Here are a couple of amazingly thin erasers.
The Tombow Mono zero is a 2.3mm diameter cyclindrical eraser, dispensed by clicking the cap. It really does seem like a mechanical pencil in both form and function.
I thought this eraser was probably a borderline novelty, but it worked quite well over a period of days. You wouldn’t use it to erase several lines of text, but it is great for smaller tasks such as changing a line fragment, digit or letter.
I like the portability as well.
The Pentel Clic Eraser Hyperaser is a rectangular metal housed eraser. It has a dispense mechanism similar to that of most stick erasers, such as the Staedtler 528 50. A clip as well!
This is an ink eraser. It seemed to work well on tests with ballpoint ink, and less well with fountain pen ink.
I wasn’t expecting much, but both seemed pretty good.
The main problem I see it that both require yet more proprietary refill types. The Mono zero in particular seems like it will require a replacement eraser soon enough.
My thanks to der Lexikaliker for the Pentel eraser.
The Tombow MONO Zero also has a rectangular type with a 2.5mm width that comes with blue indication on the package!
I don’t know what I’m saving it for, but I have yet to use the round 2.3mm Tombow MONO Zero eraser that I own. One reason is that the refills are mighty hard to come by. More often than not they are not in stock at JetPens.
I am certain that for very fine detail work in graphite drawing, such as creating realistic and precise highlights in a portrait subject’s hair, no other product can take the place of this eraser. Stephen is right, you wouldn’t use this tool to remove lines of text. You might use it to remove one letter at a time, to correct an errant serif or diacritical mark. But really for most people, unless they write extremely small, to use the MONO Zero to correct one’s handwriting is to use a scalpel where a carving knife will do. I find Pentel’s Clic Eraser more than adequate for almost any careful erasing job I can think of. In the one percent of cases where it is too blunt an instrument, Uni-ball’s E-Knock eraser is a nice intermediate size between the Clic and the Zero, is much easier to come by, and has a much longer useful life than the Zero. But at the extreme edge of eraser performance, that one tenth of one percent of cases where absolutely miniscule corrections or adjustments need to be made, I see no practical substitute for the Zero on the market. One thing to understand about the refills if you can find them is that a significant portion of their length is a plastic cartridge which provides rigidity and secures them within the housing of the MONO Zero stylus. So I will save my Zero (a great artist or drafting professional might be Saved By Zero) until such time as I can acquire a plentiful stock of refills. For now I don’t want to wate a valuable resource.
Jim, hope you didn’t compose that comment in the tiny “Leave a Reply” box!
Seriously, thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Could it be that different languages and scripts tend to have different requirements, and that super-fine erasure makes more sense when writing Kanji, or perhaps fine scientific notation?
Rats, you found me out :>))).
I think you must be right about the Kanji, not to mention scientific/mathematical notation. Reviewing your post about the Tombow LV-KEV pencil, one can’t help noticing the high incidence of closely parallel fine strokes in Japanese character formation for which no counterparts in the Roman alphabet come immediately to mind.
I want to know how to make transparent rubber eraser and soften rubber eraser . Please explain me!
yelinaung, we can’t always get what we want.
Ohh yes.. found them.. these are good… but are they good enough for sketching purpose?
To fit in my pencil pouch, I’m looking for a good old fashion eraser ___ 1/4 inch thick, about 1.0 inch wide and regular length.
The Tombow 2.3 mm retractable erazer is a brilliant tool for sketching, pencil drawings etc. Just wish they did an even finer diameter. The metal sleeve allows great control and precision. Eg light margin area on lower eye lid. Essential part of my mobile drawing kit…highly recommended.
PS any one know of any finer diameter erazers?