Comments on: The hidden life of copying pencils

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:33:27 +0000

I was given today a box of koh-I-nor copying
Pencils, all pencils were in the box unused, they
Are 73b hard, called “mephisto”, would anybody
Possibly know anything about these. they say
Made in czeckoslovakia.

By: Kitty

Kitty — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:29:58 +0000

we use the veritas to mark casting rings while they are moist. The rings are made of a poured investment material placed in a kiln. The marks hold up becaise, IMO, it soaks into the investment and remains after burnout. we also use a waxy lump of dark polish but the pencil is much cleaner!

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:27:19 +0000

We have several boxes of semi-indelible copying pencils. If you would like a sample then simply contact us and provide us with your full name and address (including country).
E-mail info@natt.co.uk

By: Erling Larsson

Erling Larsson — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:08:25 +0000

Since my previous comments, I’ve bought these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-DOZEN-HECTOGRAPH-PENCILS-TATTOO-FLASH-TRANSFER-COPY-/280530077480?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4150e54728

For the orthotic/prosthetic profession they work great! The brand is Spaulding & Rogers #5005.

By: Yvonne Carson

Yvonne Carson — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:05:24 +0000

I was reading the post fro Erling Larsson in Sweden. We are an orthotic laboratory and have used the No-Blot indelible pencils for over 40 years. Because we are a custom orthotic laboratory we need these to write on our positive plaster casts. Nothing else really works as well! Now we are not able to get them, in fact we have bought up all that we can find! We have been testing, testing and testing. The closest we have come so far to finding something comparable to the No-Blot is the Veritas Purple Indelible pencil. After doing all the research that I have, I find it strange that these are so hard to get. Obviously there is still a demand for them! I guess the demand for them just isn’t big enough! Thanks.

By: Kris

Kris — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:46:00 +0000

Are copying pencil similar to hectograph pencils, can it be used for making tattoo stencils?

By: penciladmin

penciladmin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:54:29 +0000

Erling, thanks for your comments.

This type of pencil seems important to a number of professions. I think I should forward some of this input on to the pencil industry.

To the best of my knowledge, no Japanese or North American manufacturer makes this variety. Nor do Derwent, Staedtler, Bic, Faber-Castell, Lyra, Koh-I-Noor, or Stabilo. (Lyra does make a carpenter copying pencil.) There are still a number of smaller manufacturers in Europe that I’m not familiar with – they might be possibilities. But Viarco for sure still makes the “272D Copia Violeta” in Portugal. India I am even less familiar with – but Peter mentions a version made by Hindustan Pencil Co. as well.

By: Erling Larsson

Erling Larsson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:27:43 +0000

Sorry – I completely missed Peter’s comment of jan. 2009. Still a lot of interesting facts in your post, though.

By: Erling Larsson

Erling Larsson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:17:15 +0000

Hi! Thanks for an interesting post.
I work as an prosthetist/orthotist and, even if CAD/CAM is well on its way, it is still common practice to use plaster bandages to make a negative model of a patient’s limb or amputation stump. The negative cast is then poured with plaster to create a positive model of the arm/leg/stump, which is then used for manufacturing the device. I have used the purple indelible pencil to mark areas of interest, i. e. bony prominences, on the patient, these markings will appear on the inside of the negative cast and then transfer as easily to the positive plaster model in order to make the rectification of the plaster more correct.
We’ve tried several types of pencils over the years, but it is really only the purple ones that give satisfactory results. And at least in Sweden, they are almost impossible to come by these days. I will check out Viarco. Thanks!

By: penciladmin

penciladmin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:06:54 +0000

Hi Eagle, Do you have an industry association that could make this need known to pencil manufacturers? I'm sure some of them would love the business. I'm trying to think of who makes the traditional purple copying pencil in 2010. Viarco does look like best source for purple, unless you can use another colour. They have a website here and are very responsive to enquiries in my experience.

By: Eagle

Eagle — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:59:43 +0000

The tattoo industry worldwide uses the purple ink copy pencil for stencil transfers. As these pencils are becoming a dying breed, it is becoming more difficult to find them for our industry. We need them but the manufacturers do not take that into consideration to continue manufacturing them. I’m researching them to purchase too. Let me know if you’re selling!

By: manuela

manuela — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:08:50 +0000

Dear Sorry no english interested hectograph pencils violet
thanks
manuela for spain