Some reviewers have said that the silver doesn't show up on shiny metal. It is t meant to be used on clean shiny metal. It's for darkened metals (ex: mill scale, light oxidation, light rust etc).Silver can't be easily seen on shiny surfaces. Come on, give me a break.If you're going to mark a shiny clean piece of metal, use a good ol number two pencil and be done with it.The red is good for lighter colors where the silver doesn't show up l, but since I use a number two pencil, I don't use the red much.It's a good pencil and for what you're paying, you can't complain.It does what it says it does and it does it well. Nothing to it.