I have a love/fear relationship with art supplies. I love acquiring and making art with them, and I’m afraid that I won’t make art good enough to do justice to the art supply I’m reviewing. And there you have the reason why I put off this review for about two weeks.
The construction of the E+M Workman pocket clutch lead holder is eminently pleasing—this is a nice, solid object, full of wood and metal and class. The wood is smooth—no splinters—and the extra-thick barrel is just long enough to fit perfectly in my hand.
I’m no expert on these clutch mechanisms, but this one seems pretty sturdy. It’s got an eternal death grip on the lead, and I haven’t had any trouble with it projectile launching its contents to the floor, even though it’s the same basic clutch style as my Prismacolor Turquoise lead holder (that style being where the only place that the lead is held into the pencil is that metal clutch at the tip, as opposed to being held by some other mechanism in the barrel such that lead can be advanced one click at a time, like typical mechanical pencils).
The clutch clasps back down on the lead almost instantaneously after the button is released, such that it’s pretty easy to catch the lead exactly where I want it, instead of drastically overshooting it like I do with the Prismacolor Turquoise.
No clip, which is great for slipping into a pocket, and terrible on any minutely inclined surface. I’m torn on this point; I don’t want it to have a clip, as that would no doubt get in the way of my grip and general aesthetics, but I also don’t want my nice art supply making constant suicide attempts off of tables. There’s just no winning. At least it’s a bright, easy-to-spot-on-the-floor red.
Even when the tip is dull (I haven’t bought the lovely matching sharpener yet), there are still sharp angles to be found on the vast surface of this lead. And being HB, it’s got a good value range for sketching—easy to make light marks, but still capable of getting decently dark.
While this isn’t one of those “absolutely need it to live, breathe, and make art” items, it’s an absolutely perfect treat—either for yourself, or some lucky someone who likes lead holders—that, at $15 (at time of writing), doesn’t necessitate shelling out serious dough/pleading with your ATM that no really, just one more major cash withdrawal, I promise this is the last day of this pen convention and then I’ll quit (not that…I did any of that…at the Raleigh Pen Show, cough, cough, no). Good price, well made, quite the handsome little piece.
E+M Workman Pocket Clutch Lead Holder – 5.5mm – Red (and other colors) at JetPens
Thanks to JetPens for providing this sample for review! :)
“I have a love/fear relationship with art supplies. I love acquiring and making art with them, and I’m afraid that I won’t make art good enough to do justice to the art supply…”
Oh, that line speaks to me! If you like the 5.6mm lead, Koh-I-Noor do a triangular leadholder (the 5347) that’s a triangular shape, and so won’t roll off the table! They do lack that nice teardrop shape though! Over here they run between £3 and £5, depending on where you buy.
I’ll have to try to find that. I’m a sucker for lead holders here lately. Even had one custom made by Shaw Pens :)
[…] Other notable pens that activate this joyous whimsy include the Kaweco Liliput, the Pilot Petit1, the E+M Workman Pocket Clutch lead holder, the Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock—but this is the first compact felt tip pen I’ve encountered. […]
Bought one of these partly based on your recommendation. I’m finding that I need to sketch on a larger scale for this to be useful in any way.