Pro Tool Reviews: Milwaukee Tool demonstrated something really cool last summer at their 2013 Press Event (called a Tool Symposium). It was their new Inkzall Jobsite Markers. This is a brand new type of writing tool that takes the characteristics and capabilities of a “Sharpie” and amps it up significantly.
6 comments:
To be honest Inkzall sounded pretty stupid when I starting reading this article, but pretty soon the idea was growing on me. This is just another marker, but it's a really nice one, and that's nothing make fun of. I can see how every single feature of this marker will be helpful working in a shop or work site of any kind. I know that dust is always a problem when working with wood and oil is often around when working with metal. Being able to write though that stuff and not need to waste time cleaning it would be very helpful. The addition of a stylus is really interesting to me. I know that I have never seen an iPad on the shop floor (when people had gloves on). I can imagine that perhaps in the future there will be shops that have iPads in the shop that can have 3D drafting on them so that the people building can get extra information easily. I'm not sure that this is a "good" future or one that is really needed by anyone, but I think that we will probably start to see some shops trying this sort of thing out. In any case this marker might sound like a silly product on the surface, but I think it has some real use if you look a little deeper.
I always carry a sharpie with me and I can attest that they really aren't made for use on all surfaces and run/wear/dry out way to quickly and always when I really need it to work. The biggest problem I run into is marking on ply. The line or letters start off totally clear but start to fade quickly and that usually ruins the tip in the process. If this marker really works as well as described, I see a new addition to my every day carry in the future. Hopefully they release it soon and at a reasonable price.
I'm a huge geek for office supplies and this article is great. So often my Sharpies are ruined in my shop, as Philip described. I'm really glad that someone had the insight to create a durable writing utensil. This reminds me of a Cold War-era anecdote, though. It describes how the US spent thousands of dollars on making a pen that would work in an anti-gravity situation.... and the Russians used a pencil. One note, where's the price? I'm actually interested in ordering a few.
I just finished ordered one of these.
I think this product would be more useful if the case was steel and there was no cap to lose. I’d swage the marker to a clip and just wear it on me at all times.
Not too many companies are working on new marking, measuring, and layout tools. It’s great to see some new products.
This marker sounds awesome! This is one of my biggest frustrations that my pens and markers get clogged and dont work, or the tips gets worn down, or they just can write on the surface, and this inkzall seems to fix all of those problems. Two things i wonder about given this new technology- first, how long will the marker last? like have the traded performance for length of usefulness? and also, how much does it cost? is it priced at a point that i will feel comfortable buying this instead of just a pack of sharpies? I also think its a cool idea to combine the marker with the stylus.
Its easy to scoff at people remaking a permanent marker but I think this is a pretty good idea. There are many issues one comes across when using a sharpie in the shop and Milwaukee finally decided to do something about it. The issue they resolved that I often come across is marking a solid line through dust and debris. Its also great that the tip of the marker is resistant to wear and tear. Way to go Milwaukee.
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