Are there other (maybe older) pencils that have a clutch mechanism similar to the Platinum OLEeNU MOL-1000? (i.e. allowing you to use more of the lead)
I picked one of these up a few weeks ago and it does certainly work as described. It’s a decent pencil for the price but I am interested to see if there were earlier adaptations.
Staedtler 9505
I think there was something from Pilot called the Clutch from a decade or so ago but I think it was a pretty big airball.
Yes, Staedtler “Integrity”. Gunther lists also Uni Millino Schlüsselwort-Album: Doppelgreifer
Far from an airball, the clutch point line was produced for about 30 years. After they discontinued them, they moved that mechanism to another product line.
MUJI also makes a double clutch pencil.
here is a selection of pilot clutch points P1060161 | Pilot ClutchPoints (1000¥, 2000¥, 3000¥ & 5000¥) | 2nd_astronaut | Flickr
Thanks for the correction as I’m actually not too familiar with that model.
It’s actually a large product line. I have a post about the Pilot clutch points which I’m working on.
Platinum ZeroShin was the first, I think… some of the Oleenu that came later also had the double clutch, then the Oleenu Shield models had the extended sleeve support system that also acted to preserve the usability of short lengths of lead.
Pilot Clutch Point series went through many iterations from gaudy to elegant.
Mitsubishi Millino ← which also became a MUJI product
Penac Protti PRD105 ← Penac is the in-house brand of OEM Kotobuki, which developed the ZeroShin and Oleenu systems for Platinum.
Thanks everyone. The knowledge this group has is amazing.
This topic has been open for two hours and we haven’t heard a peep from Pearson.
The words double clutch are like his bat signal.
We may need to do a wellness check on him.
@drifand already said all there is to say. Clutch Point tips are cool (mechanically), but I don’t consider them very pleasant to use. Interestingly, Pilot released Clutch Points in many different sub-genres: Cheapies, hybrids, executives, and even etched masterpieces.
I didn’t realize it was 30 years. I’d thought it was more like 20. Interesting.
Looks like there were quite a number of design variations. Some of them look conspicuously like other PILOT models, but then some are a bit different. Do you have a photo showcasing an assortment?
Some dates for Platinum’s line up from my own searches on Wayback Machine and from patent hunter @Altis0520:
1996 - Kotobuki JP patent JP8-282868 filed
1998 - Platinum ZeroShin launched
1999 - Kotobuki US patent 6517271 filed
An interesting point is that Kotobuki’s filing claimed an improvement over ‘other versions’ of this clutch system. So maybe the first is Pilot? The claimed improvement is that using the eraser would not cause shearing of the lead between the front and back clutches.
First pilot clutch points have been made between 1977 and 1988 (the only two catalogs we have). They were discontinued around 2010, the date is somewhere on the net but I can’t find it now.
They’re still being made on the “Grance” series https://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/sharp_pen/sharp_pen/grance_2/
I’m not sure if pilot was the first. They like to boast about their firsts/original inventions (e.g. shaker 2020 or capless FP) but I never read that the clutch point was a world’s first.
Basic questions:
oops, many ?
I’m not sure I can answer all of them, but the 2mm clutch systems that you’re thinking about are usually called drop clutch I think. The double clutch pencils work with regular click advancement. Regular pencils also have a clutch, it’s the metal (or plastic) part inside the tip holding the lead.
A drop clutch has the clutch on the tip so that if the button is pressed, lead can pass freely. On a regular click advancement mp, when the back button is first pressed, the lead is pushed forward into a friction-bearing piece (a rubber gasket wirhin the tip, or just the lead sleeve), once the clicker is fully pressed the clutch disengages and it becomes free to slide back.
On a double clutch pencil, the friction-bearing piece is substituted by a second clutch. So the thing works like
1 - tip clutch opens, inner clutch is closed, lead is pushed
2 - tip clutch closes, inner clutch opens
3 - inner clutch slides back
4 - inner clutch closes
Or that’s what I believe. Someone please correct me if he has a better explanation of the mechanism.
All of the pencils mentioned in this thread have a mechanism of this sort (pilot clutch point included)
In a perfect world maybe. A lot of lower end pencils have plastic clutches.
I can never understand why they went with plastic. I mean, the cost difference shouldn’t be that much. But then, perhaps those were sold as disposable models?
