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Pentel Multi 8 colored lead holder |
Several years ago I bought a Pentel Multi 8 colored lead holder. With slots for eight 2mm
leads in one pen-like holder, it seemed like an ideal compact sketching tool
for making small spots of color. The holder itself has a relatively chunky
barrel that I find comfortable to use. You spin the mechanism around to choose
the color you want and depress the knock to extend the clutch and selected
lead. Sounds cool, right? Unfortunately, the leads it came with are hard and
very unsaturated – downright wimpy in color. Disappointed, I put it aside and
never took it out for road testing.
Luckily for me, I didn’t get rid of it. Fast-forward to a
couple of weeks ago when I was writing a review for The Well-Appointed Desk on a set of Koh-i-Noor Diamond Drawing Pencils. Although I didn’t care for the
form factor of the lead holders – the classic slender, hexagonal style that
engineers used to favor – I was pleasantly surprised by the leads. Much softer
than I expected, they are also relatively saturated in color. After I finished
the review for the Desk, I even discovered that they are a bit water-soluble.
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Koh-i-Noor Diamond Drawing lead holders with matching colored leads |
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Koh-i-Noor's 6 colors (slightly water-soluble) |
Don’t get too excited – these leads will never replace any
of my favorite colored pencils, and they only come in six colors. But here’s
the interesting part. As I was working on the review, I pulled out a couple of
other colored lead holders I had, including the Pentel Multi 8 – which, it
turns out, holds 2mm leads! Yes – the proverbial light bulb moment. I popped
all six Koh-i-Noor leads into the Pentel (I had to snap them in half first
because they were too long), and now the Pentel Multi 8 contains at least six
colors that are useable! (If you’re interested in this setup, skip the
Koh-i-Noor lead holders and just buy the lead refills in an assorted color pack.)
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The business end |
I wish I’d had these parts assembled last winter when I was
on my minimal sketch kit challenge. The
solution would have been a much better compact color option than either the
red/blue bicolor pencil or the rainbow pencil that I tried. I’m going to
remember this for my next minimalism challenge. And I’d certainly take it with
me to Gilligan’s Island.
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