TOMBOW MONO graph shaker... economic pencil

It was only $5.50 USD on Amazon. I was short about $6 USD from free shipping, so I added it. I didn’t expect much, but really… for this price? It’s a seriously good deal.


I have to admit, when I got it… I’d not even realized that this was a shaker type. Notice the listing. “Shaker” isn’t stated anywhere. And even on the pencil itself, it doesn’t say “SHAKER” anywhere. The lead is actuated by pulling on the clip forward towards the front. What’s actually great about this is you can easily swivel your thumb up to grab it for a good 180 degrees of position, without having to rotate the pencil. This is unlike the Pentel Quicker Clicker that has a button towards the front that you have to orient the right way for your your index finger to press it. The lead advancement is a little generous. I’d prefer if it was about 15% less. What’s rather neat is if you push on the clip in reverse (upward), it will lock into position. This guards against accidental advancement. To unlock, you basically do the same action downward, except that the first time requires a little more force.

So I looked around online for some photos… and that’s when I ended up at Jet Pens. There… the word “Shaker” was included in the title. Hmmmm… So I shake the pencil and sure enough… it advances the lead! It’s a bit of a loud, plasticky kind of clunk sound. Probably about as loud as the PILOT Opt. Typically you’d double-shake to get a normal amount of lead advanced. So when you’re getting a little low, one shake will do a half-advance. Oh, and one other cool thing–when you lock the pencil with the clip? The shaker is immobilized. :+1:

Build quality is good, although the movement of the clip is unmistakably plastic sliding over plastic. But what do you expect for under $6 USD, right? One can’t overlook one really impressive thing–that nose cone is not chromed plastic. It’s solid machined stainless steel! And you’ll be pleased to know that when you unscrew it, the chuck revealed inside is made of brass. Not plastic, as some cheap pencils tend to have. :trophy:

Lastly, one nice little feature is the eraser. There’s no cap, but you can retract the eraser flush. A simple turn of the cowling at the rear and it rolls out. This is a really good eraser and there’s an ample amount of it, gobs when compared to your usual micro dowel eraser on other mechanical pencils.

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It has a kind of “architectural” look about it. I have a LAMY Vista fountain pen, which is all clear with gleaming chrome components. This would make a nice companion to it. :1st_place_medal:

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But… it’s a Tombow MONO graph!! Oh my God Gary :rofl:

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I used a first run MONOgraph in blue as my written exam companion. Once the clock started, I used it to plan my essay points and to jot down technical points from memory and the big eraser cleaned everything off before submission time. It was a fantastic match for the Dr Grip pens I used for the actual written essays, for which I always carried two – in case I emptied a refill – which did happen twice.

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Love the Monograph.

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