Pencils made from wood scraps
My first blogging injury.
pencil talk reader Joshua kindly sent me some Mega Brands SRX pencils. Mega Brands has been mentioned here before as the owner of the RoseArt brand, which is a longtime U.S. pencil manufacturer.
They now have some pencils in the Mega Brands name, with RoseArt unmentioned. One of these is the “USA Green”, presumably an extension of their “USA Gold”.
The pencil package states:
USA Green is an earth friendly cedar wood pencil with a high quality graphite core.
The package also notes that the pencil has neither lacquer nor foil stamping. It is made in the U.S.
I was using one, testing it out, when I noticed something extremely unusual - the pencil appeared to be made from four pieces of wood - not the traditional two. Other pencils were made from six pieces of wood.
Coincidentally, I came across a similar pencil a day later at a local bookstore. Made in Japan, this was a very nice looking triangular pencil sold by “Green Apple school supply”.
It similarly was made of multiple pieces of wood - and this was acknowledged on the package. Here is what they say:
Green Apple #2 graphite pencils are made using scrap wood and finger joint construction.
There is the descriptive phrase we need - “finger joint construction”.
To get a better view of what was going on, I tried to split one apart - and got a rough splinter in my finger - my first blogging injury. Luckily not my writing hand. I didn’t learn too much from this interrogation.
Maybe someone with some wood working knowledge could share some information about what’s going on. I’m not sure if this constitutes a new pencil production technique, but it is certainly very interesting.
It appears that the pencils are made (as usual) from pencil slats, but that the slats have been constructed via this finger joint process.
In any case, if this technique is part of a new strategy to compete with the rolled newspaper pencils, I can see it having some appeal.
We’ll look at some other Mega Brands SRX pencils in the days ahead.
As pencils, both have merits. The Green Apple does have a very nice triangular shape and finish, while the USA Green gets a nod for a quite smooth rich lead, especially for what would appear to be a discount pencil at first glance.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Well I can’t comment on these pencils specifically, but as I understand things, fingerjointing ’shorts’ together to make a longer length is standard practice in the woodworking industry. Here in NZ all skirtings, decorative mouldings, etc are all fingerjointed. Buy a 3m (10ft) length of skirting or frame and it would commonly be 5 to 20 pieces jointed together. Done correctly, the joint should be good and strong. Now I think about it, I’m almost surprised a certain percentage of pencil slats aren’t always routinely finger jointed. I mean trees don’t conveniently grow in pencil-length multiples so there must always be a part slat left over. Why waste it?
We’ll wait for the real authoratative answer from Woodchuck?
August 11th, 2008 at 7:15 am
What good timing as I just ordered some of the Green Apples (I like anything triangular).
August 11th, 2008 at 8:30 am
kiwi-d, thanks for the comment. Indeed, who knows what’s lurking beneath the varnish of most pencils? Finger jointing could be quite common.
Diane, I think you’ll like them. Do you know Levenger? They’re also selling a natural triangular pencil.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I received the Green Apples, and some other things, today — I do like them. The lead is smooth, not smudgy, and wears well. Probably isn’t as dark as some would like, but it worked for me.
I do know Levenger, although they’re pricey for me. I looked for pencils, and they seem to carry mostly expensive mechanicals. It’s okay because I really don’t have any room left to keep feeding my habit. :)
August 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
While in Japan recently I got a box of reclaimed wood pencils made by Tombow, I think. Haven’t gotten around to using one yet, but it’s nice to see this is an emerging trend. I can’t think of any reason why they should be inferior to regular woodcase pencils, except for maybe an increased risk of splintering when sharpening the fingerjoint area.
I look forward to your future findings with these and other reclaimed wood pencils. I won’t be getting around to mine for several weeks (got a schedule for all the new loot I picked up in Japan!).
August 13th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Stephen, I like that post very much. I think that recycle products are great. I especially like the joint detail! And to be sure it is made of wood. Often my pencil feels like it’s been coated with that yellow layer of plastic.
-Duc
August 14th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Thanks for the post Stephen. I just submitted my order for a few dozen of the Green Apple pencils. They hit on two of my favorite attributes: a natural finish and triangular shape. The construction of these sounds interesting too. Here’s where I place my order: http://tinyurl.com/6ao572
August 31st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Stephen,
It’s been some time since I reviewed your blog so found several posts of interest to comment on.
Your readers are correct about longer time use of fingerjoint slats.
Our company California Cedar Products COmpany originally developed the first fingerjointed pencil slats back in the 1970s so the use of these has been around a long time in th pencil industry. Basically it’s a way to recover more finished slats from shorter peices that would otherwise be ground up by the slat factory and sold as waste fiber for other uses,traditionally in our company Duraflame firelogs. Technically the edjeglue joint is stronger than the wood itself if done properly and when you break a pencil or slat on purpose the break will not occur at the location of the fingerjoint. There are also edge-glued slats in which two narrow slats are glued together to make a wider slat.
Until the past 5-10 years probably 95% of fingerjoint slats went to the Japanese market, primarily because the government has for some time required “recycled” material in their voting pencils for elections. The fingerjoint qualified as recycled as it used a part of a slat that would otherwise be not used in a pencil. The Japanese also did some interesting creative pencils featuring the fingerjoint of different colored woods together, I have a beautiful set of examples.
Our company produces only a very small proportion of these slats given that most of our short slats get sold for use in short cosmetic pencils. However, some other manufacturer’s have introdued fingerjoint as they have not been able to develop a short slat market and have a higher proportion of fingerjoint and edgeglue slats in theor overall production.
With more interest in “green” earth friendly products and pencil manufacturers trying to save cost the fingerjoint slats have been begun to be used in other products, sometime positioned as green sometimes simply as a wood cost savings in existing brands that you do not notice becasue they are painted over.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Thanks WoodChuck, your comments are always welcome here!
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:56 am
ESTIMATED FRIENDS:
WE ARE A COMPANY DEDICATED TO THE SUPPLY OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTS IN VENEZUELA. THEY WE ARE CONTACTING IN ORDER THAT THEY GIVE US 20.000.000 IT(HE,SHE) GIVES PENCILS OF WOOD IN RED COLOR THAT THEY HAVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT WRITTEN: ” REPUBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA ” WE NEED OF URGENCY TO KNOW THE PRICES OF THE PENCILS AND THE AS IMMEDIATE AS POSSIBLE TIME OF DELIVERY. BEING GRATEFUL FOR HIS(ITS) ATTENTION TO THEM, I STAY OF YOU
ATTEMPT ME
JOSE LOZANO C.
GENERAL MANAGER
LAIMACO, C.A.
Av. URDANETA c/c SUCRE
MONTALBAN 2042, ESTADO CARABOBO
REPUBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA
TELEF: 00+58-416-7388821
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Twenty million pencils! I hope someone in the pencil industry is reading.