Archive for February, 2008

Staedtler 925 95 drafting pencils

Friday, February 29th, 2008

While I didn’t mind the Pentel 120, the Mars micro was not to my taste. Drafting tools are supposed to be Staedtler’s turf, so I thought I would try something else from them. A little bit of research indicated that the 925 95 series is highly regarded, though sometimes tricky to find.
The inner workings of […]

Steno pencils: pencils with a job

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

Faber-Castell and Staedtler each make a specialty extension to their premier lines - a “steno pencil”, aimed at shorthand practitioners. They are round versions of the Castell 9000 and Lumograph 100.
Staedtler’s entry is the Mars Stenofix, model 101. A round version of the Lumograph 100 (a Lumograph 101?), it is dark blue, but […]

Red and Blue pencils

Monday, February 25th, 2008

An interesting traditional specialty pencil is the red and blue pencil. Still manufactured today, this pencil is one half red, one half blue. (Both lead and varnish.)
While accounting, school, and editorial uses for this pencil may be traditional, I can imagine many other functions, including U.S. political consultants using these to plot on electoral maps.

Though […]

O’Bon: Say “No” to Wood Pencils

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Yesterday’s San Francisco State University Xpress had an article on O’Bon. According to the article, the company is Malaysian headquartered, with sales in Asia and North America. They make “environmentally friendly” products such as pencils cased in recycled newspapers.
They operate several websites:
A blog, where they mention, among other things, that their pencils have met U.S. […]

Staedtler eraser

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Here is a fun eraser from Staedtler. The triangular wedge shape goes very nicely with their triangular Ergosoft line.

Staedtler 925 25 20 2.0mm leadholder

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Wow, this is just a beautiful leadholder.

Made by Staedtler Japan, it has a number of interesting features, not least of which is a push button advance. The 2.0mm lead advances by clicking the cap. It functions just like a regular mechanical pencil, but with 2.0mm lead. Very nice.

It has a cylindrical sleeve, a […]

Bic Criterium 2613 2.0mm leadholder

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Bic needs no introduction. Makers of much more than ballpoint pens, their many woodcase pencils seem to rarely be exported outside of France. Similary leadholders. I would love to be able to try some modern pencils from the country that gave the world the technique of blending graphite with clay - but I have rarely […]

Mistubishi Pure Malt 2.0mm leadholder (and Nikka Single Malt 10yo “Yoichi” Whisky)

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

If you think luxury writing instruments and leadholders are mutually exclusive categories, look again.

The Mitsubishi Pencil Company offers the Pure Malt leadholder, with the body made from oak reclaimed from Malt Whisky casks! (The clutch, tip, clip, and cap are metal.)

It has a very sleek, clean appearance. The woodgrain is dark, smooth and elegant. Plus, […]