Category: Faber-Castell

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Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

Sorry for recent website outages – some rough weather was playing havoc with local power on the weekend.

Today, let’s reach way back in the pencil cupboard and pull out a vintage multipencil. This particular one has four colours. Thanks to leadholder.com’s archives, I can see that this pencil appeared on page 47 of Faber-Castell’s 1957 catalogue. Silver-plated, it originally sold for 11.50 DM. A sterling version was 18 DM.

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

Thank goodness this pencil came with a manual!

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

The first thing I learned is that the cap can be depressed/released to reveal bands indicating the colour of choice. Twist the cap to align the color band with the clip, and the colour is changed.

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

I was pleasantly surprised that these perhaps fifty year old leads write so richly.

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

The manual revealed another surprise: There is a spare lead set under the cap.

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

So how do you advance the lead? Here’s where modern pencils show an advantage – you have to extend the mechanism with one hand, and grasp the lead clutch with the other – and twist the clutch clockwise to extend the lead. I kept looking at the manual and the pencil and saying to myself, “this can’t be right”, but, it worked and that’s how the lead is ejected:

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

How would you replace a lead? Essentially, by performing the reverse of the lead advance, screwing in the replacement lead with counter-clockwise twisting. I haven’t done this, and good grief, don’t look forward to trying it. Colour leads are typically brittle, and I suspect that this would be very challenging.

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

One other interesting aspect – this pencil uses indelible (copying) lead that contains aniline dye, so the required manual manipulation of the lead is definitely undesirable from a safety perspective.

Faber-Castell 33/78 four colour pencil

While it has many charms, for me, the operation is too problematic for this to become a daily use pencil.

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Black erasers

Black erasers

There was a question about how the PaperMate Exam Standard compared to other black erasers, so I thought I’d try a small side by side comparison.

Black erasers

As was done with previous eraser tests, the Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 and a Rhodia pad were used as our reference pencil and paper.

Black erasers

I also added in Pentel Ain 2B 0.7mm mechanical pencil lead for comparison.

Black erasers

The erasers tested were:

  • PaperMate Exam Standard
  • Factis Black 18
  • Seed Kesu Gomu
  • Faber-Castell 7089-20
  • Mitsubishi Boxy EP-60BX

    • Some black erasers I’m aware of that I don’t have are the Papermate Black Pearl, Carta Pura, and Stabilo Exam Grade.

    So what is the raison d’être of these erasers? I don’t really know. The only one I’ve generally seen at retail in Canada is the Factis. I heard it suggested that charcoal erasure is the purpose of black erasers. How do they differ from a standard white vinyl eraser? Here, I know even less. It is entirely possible that they are just dyed standard erasers.

    Black erasers

    Basically, I thought they would be alike – but testing exposed some differences.

    Black erasers

    First, the polymer Ain lead erased better than the ceramic Staedler lead, which is consistent with previous findings.

    Second – picking the winner was tougher than picking the loser. Two were notably worse at erasure – the Kesu Gomu and the Faber-Castell, the Faber-Castell being the worst.

    The winner is, to my eye, the Boxy, though the Papermate and Factis also did extremely well.

    My general impression is that the erasers are on the softer, gentler side.

    A couple of notes about the erasers –

    I don’t find the Exam Standard officially acknowledged on Papermate’s website. It shipped in a blister pack of three, and the erasers are wrapped in paper sleeves.

    Factis is based in Girona, Spain. The eraser has a cellophane band, and is the only eraser with markings.

    The Kesu Gomu is from Seed of Japan. It is a delightful eraser, and some great photos can be seen at Lexikaliker. I am not sure if it is meant to be a novelty eraser, but I am treating it as if meant for duty.

    The Faber-Castell has rounded edges which are called a “comfort feature”. Interesting, as many erasers tout their sharp edges as a feature.

    The Boxy has an unusual square cross-section.

    Black erasers

    I thought I was done, but decided on one more challenge – to investigate the charcoal erasure function.

    Black erasers

    Black erasers

    I tried both a charcoal pencil and willow charcoal on a Fabriano journal. As one would expect, the natural charcoal erased much more easily than the compressed charcoal in the pencil. Yet, the charcoal marks don’t really erase.

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    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil

    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil

    The highlighting pencil is one of those specialty pencils that never really worked for me – the idea is great, but the ones I’ve tried from Lyra, Staedtler, and International Arrivals had weak pigmentation, and were not very effective.

    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil

    I’m very happy to report that I’ve finally found a woodcase highlighting pencil that works as well as the liquid felt tip alternatives.

    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil

    Faber-Castell’s Textliner 1148 is oversize, and in Faber-Castell’s popular “Grip” format – triangular with raised “grip” dots.

    Announced this year, it appears to supersede a hexagonal predecessor, even assuming the same bar code. I actually have a couple of the hexagonal variety that I never got around to trying.

    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil

    Available in five colours, the lines are fluorescent and saturated, just as they should be.

    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil
    Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil Faber-Castell Textliner 1148 highlighting pencil

    Close-up photos reveal that they leave a bit of pigment residue, the only minor flaw that I observed. They have become a standard office supply for me, and I have no trouble recommending them as a great specialty pencil.

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    Faber-Castell 2530N pencil

    Faber-Castell 2530N pencil

    Large diameter pencils are often seen as useful for children. The larger format makes the grip more comfortable. These oversize pencils might also have uses in drawing and graphics realms, except that the quality is usually very low. (The excellent Lyra Ferby is an exception.)

    Here is a very high quality large diameter pencil that I’ve just discovered – the Faber-Castell 2530N. The pencil is a natural finish and round in shape. It has a 10mm diameter and a oversize 4mm core. It is a standard 176mm in length, and weighs about 8.3g.

    The pencil is striking in appearance. The exposed woodgrain seems to be carefully chosen, and several grains evenly flow through the length of the pencil. The gentle lacquering and careful construction yield a pencil that is really a delight to see and hold.

    Markings are minimal – “2530N Faber-Castell”, and a bar code right at the tip. The origins of the pencil are a mystery – searching reveals mentions at several Japanese websites, but I don’t see it listed at Faber-Castell Japan’s site.

    Faber-Castell 2530N pencil

    Sharpening reveals a core that produces rich and dark lines. I would not be surprised to learn that production was sub-contracted by Faber-Castell to a Japanese firm (though that’s just speculation, and I have no expectation of learning such a detail).

    Faber-Castell 2530N pencil

    Highly recommended! This is an attractive and functional pencil, made to the highest standards.

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    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    The post office recently delivered a small accumulation of lead refills. Accompanying pieces of sandpaper and specialty erasers indicated that a draftsperson was the likely original owner.

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    This person knew what they liked – 2.0mm drafting leads from Faber-Castell, model 9030 to be specific, were the majority of the items.

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    I was impressed at the historical breadth of this set. Four slightly different statements of origin were visible:

    – Bavaria
    – American Zone Germany
    – Germany
    – West Germany

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    A brief history lesson in a pencil case!

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    The older containers were essentially wooden boxes with holes for the leads. The newer formats were hexagonal plastic tubes, cardboard tubes, and more recently, rectangular plastic cases.

    Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

    I’ll show some of the more interesting non-Faber-Castell items in another post.

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    Spielen & Lernen 2008

    Spielen & Lernen 2008

    I’m not sure how a German language pencil catalogue landed at a “Sears” store in Canada, but so be it. This is Faber-Castell’s catalogue for their children’s line.

    Here are a few interesting things I noticed:

    * Several varieties/extensions of the “Grip” line – including a compass, and several colour pencil sets.

    * A Jumbo Grip variant with colour chalk cores that can be used on a chalkboard!

    * A nice kit including a fountain pen, pencil, tub of plasticine, and other fun items.

    * New sharpeners and erasers.

    * A new “Perfect Pencil” version priced at 2.95 Euros. That’s much better than the existing green plastic version, though the clip appears to have become plastic. (Have any of our readers in Europe seen one yet?)

    * A red fabric foldable pencil case/box.

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