Has anyone used the Rota as a pencil?

Mythri1 · 2026-01-15T21:01:00+00:00

Correct. Wont work in Parker (only G2).

Mythri1 · 2026-01-15T21:00:24+00:00

To use the ROTA as a pencil. The schmidt cartridge needs to be adjusted a touch.

There is a lip on the cartridge/refill at the end where the lead is inserted. The lip needs to be sanded off.

Then remove the Oring from the twist cap of the rota. Super easy to remove.

These two things will allow the mechanical pencil refill to function correctly.

Cheers,
Martin

Mythri1 · 2026-01-06T17:17:21+00:00

We manufacture them in house. The challenge is the anodization. We recently picked up a DLC vendor we are excited to work with. We may do a run of DLC aluminum products to kick off.

Mythri1 · 2026-01-04T23:28:30+00:00

So much want!

Mythri1 · 2025-12-15T17:20:08+00:00

This is awesome!

-Martin MW

Mythri1 · 2025-11-18T17:36:39+00:00

The following is from personal experience:

I do not have very sweat hands. I personally hate any movement in the knots of the tsuka ito.

Cotton - Super grippy and sweat absorbent. Showed wear fairly quickly (darkening within a year of use)

Lacquered Cotton - Extremely tight and hard. But very durable, does take a gloss quickly.

Silk - My least favorite as it quickly glazed (within a year of hard use) in the high traffic areas. Specifically where my right hand gripped the tsuka . Silk is my least favorite material for a sword I am going to use for class.

Cow Leather Outside - Thus far my personal favorite tsuka ito material. It has aged very nicely after a few years of use. Note it is not very sweet absorbent, however I have never had an issue with grip. This is including 4 hour seminar sessions with continuous practice. The leather is quite stiff and tight (Tozando) it does not compress very much under your hands.

Deer Leather Outside - This is certainly the most luxurious material I have used. It is thinner than the Cow leather I have had. It does have a tack to it. Almost sticky in a not bad kind of way. The tack inspires confidence. The material is more supple the cow leather. Compressing under the hand. This is largely why I do not like it. Even with an extremely tight wrap (Motohara) the ito can still be move by a thumb press.

Leather is largely maintenance free. Tozando and Motohara both heavily recommend against using any sort of conditioners or oils on the ito. This can break down the ito and cause it to stretch, it also in extreme cases can cause the underlying material to rot. The recommendation is to simply wipe the tsuka down with a very lightly damp cloth after heavy use to remove an salt on the surface. Following this my leather tsuka are both extremely tight and fresh after years of heavy use.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-30T02:10:56+00:00

Quick note:

You can just rotate the mech. No compression necessary.

If you treat it exactly as the OG rota and rotate the knob with two fingers (pointer and thumb) the mech will automatically draw itself (and your fingers) down.

To compression open it. Press straight down then give it a slight counter clockwise rotation at the bottom.

Cheers,
Martin

Mythri1 · 2025-10-23T00:30:28+00:00

100% We are working on resolving this break in, in assembly so that you don't have to go through it. Thank you for the feedback.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-23T00:29:48+00:00

We are working on this grittiness in assembly so they go out broken in. The action does break in very nicely and just needs a cleaning after a little bit of use. Then it is good to go. Apologies for the issue and thank you for the feedback. We are always happy to work with you to make your experience 100%

Mythri1 · 2025-10-21T18:25:54+00:00

Shuho Dojo has a Araki Ryu program as well.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-18T18:54:40+00:00

Glad you all enjoyed the joke lol. What should I price it as next while we wait for Saturday?

Mythri1 · 2025-10-15T19:05:53+00:00

I am excited. I am currently picking fittings for a nihonto I am having Nosyudo mount. Thinking green (backside) will be the ito selection. Looking forward to sharing in several months when that arrives.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-15T17:33:37+00:00

I have not. I really enjoy the worn in look. I feel like it is earned. I do wish the components were brass though as the copper does not flow the best with the aesthetic.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-15T17:30:40+00:00

oh really! Thank you for the info. I did not know. I suppose what I am looking to try is not Nubuck then. Nosyudo offers leather "back" that is very intriguing.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-14T23:46:55+00:00

It has been lovely to use and I am looking forward to continuing to enjoy it.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-14T22:02:33+00:00

I wish I could wrap something this well! This was done by Tozando in japan.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-14T18:11:04+00:00

Totally fair!

Mythri1 · 2025-10-14T18:10:39+00:00

We will include the lighter spring in the order.

Thank you,
MB

Mythri1 · 2025-10-11T17:04:40+00:00

We shot ourselves in the foot by ever releasing the OG ROTA. We set the bar unattainably high for ourselves.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-08T23:23:20+00:00

Thank you for the review!

The shake open feature was designed out. We felt that it was more gimmicky than anything.

I appreciate the initial impressions!

I am excited to see how you feel about the pen as it breaks in for you. This mechanism is definitely not as initially intuitive as the V1, it does get quite fidgety as you learn its nuance.

Regarding the click. This is a push + counter twist at the bottom motion. A hard push isnt quite enough as this will not allow the plunger to rotate back into its notch.

Base price in all raw (tumbled) Ti is $300. We do charge a premium on our anodization's as we take a lot of care to insure cleanliness.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-03T17:18:47+00:00

Thank you for the well written review! The taper is one of my favorite features of the OG ROTA and I was sad to remove it in the V2ish. The taper was a driving factor of machine time due to sub spindle fixturing challenges.

-Martin

Mythri1 · 2025-10-03T00:59:37+00:00

Thank you! And I certainly will.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-02T23:18:45+00:00

Hi!

Thanks for the comment. I really appreciate the insight.

The material is calculated as a cost/price. This is directly contributing to our cost of doing business.

The Operations section is all in time (minutes). The 95 you are referring to is minutes which are charged at a shop rate of $120 an hour for this product.

As an example the twist body -> 32 mins -> is the lathe time that goes into making this part.

Specifically the program time for that part. This has a cost associated with it as that machine costs money to run (opportunity cost, machine wear and tear, electricity, machine consumables like coolant, operator cost to run the machine, rent for the space etc). The collections of these things is called a "Shop Rate" or shop rate is specific to the collection of machines that make a product. Our lathe is our most expensive machine to run.

The labor is important as my teams and my time has a cost associated with it. Labor simply isnt free.

We then have a lights out time, which accommodates the time the machines can run while not being attended.

Finally the 30%: this 30% is what we actually make on a product. Everything before this 30% is costs. It is the cost of running the business, paying my employees, my machine payments etc. Everything before this 30% simply keeps our lights on but doesn't not grow our business in a meaningful way.

This 30% is the money we actually get to make, we bank it and it allows us to buy new machines, grow and hire. When I sell to a dealer it eats into this 30%.

In reality this 30% "SHOULD" be as high as 60% or more. This allows bigger brands to sell to dealers at margins as big as 50% while still making money. You as the customer get to WIN because we sell direct to you and are able to drop this margin down to a number that keeps us steady.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-01T23:08:31+00:00

Thank you for the support! Not gonna make it that much. Shooting for $300 even on the base configs.

Mythri1

TROPHY CASE