Category: manufacturers

Posted on

Staedtler 132 pencil

Staedtler 132 pencil
Unlike the pacific, this Staedtler pencil is made in Germany.

It is a traditionally styled yellow pencil, with a pink eraser and shiny ferrule. The lead is also better quality than the pencils I’ve looked at the last few days – not great, but useably smooth, black, and non-crumbly.

A recent blog comment mentioned the Staedtler 134. A bit of searching around shows that the 134 is a made in China Staedtler pencil that is actually labelled “yellow pencil”, apart from being a yellow pencil.

Staedtler 132 pencil
If you have to use a generic looking office pencil, you could do worse than the 132.

Posted on

Staedtler pacific pencil

Staedtler pacific pencil
This is the first pencil in this series that specifies a country of manufacture, and the only one with a name associating it with a specific region.

The Staedtler Australia website proudly mentions a number of made in Australia pencils, including the pacific.

This pencil has a red varnish, with gold stamping that reads:

AUSTRALIA Staedtler pacific HB

The obverse has a black barcode. The cap is unfinished.

The varnish is quite thin. This is more than just an aesthetic issue – a thick varnish protects pencils from dings and dirt, and creates a more uniform surface and hence a more consistent grip.
Staedtler pacific pencil

The pencil itself is useable, but the lead is scratchy, and as we’ll soon see, there are some much nicer pencil choices available down under.

Posted on

Stabilo Schwan 305 and 306 pencils

The Stabilo Schwan pencil.
Schwan-STABILO also manufacture the Schwan line – “Schwan” being a swan, derived from the name of company founder Gustav Adam Schwanhäusser.

The Schwan pencils I have are curious – a yellow version, the Schwan 305, marked HB=2, and a wine coloured version, the Schwan 306, marked HB=21/2. The 306 is also labelled with a barcode.

The 305 is a decidedly darker lead than the 306.

The pencils have unfinished caps, and appear to be in more of a discount line than the Othello.

The Stabilo Schwan pencil.

The 305 lead broke both while writing and during sharpening. No problems were encountered with the 306.

While the simple styling is a plus, I don’t expect pencil leads to repeatedly fracture in anything but the cheapest of pencils, so these are a disappointment.

Posted on

Stabilo Othello 282 pencil

Stabilo Othello 282 pencilSchwan-STABILO’s website says the company was founded in Bavaria in 1855. Today, they are a successful conglomerate with 2800 employees, and their main revenue source is from cosmetic pencils.

Their highlighters and markers are what one might see in an office supply store in Canada. Graphite pencils are not typically for sale at local retailers.

The Othello 282 has very unusual colouring – solid forest green, with the hexagonal edges pinstriped in a light green. They look like pieces of candy! The cap is painted red.

The claim is that this style started in the 1920s after a bad paint run in the factory accidentally produced a similar pattern.

The pencil is marked:

STABILO Othello 282 HB=21/2

Of course we usually think an HB grade is an No. 2. The obverse side has a barcode.
Stabilo Othello 282 pencil
It’s also named after a play and character of Shakespeare. I’m curious about this, and have sent a note to the manufacturer. I’ll update this post should they reply.

It lays down a fairly dark line, and doesn’t crumble. It’s a good pencil, though I wouldn’t call it exceptional.

It’s great to find that a 19th century pencil maker is still making good products.

Posted on

Dixon Tri-Conderoga pencil.

The Dixon Tri-Conderoga ferrule.
This past month was the first time I had seen the Dixon Tri-Conderoga for sale in Canada. I was quite happy to find a package of six with an accompanying sharpener at a local store.

The package had NAFTA-friendly trilingual (English, French, Spanish) labelling, and revealed that the pencils were made in Mexico. The two-hole sharpener has a crown emblem on the German made blades, while the plastic body hails from China.
Made in Mexico.
In a triangular shape, the diameter is midway between it’s three sided cousins, the Ergosoft and the Jumbo Grip.

The pencil surface is rubbery, like the Ergosoft. It comes unsharpened, and has gold stamping on one side. There is a distinctive Ticoderoga style ferrule, with a black eraser.
The Dixon Tri-Conderoga.
Since it requires a less common large hole sharpener, the included sharpener is an appreciated addition.

In one’s hand, it is indeed grippy. I did find the large stamping to be a drawback, and that side of the pencil side is noticeably rougher and less pleasant to hold. The larger size may require some adjustment, and didn’t feel quite right to me.

On paper, the HB lead, which appears to be a normal diameter core, seemed just a bit scratchier and lighter than an Ergosoft or a regular Ticonderoga pencil in HB.

It is a unique contribution, and the first Mexican pencil that I’m aware of owning. It gets points for design and appearance, and choosing a mid-size diameter creates an excellent new offering.

Despite these pluses, the lead quality makes it not quite as good as the Ergosoft as an actual pencil.

Let’s hope Dixon will upgrade the lead core to be (at minimum) equal to that of their regular diameter pencils.

Posted on

Staedtler pencil holder 900 25.


Here is an interesting new type of pencil extender, inspired by the mechanical pencil.

While I’ve mentioned pencil extenders previously, this product is a decidedly new take on the idea.

At first glance, it looks like a fancy mechanical pencil, with a retractable eraser, clip, adjustable window for displaying the pencil grade, and a very finely etched grip. But it takes a woodcase pencil in it’s clutch.

It provides a lot of the characteristics and feel of a mechanical pencil. It’s quite pleasant to hold. Grip styles are of course a personal preference, but if you like the sorts of grips that technically-oriented mechanical pencils tend to offer, I think you’ll like the Staedtler.

It almost makes one want to cut some pencils in half to better use this holder.

(The images can be clicked to see close-ups.)

Proudly powered by WordPress