is a privately held Japanese company that produces stationery and writing instruments. Some of their products include mechanical pencils, erasers, pens, correction fluid, pencil lead, and felt-tipped pens. Pentel is also the inventor of non-permanent marker technology. In the past few years, Pentel has been gaining recognition from the pen spinning community, mainly for their R.S.V.P. line of ball point pens. The pens, notably the BK90 and BK91, have gained popularity in the aforementioned "sport" due to their relatively simple design, good balance, and the ease by which they are modified.

Pentel Sharp

The Pentel Sharp P200 series pencil has been in production since the early 1970's and is still being made today. The pencil was produced in 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm sizes, and these are numbered/colour coded P203 (dark brown), P205 (black), P207 (blue) and P209 (yellow). The 0.3mm size is no longer in production. Pentel also offered a sliding sleeve variant, the PS315 and PS523.

Modifications

BK90s are easily modified for pen spinning, due to their simple design and the use of plastic in their construction. One interested in enhancing his or her pen will usually be aiming to achieve balance and/or a change in the position of the inkwell (to prevent staining one's clothes while spinning). The most common "mod" is the drilling of a small hole in the rear cap of the pen, which allows for a reversal of the inkwell. The clip is sometimes broken off in this process, evening out the center of gravity even more. Another pen made by Pentel popular in pen spinning is the Hybrid Gel Grip. The main use comes from the grip and tip, which are used in the popular RSVP MX. As some markets get the Hybrid Gel Grip instead of the RSVP, so pen spinners will often trade each other for these pens over forums like UPSB.

Graph 1000, Smash, Mechanica

The Graph 1000 is a drafting pencil, which is used for technical drawing. It comes in 0.3mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm sizes. The Smash is a mechanical pencil that was released in lead sizes 0.3mm and 0.5mm and the colors black and grey. Production has ceased on all but the black 0.5mm. The Mechanica was an expensive drafting pencil, produced in 0.3mm and 0.5mm versions. It is no longer manufactured.

Clic Erasers

The Clic Eraser by Pentel is a pen-shaped stick that has a refillable, retractable white eraser good for clearing any graphite marks. They come in an assortment of colours: Black, red, grey, and blue.

Additional uses

Former MI-6 officer Richard Tomlinson alleges that Pentel Rolling Writer rollerball pens were extensively used by SIS agents to produce secret writing (invisible messages) while on missions.

References

External links

• Pentel of America, Ltd.
• Pentel Stationery of Canada LTD.
• Pentel's Japanese web page
• Pentel Europe
• Unofficial guide to "modding" the Pentel R.S.V.P.