GraphGear 500

An excellent drafting, art and writing mechanical pencil. The GraphGear 500 is lightweight like the Sharp p205 series pencil with the addition of a comfortable knurled aluminum grip that commands greater precision control of the pencil. Loading replacement lead is quick and easy. The eraser is very effective and easily replaced when necessary. A very enjoyable mechanical pencil and worth the investment.

A while ago I got four nice 0.5mm mechanical pencils to compare: - Uni Kuru Toga Roulette : Haven't touched this one in months. It's very interesting mechanically, but the lead wiggles too much and the rotating feature doesn't make enough of a difference for that to be worth is for me. Maybe in a larger lead size this would work better. I have to admit it looks cool though. - Uni Shift Pipe Lock : The retractable lead pipe is nice. I have bent the lead pipe on the staedler and pentel pencils, so keeping it away can help with that. The wiggle isn't too bad but the weight distribution is a bit off for me. This would be a great pencil to throw in the bottom of your bag if you need a draft pencil that can take a bit of a beating. Otherwise see the options below. - Staedler 925 25-05 : My solid #2. Very well made, no lead wiggle as long as the tip is screwed on tight, so writing is smooth. The knurling is a bit sharp but personally I enjoy that grip. I keep one of these at my desk so I don't have to take my other pencil out of my bag. My biggest issue is that the eraser feels a bit loose, but it's not too bad. The price is a bit much for me too. - Pentel Graphgear 500 : Instantly my favorite, and has stayed as such for the couple of years I've used them. The lead pipe is totally fixed to the grip so there is no lead wiggle and I've only had it bend once when it flew spinning down onto tile. The knurling is a bit softer than the staedler, it's a nice middle ground. The eraser feels tight but it does wear a bit fast as someone who makes a lot of mistakes. Just a good pencil, and the cheapest of the lot. That's hard to beat. As someone who does a lot of math and diagrams on paper I pretty much stick to the 0.5mm graphgear now. Alongside it I use the Pentel Hi-Polymer eraser for bigger erasing jobs and a MUJI 0.38mm black pen for dark permanent lines. I highly recommend both of these too, no matter what pencil you use.

The Pentel GraphGear 500 is an outstanding mechanical pencil that perfectly balances precision, durability, and comfort. With its solid metal grip and weighted barrel, it offers excellent control and stability—ideal for detailed work like sketching, technical drawing, or note-taking. The knurled grip ensures a non-slip hold during long sessions, and the fixed sleeve makes it perfect for ruler work and clean, crisp lines. As shown in my drawing, this pencil makes shading and linework feel smooth and effortless. Whether you’re an artist, student, or professional, the GraphGear 500 is a tool you can truly rely on.

This is my go to mechanical pencil. Works great!

I'm obsessed with this pencil. It's very lightweight, the eraser doesn't smudge and the lead isn't too dark. I love the design, mostly because whenever I don't use it for a long period of time, it's cool to the touch. I don't use to write, I use it to draw but it's great quality with either use. Be careful where you place it and how you use cause it breaks easily.

This is an amazing pencil for drawing or sketching. I really love the fine lines it makes. Worth the price for sure!

sooo lovely to use. It hurts my hand after holding it for a couple of minutes while drawing because I have carpal tunnel, I think. But overall feels good quality and the thin tip doesn't feel like it'll snap when carrying it in a pencil case and it's being tossed around

Context: I wanted to get a nice mechanical pencil in 0.5mm lead that had finer lead advancement and better comfort for long writing sessions than the common bulk mechanical pencil. At first glance, the construction of the Graphgear 500 is what you'd expect for the price. The barrel and lead tube are indeed plastic. The grip is a single piece of machined metal that measures 9mm across, about a millimeter wider than most bulk writing utensils. Beneath the grip is a brass clutch fixed to the barrel. The action is more sophisticated than a typical gravity feed—keeping the button depressed doesn't allow the lead to slide freely, so you only get consistent advancements in what are roughly half-millimeter increments. My biggest complaint with the design of this pencil is the distance between the end of the clutch and the tip of the sleeve is rather long. That's a solid 14mm/half inch of perfectly good lead you'll never get to use. My other complaint is that the weight of the pencil is centered where the grip meets the barrel. While I don't consider this ideal (I'd rather have the weight centered where the barrel rests on my hand) the 500 is light enough for this to not really be a problem to me. In spite of the things I listed above, I really enjoy writing with this pencil. The grip is comfortable to hold and it's nice to not have a pencil shoot out lead by whole millimeters only to break. A fixed sleeve prevents the tip from ever wobbling, which makes it easy to write very small. All in all, the Graphgear 500 is a solid pencil that packs durability in all the right places and has everything I was looking for without any unnecessary frill to introduce points of failure. Post-script: The included Hi-Polymer brand lead writes very smoothly—too smoothly in my opinion. It's certainly high-quality stuff and I'm happy to use it, but I think I'll switch to another brand once I expend the other two sticks. Smoothness is overrated. Don't be afraid to have a little feedback from your writing utensil. I won't comment on the included eraser since I intend to use the remainder of my block.