Tag Archives: “review”

Review – Paper:Mate Mates Mechanical Pencil

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The Paper:Mate Mates is obviously designed to be child’s pencil, considering that they unusually come in various colors or with various princesses or comic book characters. But the reason I have one is because it was given to me. I’m a thin lead kinda guy (0.5 most of the time) and the Mates only come in one size: 1.3mm. So they’re a cheap way to get the feel of a larger lead for those of us not used to it. But how does the rest of it work?

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The most interesting thing about this pencil is the body, which is a rounded-off triangular shape. It seems built up from a more standard size. Most ballpoint pens or (non-mechanical) pencils could fit inside of the Mates with no problem. It’s also longer than most other pens and pencils I have lying around. The overall design is very simple; it’s made to resemble a regular pencil. There is a triangular eraser on the back that is plugged into the back of the lead tube. It then expands to fit with the edge of the plastic it is held in by and creates a more “seamless” look. This bit is also the click-advance mechanism. Following that, there is some styling in the plastic that is meant to resemble the metal bit holding the eraser in on wood pencils. And beyond that is a smooth triangular barrel (with enough information printed on it) followed by a taper that is a little roughed up and meant to look like a sharpened wood pencil. There is no pipe to hold the lead here; it simply comes out of the end.

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Writing is simple, and what one would expect from a #2 pencil: smooth and somewhat dark. Due to the size of the lead, though, a lot more expression can be obtained from this pencil, as the lead can be flattened on one side and then flipped to allow for swapping between a very thin and very broad line. The triangular shape both helps and hinders this, making it easier to precisely rotate the pencil, but hard to exactly flip it over. The shape and the length, though, help the pencil ergonomically quite a bit, making the user in general much less prone to hand fatigue and cramping when using it for long periods of time. The fact that it is quite light for its size also helps with this, but contributes to a float-y feeling that I’m not much a fan of.

This pencil was made for kids as a school pencil. The ergonomics, large lead size, and HB (#2) lead grade all stem from filling in large amounts of scantron bubbles. But it does have other, more artistic (or even some office) uses. The lead is replaceable so it can be swapped for one more suitable for you, but a better eraser is needed. It isn’t the sturdiest pencil in the world, but there isn’t much that could go wrong with it and it should hold up in most use cases. So if you want to try out larger lead sizes pretty inexpensively, or are looking for a more ergonomic pencil experience, here would be a place to start.

Review – Sharpie Highlighter

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At times I feel like there is very little for me to say about certain things. And highlighters are one of those things. I use them, but not so much that I’ve extensively tested many of them to find the best. And I only use them for highlighting, and not some of the more creative applications like using them similarly to a blue pencil. Still, a product that does its job well deserves some of my time to talk about it.

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This Sharpie highlighter was a pack-in with several Sharpie pens, but I’ve seen it on the shelf by itself as well. The body is very simple, being a translucent yellow cylinder with a “cone-shaped” stopper on the end. The cap is a solid piece of plastic with an integrated clip that works well for what it is. The section is also a simple cylinder after a step down from the barrel, and then there is a slight taper and protrusion at the (chisel) tip. Sharpie is on both the cap and barrel in various forms with the only other information being a nontoxic seal and the words “smear guard”.

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When writing, the ink goes on smoothly, and is very bright. So if you want to draw attention to something, this will work. The ink also resists smearing both what it is being applied over, and itself when wet. While it does smear and spread some when dampened, it isn’t too terrible, and during my tests only fountain pen (liquid, dye-based) ink smeared even a bit. I haven’t tested the longer-term effects, but I’d like to think Sharpie has experience with these things.

It’s a highlighter. It’s a good, simple, bright highlighter. If you aren’t looking for anything special from your highlighter, but don’t want smearing, these will work.

Blog 1-1-16 – New New Years’ Setup

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Wow, it’s another new year already. Each year is just better than the last in terms of the amount of people viewing and enjoying my content, my interactions with people, and my own satisfaction in my work. Still, this is the first New Year’s in a while where I won’t be incredibly increasing my workload by announcing a couple of new comics. Indeed, this is the first year where I feel like I’m in a worse creative position than I was the year before. Meaning my update here will be rather tame, and have some of both the good and the bad.

First things first: let’s talk about comics. This year I’ve put 3 on hiatus, which has helped me, but I feel like it’s not as much as I really want to be doing. So this year I will be rescheduling the way things will be done. Instead of having 1 comic on weekdays and 3 each weekend day I will be doing 2 every day. The missing slots will be filled by Walking the Roosters increasing from 5 to 7 comics a week, as well as adding in a larger-format comic every week that could be a part of one of many stories. Also my Editorial comics, which I have not really been keeping up with, should hopefully fill in the remaining spot (if not, there will be something there, though). This new schedule will be viewable on the “weekly posting schedule” page shortly.

And now for the stuff not about comics. I will be ceasing to use most of the social media accounts that Dragon Co. uses for a period of time until I feel like they are relevant or are polished enough that I can be happy to look at them. This won’t be affecting everything: the main Dragon Co. Twitter and Facebook account/page will still be operational during this time, but Tumbr, secondary Facebook pages, and Google+ will not be active until the problems I am having with them can be resolved or there is demand for them to exist (which at the moment there is none, and I don’t foresee there being much for any but Tumblr until I can get things straightened out).

I will also be changing the “reviews” I have been doing (or trying to do) in the middle of the week. Instead I will be doing more of a short “Blog” post about one or a few of the many varied items in my collection (this is part of a larger project that I’m hoping to get off the ground). This might take longer to go into effect, as I haven’t been able to catch up on my written material as much as I would have hoped entering the New Year. In fact, I am very much behind in that regard and I will be working as diligently as I can to get caught up (but as one of my teachers always said “it is easier to keep up than catch up”). This process, which I optimistically thought would be finished by this time, might now take until the end of February to get resolved. But I do have every intention of catching up.

And that’s about what I’ve got. As always I hope you have enjoyed and continue to enjoy what I put out, and that you had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and will have a wonderful new year.

-Austin

Review – Kutsuwa STAD Pencil Holder

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Okay, I’m going to admit here that I don’t really know the name of this product as the only English I could find on the package was a URL, “made in China”, and STAD. But I do know it’s a pencil holder, so there is that. From my research I’ve found that this is a less-common or less-popular model (as in I couldn’t find it online at all). So I feel the need to say this is not a review of the “one-push” model.

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Pencil holders have been around for a while, and there are quite a few options to choose from. In fitting with my style, I got the cheapest one (okay it was given to me, but I think that sentence suits me. I haven’t been able to find a price on these, but I bet it isn’t much). After all, it’s just a metal tube to hold a stubby pencil; can it being cheap really hurt it very much?

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The item comes in a two pack with some labels that you can stick on the side when the pencils (or whatever you’re using) information is covered up or sharpened away. There are only two labels so use them wisely. The holders themselves are very simple: they are two pieces of aluminum, a straight barrel with a stop-bump followed by some threads with cuts in them that allow the second knurled cylinder, which is tapered on the inside, to screw on and force it to act like a collet, holding the pencil in place. The finish is smooth save the knurling and resists major scratching but is quite shiny and reflective.

The pencil is held quite securely inside the device. There is the tiniest amount of give even when tightened down as far I as think I could go before damaging either the pencil or the holder. It is easily enough to allow for comfortable writing or drawing and (fairly) easy sharpening. I’m sure one could throw it hard enough to knock the pencil out, but that isn’t a normal-use scenario. Being dropped from desk or hand height won’t hurt the holder or have the pencil fly out, but it might hurt the pencil. The grip works well enough, but it is a bit slippery, the length of the barrel is enough to allow one to rest it in the webbing between their thumb and forefinger on most hands, though it isn’t the most comfortable or ergonomic. It also seems a bit front heavy with the back of barrel empty when the pencil gets very short.

To be short, no, being cheap didn’t hurt this product very much. It doesn’t feel weighty or expensive, but it does do its job. It holds a pencil that would otherwise be very uncomfortable or hard to control in a way that makes it at least tolerable to work with. It’s simple to use, and easy to handle. And with how cheap it is, I would say it would certainly be worth looking at. It isn’t as nice as the more expensive ones, but if one isn’t very picky, like me, and if you happen to find one, get it.

Review – Master Mechanic Carton Cutter

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With so many options, one carton cutter review just wasn’t enough, and I am now back to review one that has a higher price. But does that make it better quality?

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The short answer is yes: it is better quality, but I’ll just go over a few things. The cutter has a bent and nicely shaped/joined sleeve made out of an unknown metal (probably steel), with an insert that is a folded piece of metal that will hold a razor blade. It also has a cutout “spring” that creates the tension instead of the body doing that, making it more pleasant to use. The sleeve also has a nice, easy-to-hold white paint applied, which makes it easier to see. The Master Mechanic logo that is printed on top of this looks nice but wears off easily and looks unsightly when it does.

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Use is easy and smooth, tapping (a hard surface) both to deploy and retract the blade-holding mechanism (placing the back on a hard surface and pushing firmly will deploy the blade, and doing the reverse with the blunt part of the front will retract it), but it does have a way it “likes” to go in and works better that way. The razor blades that are included are also slightly better than the cheaper knife, but in general one won’t get much use out of single-edge razor blades, which are sharp but cheap and prone to snapping or deforming.

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Is it worth it to buy a better version of such simple product? Probably not for most people. While this is a better carton cutter than cheaper ones, it isn’t really less dangerous or easier to use per-se. The fit and finish are as good as one could reasonably expect on a product this cheap; the amount of friction on deployment is constant; and the device will likely last for a long time. Still, a carton cutter isn’t a tool most people will be worrying about, and the less expensive ones would be easier to replace if they were misplaced or damaged.