On a recent trip to a department store, I found an unusual pencil offering - “Ticonderoga Antimicrobial Pencils with Microban antimicrobial product protection.” The package additionally says “Microban protection inhibits the growth of odor and stain causing bacteria.”
The colour is hard for me to describe, but a hospital influenced muted grey seems roughly correct. […]
Pencil sharpeners are an essential pencil accessory. They keep the pencil pointed and usable. Yet they are frequently a frustration to use, splintering, chopping, and breaking pencils. Sometimes this is the fault of a cheap pencil. And sometimes it is the fault of the sharpener.
The weak aspect of most portable sharpeners is the blade. The […]
ArtGraf is a tablet of watersoluble graphite in a tin.
While there are a few watersoluble graphite pencils and crayons on the market, this is the first larger format offering aimed at brush users that I’m aware of.
Viarco, a small Portuguese pencil company that we’ve mentioned once before, introduced ArtGraf last year.
The product extends watersoluble […]
Wow, perfection! Or, maybe not…
The Perfection 7056 is a woodcase pencil format eraser from Faber-Castell.
Unusual looking by pencil standards, it is a very lightly hued/pale (almost ash) woodcase pencil with a light pink eraser core. It walks and talks like a pencil - but acts like an eraser.
The format provides convenience and a familiar grip […]
In February, we looked at steno pencils from Staedtler and Faber-Castell.
It turns out that there is at least one more steno pencil in the marketplace, the Hardtmuth “Steno” 550, made in Austria.
With a smooth dark 2B lead, it is a contender, though the pencil appearance may not be everyone’s choice.
A very interesting story appears in the Financial Times about the plans of high end pen maker Pelikan.
Faber-Castell, Montblanc, and enterprises in North America and China are said to be on Pelikan’s acquisition list, though no transactions are confirmed. Pelikan itself may be going private.
LINK: Pelikan in talks with Texas Pacific Group
This is the second post in a series on the pencils of Korea.
Dong-a is Korea’s oldest pencil maker, established in 1946. The Hongdangmoo Office Pencil is a basic offering, and I am told that it is the most common office pencil in Korea. It is not clear to me if it is manufactured in Korea.
A […]
It has been over two years since we last looked at a copying pencil.
The Sanford Noblot, like the Koh-I-Noor Kopierstifte 1561, appears to be a regular graphite pencil, writing with a traditional “black lead” core.
There are still several copying pencils on the market with coloured leads, but the Noblot is the last one […]