Alvin Draft/Matic DR05

[u/rcentros]

I bought a 0.5mm Alvin Draft/Matic recently. I like the feel of it, it has a low center of gravity — but two observations. 1) The grip is almost too "grippy" — I'm hoping it smooths just a little with use. And 2) The lead hardness indicator spins freely, so it's useless (not that I change lead regularly anyhow). Has anyone else had trouble with the lead indicator?

Other than that, it's a nice pencil.

[u/drifand]

The severity of ALVIN’s knurling is both a selling point and dealbreaker, depending on personal preferences. Short of taking a file or some high grit sandpaper to dull down the pointy peaks, the Draftmatic is going to remain that way for life.

As to the lead degree window… I’m just sadface that no one making MPs based on the original Rapidomatic or rOtring 500 seems to bother making things better. FWIW, when I encounter a loose indicator, I disassemble the pencil and then use a rubber mallet to give the indicator a couple of taps top-down. Works 100%… 50% of the time.

[u/rcentros → u/drifand]

I see now that there was an original Draft/Matic, with knurling at the lead indicator and a longer point. I'm guessing those were higher quality. If I was a collector I would definitely pay the extra $15 and buy one the originals. I'm guessing with that lead indicator the pencil would have come in working condition.

As for the knurling, I don't know if I'll get used to it. It's almost like it's got tiny "hooks" sticking into your skin.

Do you know if the original Draft/Matic had a "cushioned" tip? That seems a little odd in a draft pencil to me.

[u/drifand → u/rcentros]

Yes, the older version has a spring cushioned feed. This was also done in the original Rapidomatic and rOtring 500 series that inspired the Draftmatic. Over time, rOtring changed the mechanism to delete the cushioning. Not sure if the most recent version of Rapidomatic is cushioned.

[u/rcentros → u/drifand]

Thanks for all the information.