Category: pencils

The last few days have seen some notable pencil blogging milestones:

The 100th post at Lung Sketching Scrolls! Also be sure to visit the rest of the site. The most recent post discusses the entire range of colour 3.8mm lead products on the market today.

The 200th post at Lexikaliker, and a most fascinating one at that!

Finally, the third anniversay of Dave’s Mechanical Pencils was yesterday! Congratulations on three great years!

As, well, here is an interesting How to draw with lead video at How to Architect. Several years of work must have gone into attaining that level of skill.

Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini S.p.A. (FILA) is a famous and longstanding pencil manufacturer, dating from 1920. Their name is synonymous with Italian pencil making.

Pencils, the book (a museum catalogue), features many fine examples of their productions.

The last few years for FILA have been highlighted by two major international acquisitions – the 2005 purchase of American manufacturer Dixon (who originated in 1795) and 2008 purchase of German manufacturer Lyra (who date back to 1806).

Think about this for a moment. The roots of this industry are quite incredible – a company in their eightieth (nearing ninetieth) year, buying two competitors, each over two centuries old. A New World company dating to the 18th century is especially noteworthy.

So what’s in store? Dixon’s US pencil production has ceased, having moved to Mexico and China. FILA’s modern pencil production appears to be Chinese based. And we’ve heard that Lyra will be moving production to China. (Most of it was already there, pre-acquisition.)

Yet the national brands continue – it appears that FILA/Lyra/Dixon intends on making their pencils in China, but continuing existing branding.

Some context set, let’s take a look at a few pencils from FILA. They are an “assortment” – essentially what a vendor had on hand and was willing to ship overseas. Probably not a complete line by any means – I was still happy to acquire them.

There seem to be two rough categories here – new (with colour and photo or CG images in the boxes) and old (with monochrome, line drawn images).

The new:

Temagraph

Two versions – with and without eraser. They are marked:

FILA Temagraph HB/2 Medium

Is that three degree indicators in total (HB,2,Medium)? And – are they exactly Dixon Tonderogas, or just similar? The unerasered pencil is certainly interesting – the metal cap seems to also be a uniquely styled degree indicator.

The box has a most intersting touch: a printed checkbox statement of origin:

Made by Fila-Dixon In:
Italy [] France [] China[x] Mexico []

I wonder what doesn’t get checked that way.

The box has markings in eight or more languages. I’m not sure if the pencil is sold in that many countries – they are very challenging to locate online.

Temagraph Soft Touch

A black-dyed wood pencil, I think it has some of the same rubberized surface as the Tri-Conderoga, though it seems a bit more subtle and refined. (A second generation?)

The old:

Studium

Marked “~Studium~ HB=2 FILA Florence Italy” in white on blue, they are a basic student pencil.

Temagraph

These appear to be an older version of the Temagraph. They have a distinctive look, with alternating sides painted yellow or orange and edges black. The cap indicates the pencil grade. And yes, we learn that 3B = 00!

The older Temagraphs are definitely the most interesting, as well as being the best writers of the bunch.

Do you know FILA?

Some large retailers offer their own “brands” – products made with logos, company identification, colouring, or other identifying associations, manufactured by external firms.

Tell me if I am wrong, but pencil talk has not yet featured such a “house brand”. The reason is simple – the many pencils offered by grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, etc. are typically third rate, generally offering inferior finishes, scratchy leads, and little or no information about the pencil’s origin.

Ito-ya is a top retail stationer by any standard, their main store offering an incredible eleven stories of stationery shopping in Tokyo’s Ginza district. This is their house brand pencil.

Made in a wide array of finishes, the one we see here is matte grey. Picked from an online site, I’m wondering why I chose such a conservative example – perhaps two dozen different colour/finish combinations are available. Yet plain as the grey matte finish is, the quality shines through.

Round, the pencil has very minimal markings – “ITO-YA” in gold lettering.

The cap – in black – has a rubbery appearance. I asked myself if it might be an eraser. It is – a good one! With some force, it can be removed from the pencil.

The looks are great, and the pencil writes with a dark, rich line. It is a quality offering. I am suddenly recalling that round pencils from Japan seem to be far less common than hexagonal ones.

The pencil answers a frequent question here – is there a high quality round pencil? Yes there is – the Ito-ya.

The eraser format is an innovation – high quality, supporting the lines and flow of the pencil, with no metal ferrule required.

Overall, we have an amazing example of what a “house brand” can be.

Pelikan is a famous fountain pen manufacturer, well regarded for maintaining quality though several decades.

It was a real surprise to learn that they also sell woodcase pencils! Unlike the ambiguous situation of the Rotring pencil we looked at last year, the Pelikan pencil does get official corporate acknowledgement at Pelikan’s website.

The Pelikan 2B has a cartoon Pelican on the box, wearing green shorts (lederhosen?), a red shirt, and yellow cravat.

The box states:

* Made of high quality wood and sharpen smoothly (sic)
* Minimum breakage and lesser lead-flaking

The pencils are blue with silver striping, and marked:

2B 0 Pelikan

There is no country of origin information that I can discern. Pelikan pencils in South America originate in Pakistan, according to Pelikan’s website.

The pencils are quite ho-hum. Other than the product’s interesting corporate origin, there is not too much to recommend them.

Would anyone be interested in a special print edition of pencil talk? (The above illustration is taken from a test mockup.) Just a concept at this point, it would be a newsletter aimed at our usual readership of pencil users, aficionados, artists, drafters, and doodlers.

Today we have a guest post and photo essay from the highly regarded kiwi-d of Dave’s Mechanical Pencils!

(Photos can be clicked for full size views.)

We all tend to focus on nice new pencils – picturesque in their youthful prime. Here’s a little something beyond those early salad days.

1. The beginning with a world of opportunities out there.

2. Office work is not too hard, but over time age starts to show.

3. Working outdoors or in the trades is often a little harder on the body.

4. Still, things are generally all OK.

5. But some don’t take such good care.

6. Others take paths of danger or just plain old stupidity and pay the price.

7. Luckily though many continue to a ripe old age, handing over to the next generation.

8. And spending time as a respected elder.

No pencils were harmed in the making of this article.