Stad Compass with Mechanical Pencil 0.5 mm - Blue

Look like cheap plastic school kid's compass, right? That's what I thought....I'm a woodworker and I prefer mechanical pencils for their consistent marking width. I use compasses regularly to find the center of boards, etc. But most compasses have traditional pencils or 2mm led that needs to be sharpened frequently. After looking for a while, these are the only mechanical pencil compasses I could find. And it looks like a cheap kid's toy.Turns out, this little guy is solid metal. Aluminum? It's heavy in a good way and smooth. It is REALLY comfortable to hold as a regular pencil and then it folds out into a sturdy accurate device. The pencil led mechanics are solid and functions as expected. The design of the folding compass is swift and you don't have to god all the way back to "pencil only mode" if you want to just fold and pocket it. Oh that's another thing -it's got a GREAT clip that again is sturdy and works better than most.Honestly. I thought I was going to get a use and forget toy.... it's really cool. I'm actually kind of excited to write about it. I guess if I had a complaint, it's small but it's from Japan so take what you will from that...If you're looking for a nice mechanical compass, BUY THIS. Seriously for 7 bucks it's totally worth the marvel of the thing.

nice quality