Pentel GraphGear 500 Mechanical Drafting Pencil, (0.5mm), Fine Line, Black Barrel (PG525A)

The Pentel GraphGear 500 is an outstanding mechanical pencil that perfectly balances precision, durability, and comfort. With its solid metal grip and weighted barrel, it offers excellent control and stability—ideal for detailed work like sketching, technical drawing, or note-taking. The knurled grip ensures a non-slip hold during long sessions, and the fixed sleeve makes it perfect for ruler work and clean, crisp lines. As shown in my drawing, this pencil makes shading and linework feel smooth and effortless. Whether you’re an artist, student, or professional, the GraphGear 500 is a tool you can truly rely on.

This pencil is really nice; the knurled grip is comfortable, the plastic body is strong, and it has a brass clutch at a really reasonable price point. However, I think Amazon just pulls these out of bulk boxes to sell. Mine came loose packaged with other items. It's a wonder it survived shipping without much damage.

Mike Rowe, the story goes, auditioned for a job on a home shopping channel and was issued an on-the-spot challenge which he famously excelled at - "Sell me this pencil".Firstly, if you don't know about Rowe's start on home shopping look up "mike rowe katsak" and do yourself the favor of enjoying that video.But mainly - I never understood how anyone could have anything of substance to say about a pencil -- until the sheer mastery of craft and pinnacle of industrial design that is the GraphGear 500 graced the grid of my notepad. The scribes of yore would have their hearts stopped mid beat from sheer joy if a rift in time brought them to experience this--Eh, okay no, that's total hyperbole. That said, if you're tasked with graphing a hyperbolic function -- look no further. This isn't some angle I'm running and I don't mean to be obtuse - this pencil is just great for anything you might be doing on graph paper. Yes, I am acutely aware that the wordplay is insufferable, but you've already come this far.What I'm doing with a pencil like this is drawing up plans and measurements of things that already exist to design and 3d print things that are perfectly sized for them. The photo for example is an absurdly complete dimensional study of a set of screwdrivers to make a rack that exactly fits those screwdrivers. The graph gear just *feels* right for the job, it feels precise. In point of fact though, it does have features that help with precision if one is using it for graphing; specifically, the long narrow tip and knurled grip.The tip means its easy to see around the point of your pencil to make sure you're marking the correct coordinates, and the knurled grip means it's not slipping a millimeter between your fingers. Even with the industrial rather than comfort grip, it's not uncomfortable to use or even write with. But you don't lean toward a pencil like this to write words, you look at a pencil like this to graph functions, or draft schematics, or draw complicated bridges and spacecraft in the margins of your quad notebook while you're not learning a thing in pre-calc.And buddy, let me tell you, it's great at that stuff.

Since this is lighter lead, this is perfect for me when I'm sketching. I'm really heavy handed with pencils in general, so when I draw, this being lighter lead, makes me not press as hard if that makes sense. Then of course if I ever need to go over anything with darker lead, I'll use a pencil with heavier lead.

I'm obsessed with this pencil. It's very lightweight, the eraser doesn't smudge and the lead isn't too dark. I love the design, mostly because whenever I don't use it for a long period of time, it's cool to the touch. I don't use to write, I use it to draw but it's great quality with either use. Be careful where you place it and how you use cause it breaks easily.

A while ago I got four nice 0.5mm mechanical pencils to compare:- Uni Kuru Toga Roulette : Haven't touched this one in months. It's very interesting mechanically, but the lead wiggles too much and the rotating feature doesn't make enough of a difference for that to be worth is for me. Maybe in a larger lead size this would work better. I have to admit it looks cool though.- Uni Shift Pipe Lock : The retractable lead pipe is nice. I have bent the lead pipe on the staedler and pentel pencils, so keeping it away can help with that. The wiggle isn't too bad but the weight distribution is a bit off for me. This would be a great pencil to throw in the bottom of your bag if you need a draft pencil that can take a bit of a beating. Otherwise see the options below.- Staedler 925 25-05 : My solid #2. Very well made, no lead wiggle as long as the tip is screwed on tight, so writing is smooth. The knurling is a bit sharp but personally I enjoy that grip. I keep one of these at my desk so I don't have to take my other pencil out of my bag. My biggest issue is that the eraser feels a bit loose, but it's not too bad. The price is a bit much for me too.- Pentel Graphgear 500 : Instantly my favorite, and has stayed as such for the couple of years I've used them. The lead pipe is totally fixed to the grip so there is no lead wiggle and I've only had it bend once when it flew spinning down onto tile. The knurling is a bit softer than the staedler, it's a nice middle ground. The eraser feels tight but it does wear a bit fast as someone who makes a lot of mistakes. Just a good pencil, and the cheapest of the lot. That's hard to beat.As someone who does a lot of math and diagrams on paper I pretty much stick to the 0.5mm graphgear now. Alongside it I use the Pentel Hi-Polymer eraser for bigger erasing jobs and a MUJI 0.38mm black pen for dark permanent lines. I highly recommend both of these too, no matter what pencil you use.

Great pencil at affordable price