Alvin Precision Lead Pointer No. 5000 Alvin Co. Importers, Windsor, Connecticut, USA
	lead size mechanism composition variations production date origin 2 mm hand held with fixed steel blades bakelite housing with metal blade assembly body color? late 1940s to 1970s West Germany   see also Alvin Company catalog, 1971, p 81 Alvin 5020 and 5021 leadholders US Patent 2,188,130 "Point Forming Device for the Leads of Pencils and the Like," 1939 Defiance Sales Corp. catalog, 1955, p 261

	Alvin “Kleen Point” Pocket Size Lead Pointer No. 5555 Alvin & Co. Inc., Windsor, Connecticut, USA
	lead size mechanism composition variations production date origin 2 mm 4 blades aluminum housing with steel blades body color: black, copper, blue, gold, green, red circa 1970 West Germany see also Alvin Company catalog, 1971, p 81 Alvin 5550 Lead Holder and Pointer Set Alvin 5020 and 5021 leadholders US Patent 2,188,130 "Point Forming Device for the Leads of Pencils and the Like," 1939

The Alvin 5555 and the 5000 pointers use the same four blade assembly. This pocket model has a rubber gasket to prevent graphite powder from escaping. The gasket also serves to wipe loose dust off the point as the pencil is withdrawn which is a nice benefit.

	Alvin Rotary Lead Pointer ALP44 Alvin Co., Windsor, Connecticut, USA
	lead size mechanism composition variations production date origin 2mm handheld milling cutter plastic body and turret w/ steel cutter body color: beige, blue, orange (1980s) to present Germany   see also Koh-I-Noor 992WC

This pointer was sold as a number of brands other than Alvin, though I do not know which. It shares design features and uses guides which are identical with the larger Koh-I-Noor 992WC.

	Alvin EP17 Alvin Co., Windsor, Connecticut, USA
	lead size mechanism composition variations production date origin 2mm desktop mounted milling cutter plastic body and turret w/ steel cutter none (1990s to present) Taiwan   see also Dahle 323 lead pointer

This is a really poor quality knockoff of the Dahle 323, but it is nearly identical to the second generation of the real thing. New in this model was a plastic turret replacing the original die-cast one and a compartment in the bottom to store extra guides and dust pads.

The second generation's storage compartment was very useful as there was no good place to store the unused parts in the original model. A fortunate offshoot of this for the collector is that a surprising number of the early Turquoise 17's survived complete with the original box. The natural place to store the loose parts was in the box which was then saved. It is much less common to find the second and third generation pointers complete with the box. One shortcoming of the under-base storage was the inaccessibility of the compartment if the pointer was clamped to the drawing table.