As well as woodcase pencils, the Craft Design Technology brand offers item 16, a 0.5mm drafting pencil.
The pencil is made for CDT by Pentel.
The white plastic barrel is distinctive, with lettering in black. I’m not exactly sure what the tip, grip, and clip are made of. They appear to be another type of plastic, though finished to look like metal.
At approximately 15.5g, it also feels substantial, and there seems to have been some effort exerted in creating a very comfortable balance and grip.
The design seems much more evolved than the micro, for example, yet it’s still a usable and functional pencil. I tend to think the white will get discolored over time, but maybe not – Pentel probably knows what they are doing.
At ?1,890 , there is some “design premium” in the price compared to similar plastic drafting pencils.
The lead grade window (in the cap) goes from 3H to B, but I’ve been using 2B. Who decided that 3H needed the space more than 2B? I didn’t mention it, but the 925 95 (featured last week) has a window that goes from 2H to 2B.
The pencil is pleasant enough, and the design and colour scheme would be the main selling points. The pencil is packaged with a cardboard box, and could make a nice gift.
That’s a nice one. How is it compared to other pencils, like the Pentel A120?
BTW, Y1890 is about $18.33
Hi Felipe,
Here are a few comparison points:
– The CDT pencil weighs almost twice as much as the A120 – 15.5g vs. 8.3g.
– For me, the CDT is a mail order item, versus the A120 being locally available.
– The CDT’s price is quadruple that of the A120 – at least compared to my local price.
– The CDT is just (at least for now) a 0.5mm pencil, while the A120 comes in four diameters.
– The grips are dramatically different. The CDT’s grip (the 5th photo in the post) is a hard plastic faux metal with very fine grooves, while the A120 is spongy rubber.
– The CDT has a standard drafting pencil profile, while the A120 is it’s own shape.
– The overall appearances are very different. I’ll let the photos speak to that aspect.
– Both pencils are made by Pentel, and could very well have the same internal mechanism. The advance function, and the amount of lead advanced per click, were the same as far as I could tell.
Hope this was useful.
What I was thinking is that it is very possible that the CDT has more technology (and styling) from the Graphgear 500 and 1000, rather than from their economy-priced pencils (A120, P205, etc).
And thanks for the info
BTW, do you order pencils from internet pages? from where?
Well, mainly plastic and without the advanced Pentelic features (e.g. a retracting sleeve), I would call it a medium range pencil, coupled with higher end styling/design.
and coupled to a higher end price.
For that price I would hope for something with a little more metal on it.
is that a rhodia notebook with the CDT pencil?
Hi Ted, yes a No. 18 was pulled into service. :-)
Wow this is just the coolest pencil ever. I found CDT at a trade show. I bought one at the only distributor in US, I had the number written down somewhere.. it’s 212 766 5766. I think they’re call Plus One. They write well.
Polly
Thank you for your kind comment to our products.
We got email and order through this blog.
I appreciate all the fans CDT products.
As per your a lot of requests, we at CDT-USA are going to provide all the products 35% discount if you order more than $100.00.
Please note the “Pencile talk” word when you order us.
Thank you so much again.
CDT-USA
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“- The grips are dramatically different. The CDT’s grip (the 5th photo in the post) is a hard plastic faux metal with very fine grooves, while the A120 is spongy rubber.”
I just wanted to note that the grip is actually a painted metal and not a hard plastic which is where most of the pencils weight comes from.
Hey there,
I used to buy the pencils by the dozen (HB) and this drafting pencil, along with the Pentel made markers at the Design Within Reach store in Soho but they’re going out of business and don’t carry them anymore.
Could you please tell me if there’s any other place here in NY where I can find them? or on-line store distributing your products?
The pencils are addictive!! :)
Thanks / Arigato
-Antonio.