Most people hear the name PaperMate and immediately think of pens however what most people don’t know is that PaperMate is owned by Sanford and Sanford is owned by Newell Rubbermaid – or their more common name, Rubbermaid. With all these big names under the same roof you can bet your bottom dollar that there are some pretty big brains working in the creativity department. If the Pendulum is any reflection of where PaperMate is going with their upper end line of pens then they are on the road to redefining “office pens”. I won’t call this an earth shatter, pulse quickening product and I was more than a little skeptical when I first saw it on the shelf at the office supply store but after using it for a few weeks I can honestly say that it is a great pen that keeps up with heavy writing, sketching and fine line art. If you consider yourself a pen junkie or someone that has to try all the new gadgets – add this one to your list of pens to snag on your next trip to the office supply store.

PaperMate Pendulum Ballpoint Pen 52006

It’s been a long time since I really felt comfortable writing or drawing with a ballpoint pen; most of the time I go with a rollerball or gel ink pen since the ink flows smoother and most of the time the ink is darker and richer. The Pendulum has a steady ink flow that doesn’t skip, something that really impressed me considering the metal ball point tips – regardless of manufacturer – are prone to uneven writing. While I love the steady ink flow of this pen I do have to admit that it isn’t as thick or rich as that of gel pens – but it is almost impossible to get that type of flow from a ballpoint pen, imagine the mess you would have if there were a fraction of an inch more play between the ball and chamber. The biggest attraction to this pen is the swivel base, something that you really need to see and use to believe. The entire bottom part of the pen rotates – imagine a shock absorber but instead of it bouncing up and down it rotates in a circular motion. That, in a nutshell, is the Pendulum. The inner ink barrel rotates as you write so you don’t have to have a Superman grip on it, but that’s just the start.

When you look at the tip of the pen it looks like it’s been melted or bent out of place. No, this isn’t a defect so don’t start looking through them to find one that has a straight tip to it. The tip is angled so that the entire surface of it touches the paper instead of just part of it; if that sounds a little hard to understand – stop reading and pick up a pen, put it to paper and write a few words – look at how much of the tip is actually hitting the paper. With the Pendulum the whole face of the tip is hitting the paper, something that adds to that “no skip” perk I mentioned earlier. You do get great coverage but if you are doing fine line art work or any type of fill in work, chances are this won’t be your best pick unless you are willing to devote a lot of extra time to fill in the gap that can and will occur. This works best for smaller areas or when you need to use a pen that won’t leak when using a ruler or sleeve. With gel pens you tend to get a vacuum effect when using a ruler, it sort of sucks the ink under the edge if you aren’t using one that is beveled; this can lead to smudging and a less than perfect line.

Like almost all other Sanford / PaperMate pens, this comes with a pretty sweet customer satisfaction policy, if you aren’t happy with it or there is something wrong with it, they want to know about it. If there is something wrong with it or it is defective you can return it to the place of purchase for an exchange however if you have any trouble doing that [no package, no receipt etc] you can send it back to Sanford for a replacement. I had to do this with another pen that was about three times the amount of this one and got a nice letter from them along with a replacement pen and a few free refills. I have no doubt in my mind that if I purchase a product from Sanford / PaperMate that I am going to get a top of the line item and if there is something wrong with it, they do stand behind it 100%.

The Bottom Line

So far I am really impressed with the way this performs. The comfort grip allows me to writ for extended period so of time without cramps or discomfort and it recaps firmly so there’s almost no chance of it coming apart in a knapsack or backpack. The see through design of the barrel is pretty cool but it is a little hard to gauge how much ink is left in the chamber. I wasn’t able to find out any information about refills for this so at the point in time I’m going to have to say that refills aren’t sold for this however that may change in the future. You can’t just slip in a standard ink refill because of the curved base and tip. Even so, these sell for about $2.00 at most office supply stores and are a great pick for students, soccer moms and those who do a lot of writing and are looking for a comfortable but inexpensive writing tool.

As always, thanks for the visit …

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2004 Freak369


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Recommended: Yes