manufacturers – Page 24 – pencil talk | pencil reviews and discussion

June 15, 2009July 5, 2009

Disappearing pencils

1. The Wall Street Journal recently mentioned (as part of a larger story) that the Musgrave Pencil Co. had laid off staff. That’s unfortunate for those involved as well as for users of quality pencils. I think the better Musgrave pencils – the Unigraph and the Musgrave HB – are first rate.

2. Some while ago, I was asked if there was a luxury American pencil, something that could compete with Faber-Castell’s fancy offerings. The answer is – I think there may have been. New York retailer Mrs. John L. Strong had a “hand-lathed” pencil apparently made from Eastern Red Cedar. Like other top offerings, Marco Ferreri’s book Pencils (which is a museum catalogue, not a coffee table book) has a photo.

Alas, I can’t even find a digital photo of these pencils at the moment. I emailed (no reply) and telephoned (out of order) Mrs. Strong earlier this year to try and get some of these pencils. The lack of reply may have been indicative of other problems.

June 11, 2009

The Dixon Oriole pencil and an unusual sharpener

Dixon Oriole pencil

Does anyone remember the Dixon Oriole?

The official product page calls them a “first-rate commercial grade woodcase pencil offered at an economical price”.

Hmmm, “commercial grade”.

Dixon Oriole pencil

Well I ordered them online after finding a store that had some older US made stock. Or so I thought. I should have known what was coming – the photo and description were out of date, and I was sent newer Chinese made Orioles.

Dixon Oriole pencil

Unfortunately, the pencils seem quite third rate to me – the lead is very scratchy and rough, and the paint finish on some has ridges of bubbles which go beyond being a cosmetic problem – they make the pencil uncomfortable to grip. I do like the font.

Am I being harsh? Perhaps they aren’t meant for writing. They are certainly fine for rough marking purposes.

Dixon Oriole pencil

So about the sharpener. From Möbius + Ruppert we have a three hole sharpener in unfinished aluminum. Each opening has a different length blade. What is this sharpener for?

Möbius + Ruppert sharpener

Take a look at this post at the Bundoki Stationery blog. I’m obviously not the only person amused or confused.

With the Oriole, I got a reasonable result in one opening, a lead corkscrew effect in another, and the third would not sharpen the pencil at all. (See top photo.)

Does anyone know the story behind this sharpener?

June 8, 2009June 9, 2009

Colleen Woods Pencils

The Colleen Woods series represents an exciting vision of woodcase pencil manufacturing. The series is also a profoundly simple and beautiful pencil set. Pencils have been made from cedar for a century or more, and more recently from jelutong, pulai, and basswood. Pine and fir have also been used.

Colleen Woods Pencils

Yet – out of thousands of global tree species and raw materials – why have so few been used?

Colleen Woods Pencils

Altering a core aspect of a pencil isn’t done lightly. There have been some experiments with shape, and many with a pencil’s finish. But what about the pencil’s core materials – specifically the type of wood?

Colleen Woods Pencils

Twelve years ago, Colleen recognized that pencil slats could be made from any wood that the machinery could cut, and created a varied set as an artistic exploration.

Colleen Woods Pencils

Though others have competently explored the pencil’s potential, Colleen seems to have mined a much deeper vein, changing the pencil’s wood.

Colleen Woods Pencils

The presentation is modest, and probably quite different from how a North American company would present a luxury product – a plain cardboard box.

Colleen Woods Pencils

Twelve pencils are presented – each marked with the number in the series, the HB grade, the bilingual (English and Japanese) wood species and country/area of origin, and a most unusual number – the specific gravity of the pencil’s wood. Some species are familiar, and some are more exotic.

Colleen Woods Pencils

Specific gravity is a measure of density relative to water at 4 degrees C.

Meaning – woods with a specific gravity greater than 1.0 will sink in water! The ebony pencil weighs a remarkable 8.7g – more than double a modern cedar pencil, which typically weighs around 3.8g. It is a memorable experience to hold. In fact each pencil is an amazing delight, and together they form an incredible set.

Colleen Woods Pencils

Here is a chart listing the pencils, place of origin, specific gravity, and links to additional sources of information about the tree species.

Ceylon ebony	Thailand	1.16	Wikipedia – Ebony
Pao rosa	Central Africa	0.93	cirad.fr – Pao Rosa (PDF)
Zebra wood	Cameroon	0.81	Wikipedia – Zebrawood
Ternstroemia	Japan	0.80	NCSU – Ternstroemia
Asamela	West Africa	0.75	Wood Explorer – Asamela
Japanese zelkova	Japan	0.69	NCSU – Zelkova
Madrone	North America	0.69	Wikipedia – Madrone
Oak	Japan	0.68	Wikipedia – Oak
European maple	Denmark	0.60	kahrs.com – European Maple
Mahogany	Brazil	0.55	Wikipedia – Mahogany
Japanese torreya	Japan	0.53	Wikipedia – Torreya
Japanese cypress	Japan	0.44	Wikipedia – Cypress

I’ve not found anyone who has seen the set in person to not be amazed.

Colleen Woods Pencils

My sincere and deep thanks to Kero556 for this amazing gift.

[UPDATE, June 9, 2009] Thanks to a flattering post at Yellowgoat (thank you!), I rediscovered Kero556’s Flickr photos, including this one, which appears to show the slats used to create these pencils.

June 7, 2009

Contrast

The white Colorstripe in black wood, and the black and white double ended Super Ferby Duo. Both from Lyra.

Black and white pencils

June 3, 2009

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

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.

May 27, 2009May 14, 2010