These days most pencils have their own erasers, but some still don’t, especially older models that have been in production for years and are still very good at their jobs. And even many of the new pencils don’t have enough eraser for the life of the pencil. Separate erasers are still a large market. But what if the eraser came in a more convenient package? The Sanford Peel-off Magic Rub intends to solve that problem.
The main body is simple: it’s a tube of paper that is continuously wrapped around itself and sealed with a sticker. On the sticker is the main information for the product. There is a string attacked to break the sticker seal and allow for the paper to be peeled back when the product is used. The paper and eraser tip can also be sharpened, but I wouldn’t recommend this. The core of the utensil is a tube of Magic Rub, which is a very good white eraser. Sanford’s Magic Rub erasers are easy to use, resist drying out, remove quite a bit of graphite, and aren’t as hard on the paper as some other erasers. They aren’t the best erasers out there, but they are very good ones.
And that’s really it. The entire “pencil” is slightly thicker and shorter than a standard pencil. But it fits in most of the same places and works very well. If you have a lot to erase, and don’t like the potential of breaking mechanisms with a mechanical eraser, I’d give this one a shot.
I miss and love the older Faber Castell Magic Rub Peel Off pencils (I’m literally down to the nub of my last one), and since they are discontinued, I hope Sanford bought the product line and I will check these out. Now, on to my point. I actually do use a pencil sharpener on mine, by peeling off a bunch of paper and removing the string. I use the large side of a hand held Maped Sharpener. It’s messy and kind of nutty, but I can get a very fine point, and for me, is unmatched for fine line erasing on graphite heavy works and renderings. Thin highlights, etc., and major erasing tasks are a breeze with this big boy. Nothing will replace kneaded rubber, but nothing does the job of a finely pointed Magic Rub 🙂
Tombow makes two vinyl erasers in automatic pencil form. The tip of one is rectangular & very small; the other is round and VERY tiny, for erasing small areas. Because they are mechanical pencils, they never need sharpening.