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Pencil extenders – not a gimmick!
Pictured above are two pencil extenders (and a new pencil for comparison). They are devices that give a second career to pencils that might otherwise be approaching retirement. Pencils can last quite a while, so the ones that have been used until they turn into stubs are probably the really good ones – the ones we most often choose for our writing or drawing tasks. These extenders can allow a pencil to be used even when many sharpenings have made that pencil no longer comfortable or practical to be held in one’s hand. Above are a No. 1098 N Koh-I-Noor, and a Cretacolor extender, with a new Cretacolor pencil for comparison. I found them both at art stores. They are quite comfortable and simple to use. The pencil stub is placed in the opening, and a clamping ring moved to secure the pencil. With certain pencils being hard to replace or expensive (e.g. artist’s pencil crayons), one or two of these extenders could certainly be a good investment. 7 comments to Pencil extenders – not a gimmick! |
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Great post! Have you had a chance to try General’s extender? It smells so nice!
Thanks! No – haven’t seen a General’s. I’ll keep an eye out for them. Thanks for the tip.
I think I found one at Hobby Lobby — semi-National, but their prices are pretty high, usually the total retail. Great sales, though!
I recently bought a pencil holder under the Alvin name and it’s a great idea. What about pencil caps? Have you had any? I’m wondering if they are any good.
Unfortunately the designs shown here with a clamping ring are near impossible to use because this is exactly where you grip the pencil extender. The Japanese Kutsuwa 2 piece extenders are much better – there really is no comparison.
There are very good quality pencil extenders by Rosetta of Italy available here: http://www.ipenstore.com/servlet/the-Rosetta-cln-Pencil-Extender/Categories. I like them so much I’ve already bought 8 of them. They have an excellent clamping mechanism, and I really like their “heft”. The various colors available are helpful in differentiating my drawing pencils so that the flow of work is not interrupted, something I really appreciate. I’ve placed a couple of orders at ipenstore.com, and the service has been uniformly excellent.
There are even more extenders to drool over here: http://www.pencils.jp/product-list/4 , many of them very expensive, and some (like the Staedler) can be bought elsewhere for less. I have not purchased anything from this website (yet!) so I can’t comment on their service.
I’d forgotten that I had two of these things. It may be more handy to have that I had thought. I got them with a bunch of older pens & pencils in an ebay buy. The first is marked” “Dixon Pencil Extender – 453″. It has a simple friction fit. The 2nd one is all metal (also friction) and has a chain, like it was worn around the neck. It is stamped “W.U.Tel.Co”