフト Plastic toy-quality pusher ballpoint (MP component possible) and rotary. But intended to be cheap.
- http://www.takizawa-pen.co.jp/ All types of multipencils, also a possible candidate
But, of course, those are just what’s easily accessible online, and also only what they chose to list on their website
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I tend to go with Kotobuki as the main supplier of rotation selector mechanisms as they were the main OEM for Platinum for decades… pumping out the DOUBLE 2/3/4 ACTION series…
Takizawa seems like the go-to for lever selectors, while Papilla specializes in pendulum selectors.
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I have found this picture of the Metaphys Locus 3way packaging:
But this may only be the company doing the final assembly, the mechanism could come from another source.
I considered looking at a Platinum for this series but their multipen range is so complicated… I have to try and make some sense of it first.
Takizawa has about as many rotary selectors as lever selectors made in Japan, it’s not as clearly divided. They also have gravity selectors with a side-release-button, something papilla doesn’t. They don’t seem to have a specialization
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Yeah, Fueki makes unglamorous construction lead holders. Seems like the founder of Metaphys approached them to make his writing instruments.
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Sorry if this is becoming repetitive, I just got another metal slim multipen (Rhodia Script 3 in 1) and guess what, it uses the same mechanism as Tombow, Metaphys, Rotring… Only this time there’s a twist (no pun intended),[1] it is housed in an aluminium body instead of brass.
Other than that, it uses the same parts, with the grey selector previously seen on the Rotring (which is functionally identical to the black one found in Japanese brands).
Well, almost. ↩︎
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Thanks for sharing your discoveries. At least the crimped metal barrel is a bit different. A black plastic stopper is new, too.
Continuing my exploration of slim rotator multipens, I have come accross two clones of the Penco I’ve already described. The chromed one is sold under the Tanosee brand and the black is from Hedera (the Penco is shown stripped of its paint at the top). The Hedera has a different clip but apart from that the only differences are cosmetic (engraved name, plating or paint).
As expected the internals are identical suggesting that they come from the same factory.
I don’t have one (yet!) but judging by the pictures and disassembly videos I have seen I’m pretty sure that the Skillcraft B3 aviator is another incarnation of this very same product.
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Have you seen / tried the Kokuyo Trystrams ‘Smoothstyle’ multipen? Pretty slim and also nicely different in how the mechanism is accessed. Unfortunately defunct.
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(For context as it has been mentioned, I want to add pictures etc)*
The mechanism is slid frictionfit into the outer body from behind
There is no snapping point for the retracted state
Rotation is possible in both directions without limiter
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Ordered! 
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Now I do.
I know it’s unusual to have the Pilot episode so late in the series, but here it is:
(top to bottom: 2+1 Legno, Evolt, Ridge)
You’ve got to give it to Pilot, while other brands are sharing identical internals and sometimes whole designs, they have gone all the way in the opposite direction with one different mechanism for each multipen. Even the clips and eraser holders are not interchangeable!
The mechanisms are clipped more strongly than on the Tombow/Penco/Rotring and Surari Sharbo where weak clips are held in place by a pin when the pen is assembled. Here the attachment is more akin to the one found on the Sharbo X LT3 so I didn’t try to open them further for fear of breaking it. But it’s enough to see that the Evolt uses an overall larger mechanism, with wider components and springs.
The Ridge and Legno are the same size and seem to have some parts in common but the Ridge being enclosed (like the Surari Sharbo) prevents a more detailed observation. However, the grip attachment is different despite the similar diameters.
Both the Legno and the Ridge have six protruding tabs inside with a detent pin on the external rotating part to provide the “half-stop” position described by @Linus2K
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