Around the web

The last few days have seen some notable pencil blogging milestones:

The 100th post at Lung Sketching Scrolls! Also be sure to visit the rest of the site. The most recent post discusses the entire range of colour 3.8mm lead products on the market today.

The 200th post at Lexikaliker, and a most fascinating one at that!

Finally, the third anniversay of Dave’s Mechanical Pencils was yesterday! Congratulations on three great years!

As, well, here is an interesting How to draw with lead video at How to Architect. Several years of work must have gone into attaining that level of skill.

Pencils from FILA

Pencils from FILA

Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini S.p.A. (FILA) is a famous and longstanding pencil manufacturer, dating from 1920. Their name is synonymous with Italian pencil making.

Pencils from FILA

Pencils, the book (a museum catalogue), features many fine examples of their productions.

The last few years for FILA have been highlighted by two major international acquisitions – the 2005 purchase of American manufacturer Dixon (who originated in 1795) and 2008 purchase of German manufacturer Lyra (who date back to 1806).

Think about this for a moment. The roots of this industry are quite incredible – a company in their eightieth (nearing ninetieth) year, buying two competitors, each over two centuries old. A New World company dating to the 18th century is especially noteworthy.

Pencils from FILA

So what’s in store? Dixon’s US pencil production has ceased, having moved to Mexico and China. FILA’s modern pencil production appears to be Chinese based. And we’ve heard that Lyra will be moving production to China. (Most of it was already there, pre-acquisition.)

Yet the national brands continue – it appears that FILA/Lyra/Dixon intends on making their pencils in China, but continuing existing branding.

Pencils from FILA

Some context set, let’s take a look at a few pencils from FILA. They are an “assortment” – essentially what a vendor had on hand and was willing to ship overseas. Probably not a complete line by any means – I was still happy to acquire them.

There seem to be two rough categories here – new (with colour and photo or CG images in the boxes) and old (with monochrome, line drawn images).

The new:

Temagraph

Two versions – with and without eraser. They are marked:

FILA Temagraph HB/2 Medium

Is that three degree indicators in total (HB,2,Medium)? And – are they exactly Dixon Tonderogas, or just similar? The unerasered pencil is certainly interesting – the metal cap seems to also be a uniquely styled degree indicator.

The box has a most intersting touch: a printed checkbox statement of origin:

Made by Fila-Dixon In:
Italy [] France [] China[x] Mexico []

I wonder what doesn’t get checked that way.

The box has markings in eight or more languages. I’m not sure if the pencil is sold in that many countries – they are very challenging to locate online.

Temagraph Soft Touch

Pencils from FILA

A black-dyed wood pencil, I think it has some of the same rubberized surface as the Tri-Conderoga, though it seems a bit more subtle and refined. (A second generation?)

The old:

Studium

Pencils from FILA

Marked “~Studium~ HB=2 FILA Florence Italy” in white on blue, they are a basic student pencil.

Temagraph

Pencils from FILA

These appear to be an older version of the Temagraph. They have a distinctive look, with alternating sides painted yellow or orange and edges black. The cap indicates the pencil grade. And yes, we learn that 3B = 00!

Pencils from FILA

The older Temagraphs are definitely the most interesting, as well as being the best writers of the bunch.

Do you know FILA?

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

The post office recently delivered a small accumulation of lead refills. Accompanying pieces of sandpaper and specialty erasers indicated that a draftsperson was the likely original owner.

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

This person knew what they liked – 2.0mm drafting leads from Faber-Castell, model 9030 to be specific, were the majority of the items.

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

I was impressed at the historical breadth of this set. Four slightly different statements of origin were visible:

– Bavaria
– American Zone Germany
– Germany
– West Germany

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

A brief history lesson in a pencil case!

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

The older containers were essentially wooden boxes with holes for the leads. The newer formats were hexagonal plastic tubes, cardboard tubes, and more recently, rectangular plastic cases.

Faber-Castell 2.0mm leads

I’ll show some of the more interesting non-Faber-Castell items in another post.

Ito-ya pencils

Ito-ya pencils

Some large retailers offer their own “brands” – products made with logos, company identification, colouring, or other identifying associations, manufactured by external firms.

Tell me if I am wrong, but pencil talk has not yet featured such a “house brand”. The reason is simple – the many pencils offered by grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, etc. are typically third rate, generally offering inferior finishes, scratchy leads, and little or no information about the pencil’s origin.

Ito-ya is a top retail stationer by any standard, their main store offering an incredible eleven stories of stationery shopping in Tokyo’s Ginza district. This is their house brand pencil.

Ito-ya pencils

Made in a wide array of finishes, the one we see here is matte grey. Picked from an online site, I’m wondering why I chose such a conservative example – perhaps two dozen different colour/finish combinations are available. Yet plain as the grey matte finish is, the quality shines through.

Round, the pencil has very minimal markings – “ITO-YA” in gold lettering.

The cap – in black – has a rubbery appearance. I asked myself if it might be an eraser. It is – a good one! With some force, it can be removed from the pencil.

Ito-ya pencils

The looks are great, and the pencil writes with a dark, rich line. It is a quality offering. I am suddenly recalling that round pencils from Japan seem to be far less common than hexagonal ones.

The pencil answers a frequent question here – is there a high quality round pencil? Yes there is – the Ito-ya.

Ito-ya pencils

The eraser format is an innovation – high quality, supporting the lines and flow of the pencil, with no metal ferrule required.

Overall, we have an amazing example of what a “house brand” can be.

Uchida Proeraser becomes a 3.8mm leadholder

Uchida Proeraser

I discovered the Uchida Proeraser some while ago while browsing the uncomfortable chair. It is a nicely-finished all-metal clutch holder for erasers. Most unusual.

The one I ordered came with an ink eraser.

As it takes an eraser of 3.8mm diameter, it occurred to me that it should be able to handle a 3.8mm lead. A less common size, Pilot, Koh-I-Noor, and Caran d’Ache all make leads and holders in this diameter.

Uchida Proeraser

The most accessible pencil in this category is probably the Pilot Croquis, available at many art supply stores.

Uchida Proeraser

I put a Pilot refill in the Uchida – and found I had a very usable and nice looking 3.8mm clutch leadholder.