Why I hate the Kuru Toga mechanism

[pearsonified]

Dude on Reddit asked me to ‘splain myself, so I’ll cross-post my answer here:

The most delightful part of actually using a mechanical pencil is the chisel tip—it enables a stroke consistency, level of accuracy, and mitigated lead usage that is unmatched.

The Kuru Toga mechanism destroys this by eliminating the chisel tip. The rotation of the mechanism makes it so you’re always writing on a partially sharpened tip, resulting in thinner strokes, more lead usage through the de-graining of a sharper tip, and less stroke consistency due to sub-millimeter differences in the precise tip position.

Hence my statement, “the KuruToga mechanism is trash.”

[speedfreek]

In theory I could stand by most of that, but fail to see any truth in that the lead would wear faster.

Has anyone measured that? A thinner line should mean less lead scraped of to the paper.

My theoretical optimal writing pencil is a front clutch 1.1 mm Kuru Toga (without wobble)

[First_Sail]

What Kurutoga offers—a perfectly sharpened lead point, as seen in the diagrams that come with the pencil—is mechanically impossible. Why? Because to produce and maintain a 0.5 lead point like the one they show in their advertising, you must: make strokes of the same length, without varying the pressure on the paper, at a constant angle, and without rotating the pencil in your fingers.

They’re nice and interesting pencil. I don’t recommend the model they call High Grade; the grip is slippery.

[DarkwingDuck]

Though I’m not a fan of the mechanism, @First_Sail makes the most compelling argument for the mechanism.

What @pearsonified is describing is in essence a preference for a super fine point, finer than a 0.5 can offer.

By his logic either 1 of two things are his pov,

1. He just wants to be able to have a chisel tip to make a super fine point with the protection of a thicker lead at the same time.
2. He wants a chisel tip no matter the size of the lead.

I have a feeling no matter the option, some may just be stuck in their opinion but I think @pearsonified may be best served by a tip that protects the lead, even with extra fine measurements.

The fix may be a orenznero 0.2 or 0.3

Or a zebra delguard 0.2

Even better could be either of those with a kurutoga mechanism (instead of wasting their time putting it in a safari)

[Leonov]

I am very far from sure the following considerations make sense to anybody else than me, but here I come:

[TL/DR version: the Kuru Toga Engine probably works fine, just in a use-case which is veeeery far away from what many of us are used to in that part of the world dominated by Latin cursive scripts and long-stroke drawings. No hard feelings here; plus, the Dive magnetic cap is awesome.]

• I think that the special feature of the Kuru Toga works best with writing systems whose letterforms are made of many little or medium-short strokes adding up to deliver the final result; essentially, some Asian scripts (or a very disconnected form of Latin-alphabet block letters written as in a typewriter or billboard, i.e. not cursive). Since I tend to write in a Latin alphabet with a cursive style, it often occurs that a single stroke — core tip not lifted from the paper — can encompass an entire word (or even two, if connected by a ligature), so the lead wears out on the tip without having any opportunity to engage the mechanism itself, and the amount of lead rotation at the end of such an extended run does not make any real difference on how the tip is shaped by the writing, which is basically the usual asymmetric wear forcing me to rotate the whole pencil body in my fingers after a while.

• In this sense, I use the Kuru Toga (the Dive, in this particular case) as any other pencil in my EDC, and while it is true that the frequency of button push to dispense the lead can be sometimes reduced, it is mostly because of the automated lead feed, not because I save lead thanks to the rotating engine. I have to say that I really like the magnetic cap, though: this has convinced me to adopt the auto-feed pencil cartridge in the Uni Zento Signature, just to enjoy the sound and feel of the cap clicking whenever the pen (currently, pencil) is posted or capped. Also, the form factor is interesting, and sometimes the additional girth in the grip area is fun to play with, but then again, this has little to do with the rotating engine.

• I do not think that the Kuru Toga might make any difference in drafting as per the writing tip consistency and final effect on paper, unless one thinks about very special cases, e.g. using a section liner to make very short subsequent lines, possibly to indicate shadows or cutouts in a technical drawing — will it work as well in cross hatching? Not sure entirely: there, somehow, the subtle line variations are welcome, and considered a feature, not a bug.

• I agree with the Duck that, if drafting is the goal or the typical use-case, and one wants to implement the highest line-thickness consistency, a protected, sliding sleeve is the best option, maybe paired with a slimmed diameter (notice, however, that the tip of a 0.2 Orenzenero can sometimes grip the surface and scratch it severely during a very passionate act of tracing, so there are cons there as well). As a very expensive and hard-to-supply alternative, I suggest finding a good flat-lead pencil (F.C. 9600, Mifa Constructor, etc.) and a stock of ribbon-shaped lead slabs for lofting: in that case, when paired with a ruler edge, the consistency of the line can be even more pronounced, but switching to note-taking or scribbling without changing the writing instrument is then practically impossible.

Always a pleasure reading all your opinions on the matter!

[Alain4s]

For short-stroke writing (mainly print and Asian scripts like Kanji), the Kuru Toga must feel heaven-sent, especially if you never developed the habit of constantly rotating your pencil.

However, since I mainly use pencils for cursive writing and drafting, long strokes are disrupted by the 1/40th turn each time the tip leaves the paper. It’s too little to prevent a flat spot yet too much to produce a consistent edge where I expect it. Besides, the wobble—though minimal and reduced in recent models—still bothers me.

And there’s an ineffable pleasure, both visual and tactile, in riding the chisel and watching each word take on a graceful italic slant, with its pleins et déliés subtly tracing the rhythm of the hand.

(My penmanship is nothing like that. I write more like Mongo, but it still feels good.)

[nimrodd]

The reason I seriously dislike the Kuru Toga is that I have been writing with mechanical pencils for over 40 years and rotating as I write, so the Kuru Toga just interfered with my writing.

[pearsonified]

I think I may have misrepresented my preference, or else you slightly misunderstood what I was attempting to say.

I hate super fine points. I want the flat surface of the chisel—it produces a predictable, “fat” line (relative to the lead size) that is not prone to breaking.

And yes, I want a chisel tip no matter the lead size. (I really don’t care for 0.3, except for specialized applications. The lead breaks too much at that size with the amount of pressure I like to put on the page.)

The only KuruToga I like is the Switch, where the mechanism can be turned off. Chisel or die!

[pearsonified]

@Alain4s

And there’s an ineffable pleasure, both visual and tactile, in riding the chisel and watching each word take on a graceful italic slant, with its pleins et déliés subtly tracing the rhythm of the hand.

YES. This. A thousand times this.

[pearsonified]

It’s common sense. Use an old school #2 pencil. If it’s perfectly sharp, you get a lot of graphite residue. But if the tip is flattened out—like a chisel tip on an MP—you get almost no graphite residue during use. The residue = wear.

[Jose]

If you’re familiar with writing systems in Asia, it’s easier to understand why the Kuru Toga is so popular there.

Asian characters tend to be much denser than English letters. For example, the word “rice” is “밥” in Korean and “米” in Chinese characters. Compared to English, many characters pack more strokes into the same space.

Because of this, thinner lead sizes (0.3–0.5 mm) are generally preferred in Asia. But 0.3 mm lead breaks easily, which has always been a common issue. The Kuru Toga and the Orenz Nero were seen as innovative solutions to this problem.

Today, Kuru Toga models are very popular in the lower price range, while the Orenz Nero is popular in a slightly higher price range.

However, both still have drawbacks. Kuru Toga can have noticeable tip play because characters with many strokes require lifting the pencil more often. The Orenz Nero can suffer from friction between the metal tip and the paper.

Fine writing has always been a challenge with Asian scripts, and in that context the Kuru Toga Dive probably felt like a real innovation to many users.

[pearsonified]

While I am familiar with kanji and the like, I’m not particularly sympathetic to the situation

The chisel of a small piece of lead—especially in the 0.4–0.7mm range—offers an incredible writing/drawing experience. Nothing else provides the same level of friction; you can make more precise, pressurized, “engineering-style” strokes with a chisel-tipped MP than you can with anything else.

Chisel tip is GOAT territory.

[Jose]

Do you regularly write in Asian languages?

I’m Korean, and I’ve seen fewer than five people use 0.7 mm in real life.

Using 0.7 mm is really uncomfortable.

[Alain4s]

The preferred size of a nib, lead, brush, or any writing instrument usually depends on the technique one learns first. Today, in the age of keyboards, most people rely almost entirely on finger movements. They rarely use full-arm penmanship or the hybrid muscular movement technique. Not having developed the required range of motion is why you probably find 0.7 leads almost unbearably unwieldy.

It is a myth to equate small movements with Asian calligraphy.

[pearsonified]

No, and I hate 0.7

[Jose]

These are the recent poll results from the Korean Community.

Only 320 people participated, which is about 3% of the total members

[pearsonified]

For me, 0.4 is perfection. But from the standpoint of ubiquity and general use, 0.5 is the king (more availability, less lead breakage).

[alexanderino]

@pearsonified

I think I may have misrepresented my preference, or else you slightly misunderstood what I was attempting to say.

I acknowledge that your comment is a reply to @DarkwingDuck, and will point this out: a statement such as “the KuruToga mechanism is trash” does not come across as your preference, but a blanket statement that is objectively true for others. When a person reads this, the message is that the mechanism is defective in and of itself — not that it applies only to you.

How would I have phrased it? Perhaps something along the lines of ‘the Kuru Toga mechanism is unfit for me, because (insert reasoning)’. This ensures the reader correctly understands where you’re coming from.

I trust you will take my post in the spirit it is intended.

[mauhs]

I only realized this recently - and I stopped using my kuru toga for that exact reason. instead i’ve moved to a 0.3 that frankly just feels amazing when you deliberately create the chisel edge. i also manually turn it to keep it from being too grainy/innacurate of an edge, but way less than a kuru toga turns.

[Jose]

I also prefer 0.4 the most. It’s a bit disappointing that there aren’t many options available in 0.4.