Pentel 500 Mechanical Pencil 0.3 mm

I have had the Graphgear .3 mm pencil for years and loved it so much I wanted another. The last two I purchased from Jet Pens were beset with clogs or some other mechanical problem that I was unable to fix. Watched one video that addressed the problem, but offered no fix. I got tired of buying the pencil each time it quit working, so I recently bought a six-pack from another vendor. At least I will have some on reserve for when this happens again. I still love this pencil and will tolerate the glitch for six more times.

The Pentel Graphgear 500 is an excellent Drafting pencil for drafters. Obviously, as the 4mm lead sleeve is very fragile, extreme care is required, or else a little drop will ruin your 5 dollar pencil. The factory lead is nice & hard, wears fairly nice, and doesn't smudge (Great if you're a lefty). If you're going to bring the Pentel Graphgear 500 to a public place, don't flash your pencil to other people, unless you do want attention from people( " peasants " ) using cheap mechanical pencils. The Pentel Graphgear 500's eraser works decently, however as with most drafting pencils, the erasers are for well... minuscule mistakes, not for erasing an entire essay, or paragraph; for those duties, I use separate block erasers.The grip has good traction and isn't too ... MoreThe Pentel Graphgear 500 is an excellent Drafting pencil for drafters. Obviously, as the 4mm lead sleeve is very fragile, extreme care is required, or else a little drop will ruin your 5 dollar pencil. The factory lead is nice & hard, wears fairly nice, and doesn't smudge (Great if you're a lefty). If you're going to bring the Pentel Graphgear 500 to a public place, don't flash your pencil to other people, unless you do want attention from people( " peasants " ) using cheap mechanical pencils. The Pentel Graphgear 500's eraser works decently, however as with most drafting pencils, the erasers are for well... minuscule mistakes, not for erasing an entire essay, or paragraph; for those duties, I use separate block erasers.The grip has good traction and isn't too rough, however extended use will hurt your fingers.The weight of the Pentel Graphgear 500 isn't heavy , but it is pretty substantial, especially when you compare the weight to the Pentel Graph 1000 for pro. The Graphgear 500 is top-heavy, and if it does fall, it'll fall tip down, damaging your tip, rendering your Graphgear 500 unusable. ( as brown, plastic barrel is very light, and the metal grip is pretty heavy)A negative aspect of this pencil is the easily removable clip, as the clip would easily fall off whenever you actually get to use it. That being said, it does give you the option of working without a clip. I also don't like the awkward transition from the barrel to the grip.If you want something durable, reliable, "fancy", entertaining to stare at when you're bored,and are willing to take care of your Pentel Graphgear 500, I'd highly recommend the Pentel Graphgear 500. If you're looking for something cheap, extremely expensive, light, very heavy, or easily breakable, then I'd not recommend the Pentel Graphgear 500. That being said, the tip is still fragile, and needs some care.I'd also like to thank Jet pens, for the " Speedy Gonzales" super quick shipping. If your interested in this Pentel Graphgear 500, I'd get yours now, before the Pentel Graphgear 500 gets sold out.

I purchased the Graphgear 500 to replace my previous daily use pencil, the Pentel P200 series, and because it had a knurled grip. After trying most of the 0.5mm drafting pencils that Jetpens has to offer, this series is my favorite.Pros:-Eraser cap stays in place-Clip is removable (I do not like clips on my drafting pencils, as when I turn them they dig into my skin)-Solid "click" sound-Plastic body is strong enough to not bend under writing (in fact, this pencil and the more expensive Pentel Graphlet shar everything except the grips)-The grip is the a comfortable knurling (the closest I have found to the Rotring 600's knurling)-View of the lead is absolutely superb, yet the tip is still strong-The balance is towards the tip, making it easier to guide the ... MoreI purchased the Graphgear 500 to replace my previous daily use pencil, the Pentel P200 series, and because it had a knurled grip. After trying most of the 0.5mm drafting pencils that Jetpens has to offer, this series is my favorite.Pros:-Eraser cap stays in place-Clip is removable (I do not like clips on my drafting pencils, as when I turn them they dig into my skin)-Solid "click" sound-Plastic body is strong enough to not bend under writing (in fact, this pencil and the more expensive Pentel Graphlet shar everything except the grips)-The grip is the a comfortable knurling (the closest I have found to the Rotring 600's knurling)-View of the lead is absolutely superb, yet the tip is still strong-The balance is towards the tip, making it easier to guide the pencil as apposed to forcing it-Very durable all around-It's appealing to look at, and people notice the syringe-like look as an example of quality and precisionCons:-Not pocket safe (I make a little cap out of heat-shrink tubing to protect the tip and my pockets)-Slightly awkward at first due to the difference in size of the grip to the shaft-Sometimes the end cap/lead sleeve will annoyingly rattle, but it more often does notI do recommend this pencil, for the price you get a knurled grip, very solid mechanism, perfect weight balance, and a very durable pencil. I own all of these pencils, and they all see use. The 0.5 is my personal favorite, however this pencil is excellent as far as .3 mm pencils go.

Best mechanical pencil I have ever used

The Pentel Graphgear 500 is, hands down, the best mechanical pencil I have ever used. I am an avid comic artist and spend many hours a day drawing. The weight and balance point of this pencil is located in the metal grip, which makes it extremely comfortable and controllable.It has a solid mechanical click. I believe the mechanism is a brass clutch. This mechanism just sounds and feels solid and well built.The metal grip is comfortable and does not hurt the fingers.The pencil is just a joy to use. Easily one of the best deals out there. Very cheap price for the quality of the pencil. I plan on buying all 4 sizes.

Got more lead?

Nice pencil. This is my first mechanical pencil though I have used one before so I figured that it would come with some extra graphite inside. This only has 2 extra pieces. I will have to buy more somewhere. The .03 graphite is a lot softer than what I would draw with. It seems to be about HB2. Too dark for such a thin line.

Great balance and strudy tip

The pencil is very well balanced without being too heavy. The metal grip does start to hurt when you're using it for long periods of time, but it looks really nice. The jacket for the lead is fixed, that's a positive in my book because there's no movement when you're using the pencil. It might poke you if you're not careful when traveling with it.I don't do technical drawings, but I do use the pencil for long periods of time writing and drawing. I don't think I would want to have a all metal body pencil for what I do, the weight would get uncomfortable. I love the leads that come with these pencils, they are surprisingly smoother than the Bic ones I've used all of my life. I think the combination of the plastic body with the fixed metal tip is perfect.

Great grip and weight

I use this graphing pencil for getting sketches down on toned paper and for a light outline on watercolor and ink illustrations. The weight of the pencil is great, and I love that the grip never makes my pencil feel oily or have any slippage. I got the 0.3mm and love it! My one observation is that the lead runs really quickly when I sketch, but it's also dependent on how hard you're applying onto paper.

My new go-to pencil

I am a long time fan of Pentel and have purchased many of the P200 series over the years. the Graph Gear 500 has a nice weight, and knurled finger grip that is the right size and fits nicely between your fingers. The pocket clip is removable for those who like to "roll" the pencil as you draw or write. I highly recommend this pencil and the Graph Gear 500 is my new go-to pencil.

Pentel GraphGear 500 vs Sharp P200 series

Both are excellent, classic, time-proven mechanical pencils. Can't decide which one to buy? For me it comes down to the grip and balance of the pencil vs. how you like to draw. I prefer the GraphGear 500 (.03mm and .05mm) for detail work; the robust grip and nose heavy balance works best with a traditional writing grip and helps give a very precise sense of control, even with my less than steady hands. Whereas, the Sharp P200 series, has a much lighter, uniform balance, akin to a standard wooden pencil and can be gripped anywhere along the shaft, making them slightly more versatile for drawing. Only thing missing for either model is some sort of lead hardness indicator but at least the bodies are colored coded for lead diameter. #sweepstakes

decent mechanical pencil.

I use a number of mechanical pencils for drawing, each pencil holding different sizes/hardnesses of lead. I have many different brands and recently have come to notice that I enjoy using certain MPs in the set much more than others. This is one of the pencils in my set, and it is decent -- neither the worst nor the best I have/use.On the plus side, it has a very sturdy head/grip area which advances and holds the leads very securely. Leads break rarely. It is a bit weirdly easy to unscrew from the body though -- it's like a semi-premium head twisted onto a cheap/standard body.The textured metal grip I see as mostly a positive thing. I use the pencil for long periods of time, and while probably not the most comfortable pencil to use in such a way that I have, I ... MoreI use a number of mechanical pencils for drawing, each pencil holding different sizes/hardnesses of lead. I have many different brands and recently have come to notice that I enjoy using certain MPs in the set much more than others. This is one of the pencils in my set, and it is decent -- neither the worst nor the best I have/use.On the plus side, it has a very sturdy head/grip area which advances and holds the leads very securely. Leads break rarely. It is a bit weirdly easy to unscrew from the body though -- it's like a semi-premium head twisted onto a cheap/standard body.The textured metal grip I see as mostly a positive thing. I use the pencil for long periods of time, and while probably not the most comfortable pencil to use in such a way that I have, I can say that the metal grip has never become overly uncomfortable, either, and it almost never slips in the hand. It's probably better for brief use than extended use, but even in extended use, it fares better than you might expect.The main body of the pencil is nothing special -- regular hexagonal plastic. It has one of those metal clips which I'm not crazy about personally, but it can be removed. The small back eraser is of decent quality (not too dry/rough or smudgey).My biggest problem with this pencil is that over time the eraser bracket became jammed down into the reservoir area (see pic), preventing easy refills. The metal cap for the back got lost somewhere along the way (no fault of the pencil, of course) -- but advancing with the pencil capless eventually pushed the eraser itself down in a way that makes it very difficult to remove the eraser for refills to the reservoir.I assume this wouldn't likely have happened if I hadn't lost the back cap -- but it's also something that shouldn't happen anyway, which a better design could've prevented. I don't apply undue pressure when clicking/advancing -- it just became jammed like you see in the picture through normal use. At one point when clicking it just suddenly kind of gave, and pushed deeper in.Aside from that, it's a pretty good pencil, just not the best. I think the pencil would also benefit from a lead hardness indicator (which is available on the GG 1000 model -- which I've never used, it's way too pricey, not to mention kind of ugly). It's also a feature available on my current favorite MP, the Staedtler Mars Draft Automatic MP.Note: I tried to add a pic of the back of the pencil to illustrate the jam referenced, but doing so obscures the Submit button in my browser, so I am submitted without the pic.