Friday, October 14, 2011

Messograf Caliper Ballpoint Pen

The Messograf Caliper Ballpoint Pen was designed and handcrafted by the Cleo Skribent Company, founded by Herbert Wurach.  In 1945, production began in Brandenburg Bad Wilsneck, Germany, in a simple backyard garage workshop, and later expanded, selling their handcrafted, unique writing instruments to the global market.  In 1999, the company introduced the Messograf Caliper Pen, and since then the firm and its product offerings have greatly expanded. 

Design
The Messograf Caliper Ballpoint Pen is constructed from Chromium plated brass.  It feels and looks really good and comfortable when holding in your hand.  It is not as heavy as I suspected, but a bit top heavy as the caliper occupies that end of the pen's body.  Speaking of the pen body, it is a four-sided diamond shape, with grooves on two opposing sides for the bottom half of the caliper to travel the length of the pen body to the crest of the tip.  Attached to the caliper is the tire tread gauge, doubling as a pocketclip, it travels down the pen body to the tip crest where the gauge scale resides. 

The pen has a silent, but solid retracting mechanism at its top.  The top is a matte silver color, and operates flawlessly.  The caliper sits directly below.  This measuring instrument does the job quite accurately.  Indicating measurement in both millimeter and inches, the caliper operates as a legitimate measuring tool.

 On the lower half of the caliper attached to its side, is the tire tread gauge.  Its scale is at the bottom section of the pen body.  When looking at the Messograf initially, I thought it was a pocketclip, and it actually doubles as just that.  Another feature is the thread scale, a measurement ruler for machinist needing to bore threads and determine the spatial distance between each thread. 

Lastly is the pen's performance.  Employing a large capacity, international Swiss made ink cartridge, this ballpoint inks rather smoothly.  For me, because its body is chrome, it tends to creep when gripping and applying to paper for extended periods.  Also, its top heavy anatomy is not conducive for long term writing.
That said, it is an easy user for short notes, and for use in a workshop environment, its intended locale.

Personally, I really enjoy using this pen in my workshop.  It is very durable and well made.  It has useful measurement tools on its landscape, and has become a practical addition to my toolbox.  As such, I highly recommend the Messograf Caliper Ballpoint Pen. 

1 comment:

  1. Whoo..I just received one of these pen/calipers and am blown away by the quality and functionality.
    Super.

    ReplyDelete