It appears that mechanical pencils have been around a long time. Apparently an early example was found amongst the wreckage of HMS Pandora. The Worther Shorty definitely belongs in the 21st century. This clutch pencil holds a 3.15mm lead & the plastic hexagonal design sits comfortably in my hand. The lead retracts easily at the push of the button on the top.
Founded in 1985 the Worther company aim to stand out from the crowd, they manufacture their products in & some are even made by hand, design & quality are a priority.
Now I’m certainly no artist, my drawing skills just about manage matchstick men, believe me there’s no comparison to those that Lowry created. Neither has my career path taken me down the technical drawing or carpentry route, therefore I haven’t had much cause to look at mechanical pencils, until now.
I decided to find out the benefits that a Worther Shorty may have over the pencils I was used to chewing the end of whilst concentrating during my junior school lessons.
Refillable – made of top quality plastic, this pencil will be long lasting. The shorty comes in a box with 3 7B leads in a handy cardboard tube. When required you can also purchase replacements in a variety of colours, including red, orange & blue. Should you choose to, you can even swap the lead for a ballpoint to turn it into a pen.
No need to sharpen – The tip is said to taper whilst being used. It seems that some people still prefer to use a sharpener to make a finer point, I suppose it depends what you are using the pencil for.
Consistency – for those that use a pencil for engineering work, it is reported that mechanical pencils held upright will produce a predictable line the same width of the lead, whereas the wooden case type cannot.
I found the shorty comfortable to use, although only 4.5 inches long it was still long enough to rest well between my thumb & forefinger. I wanted to test the claim that this pencil can write on almost all surfaces, even x-rays. I compared a standard pencil with the Worther Shorty on metal, wood, glass & plastic coated folders, it did perform well. In all cases it was visible, the standard pencil was much fainter on wood, I was unable to detect it at all on plastic.
I can see that the Worther Shorty could have a variety of uses for a wide range of people.
Nikira, that’s exactly how I feel about fountain pens – they have a mind of thier own in my hand.
Love this pencil, it is always with me in my orange pencil case. Very comfortable for quick expressive sketch, has mind on his own. 🙂