Uni Kuru Toga Pipe Slide Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm

Uni's super-smart, self-sharpening Kuru Toga pencil has really upped the bar in mechanical pencil technology. This is the Pipe Slide model, which has a sliding metal sleeve to protect the lead, while the novel 'Kuru Toga engine' mechanism rotate the lead to keep it sharp and reduce breakage.

• Kuru Toga Mechanical pencil with automatic core rotating mechanism to esnure a constantly sharp, cone shaped tip
• Graphite is resistant to breakage
• Small window on the pen reveals orange cylinder which rotates when lead is put to paper demonstrating rotating action
• Prefilled with HB Uni Nano Dia Lead
• Refill with any 0.5mm graphite
• Measures 148mm (L) x 10mm (D)
• Integrated refillable capped eraser
• Available in a choice of colours

Uni's Kuru Toga self-sharpening mechanical pencil is a pretty clever writing tool. Mechanical pencils have lots of advantages over wooden pencils, but they still suffer lead breakages and blunting of the pencil lead due to overuse on one particular side of the graphite. Kuru Toga solves that problem with a very clear rotation mechanism - the 'Kuru Toga engine', which rotates the lead so that no one side becomes overused, losing its sharpness. The result is a lead which is always sharp, with a perfect shaped tip for clean, precise pencil strokes. This also makes the lead more resistant to breakage.

How does it work? Uni's Kuru Toga self sharpening pencil feature an automatic core rotation mechanism (the 'Kuru Toga engine'). Inside the Uni Kuru Toga's mechanism are there gears; the middle gear rotates the pencil lead approximately 18 degrees when it is touched to paper. While most Kura Toga pencils take around 40 rotations to completely rotate the lead, the Pipe Slide models rotate twice as fast, taking only 20 rotations to completely rotate the lead.

This particular variant of the Kuru Toga - the Pipe Slide model - has a sliding sleeve, which leaves a tiny portion of the graphite exposed as the lead wears down, so you don't have to extend the lead as often. Another nice feature of this Kuru Toga model is that the Pipe Slide's tip can also completely retract into the body, which ensures the sliding metal sleeve doesn't get snag at things. The transparent window allows you to see the rotation of the orange cylinder, which is a nice and fun feature.

The Kuru Toga engine inside a Pipe Slide pencil rotates twice as fast as that of a standard Kuru Toga: 20 strokes per rotation versus 40 strokes in the standard models. The standard Kuru Toga is ideal for writing complex characters with many strokes because of its higher stroke count per rotation. Simpler scripts such as Roman characters use fewer and longer strokes. The updated engine of the Pipe Slide is ideal for such scripts because it rotates the lead faster without requiring you to lift your pencil as often. With this updated mechanism, simpler scripts remain crisp and uniform. In addition, with fewer strokes per rotation, the lead is sharpened half as much as the standard model. This is more efficient for softer leads such as 2B, which require less sharpening to maintain a narrow line.

You can use any type of lead with the Kuru Toga pencil. The pencil comes prefilled with HB Uni Nano Dia Lead, which we also sell separately at TJS (try it - it's superb). Measures 148mm length, approximately 10mm diameter and 15g weight. Integrated refillable capped eraser.

Available in various coloured bodies (all have a black nose cone). Made in Japan.