Clairefontaine novelty pencil

Clairefontaine pencil

Readers of this blog know that we like the serious stuff, and don’t typically mention novelty or advertising pencils. But we’ll make an exception for this pencil from Clairefontaine, possibly (probably?) made in Japan. It matches a Clairefontaine notebook set.
Clairefontaine pencil
In another way, it also matches the Rhodia pencil, coming from the same corporate family, and being a triangular, black-dyed wood pencil.

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Remake Mini Notebook – Cool Retro Style.

Remake notebook
I saw a picture of this notebook at Notebookism, and decided to order one.

It’s great! It’s a heavy duty cardboard cover, with sewn pages from a variety of reused paper sources, heavy on the graph paper and accounting styles. It fastens with a rubber band.

I keep a Zebra mechanical pencil clipped to it, which makes the notebook very usable.
Remake notebook
As a pocket notebook, it’s more portable than almost any alternative I’m aware of. It’s not for writing several paragraphs, but it’s great for jotting down an address, or a film or train schedule.

Remake notebook Remake notebook
Remake notebook Remake notebook


I love the way it pays homage to the paper working tools of the past – several types of composition, graph, and accounting paper.

Link: Remake Etsy shop

Kum Automatic Longpoint Sharpener

Kum Automatic Longpoint Sharpener
The Kum Automatic Longpoint Sharpener (Automatic Langkonus Spitzer in German) is definitely known on the net. It’s often touted as being one of the best sharpeners made today.

After trying it myself, I felt that what I had previously read and heard didn’t really communicate how the Longpoint works. I doubt I’m alone, so with the help of a picture or two, I hope to clarify matters.

The sharpener is an oval prism container, with two externally accessible holes. It comes with two spare blades tucked into a corner of the container. This is a very nice touch. I’ve never seen a spare sharpener blade for sale at an art supply store or stationer, and it’s nice to see a sharpener given a longer life with this addition.

Let’s get to the sharpening method. The left hole has a exit diameter of about 2mm, which is the diameter of the pencil lead or core. Thus the blade catches and sharpens the wood of a standard pencil, but misses the core. (See photo.) The pencil is then placed in the second hole, where the lead gets sharpened to a very fine point.
Kum Automatic Longpoint Sharpener
So when I saw this, all I thought was that this looks like the way pencils were sharpened a few years ago. Essentially, the angle of the point produced by sharpeners has been increasing over the years. If you like this very sharp point, and don’t mind the extra work of the dual sharpening, this may be the product for you.
Kum Automatic Longpoint Sharpener
One other thing to consider is that this sharpener is quite wasteful, and discards more of your pencil’s core than a standard modern sharpener. Recalling high school geometry, the formula for the volume of a cylinder is

V = ?r2h

and the formula for the volume of a cone is

V = 1/3?r2h

so turning a cylinder of lead into a cone of lead discards 2/3 of that lead.

For a 2mm lead, the radius is 1mm. The Longpoint produces a point of 3mm, so we have

V = ?*1mm2*3mm = 9.4mm2 will result in 6.3mm2 discarded to create a 3.1mm2 point.

A point which will be much harder to keep unbroken, by the way.

A more modest 2mm long point would produce only 4.2mm2 of waste.

The 2/3 of the lead discarded in making a point actually could be an argument in favour of mechanical pencils.

I’m sticking with regular sharpeners, but it’s nice to know about this alternative.

Nightjar Books found paper notebook

Nightjar Books found paper notebook
This is a notebook made from found and reused paper. It’s an absolute delight because of the whimsical paper choices – the pages have surprise bits of poems and illustrations.

Nightjar Books found paper notebook Nightjar Books found paper notebook
Nightjar Books found paper notebook Nightjar Books found paper notebook

There is a downside – it falls into the category of being so nice that you don’t want to use it. And since it’s one of a kind, it won’t be possible to replace it. I admit that I haven’t yet marked it.

Although I bought this at a local craft fair, Nightjar have an Etsy store where you can see some of their products.

Pastellini – a tin of colour!

Pastellini Colour Pencils
Pastellini is a set of 98 small colour pencils housed in a cylindrical tin, made by Seletti in Italy.

The tin has a lid with a clear cutout to see the many colourful pencils.

Pastellini Colour Pencils

The pencils are quite small and round – making them more of an amusement than a practical tool. Still, they look great, and really brighten up a desk.

There aren’t 98 different colours – there is considerable duplication. And the leads are quite waxy, with weak colours.
Pastellini Colour Pencils

They were $11.95 at a bookstore. That’s about 12 cents a pencil!