Comments on: Staedtler WOPEX pencil review

By: Futural

Futural — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:43:48 +0000

Longest pencil in the world http://staedtler.com/world_record_WOPEX

By: Futural

Futural — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:42:20 +0000

Wopex is the in the world since September 15, 2011

By: LARRY YUDIS

LARRY YUDIS — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:24:08 +0000

Hello all you pencil experts!

I just ran across your discussions about Non-Wood Plastic Extruded Pencils. We used to buy the “jumbo” plastic pencils from Berol Co. They were about 3/8″ (10mm) in diameter. My need for the pencils is not for the writing pleasure, but for being able to carve faces in the pencils!

I own and operate a woodcarving tool and supplies store. Our woodcarving customers used to carve various faces in the body of the jumbo pencils. A Santa face was a very popular one to carve for a quick and easy Christmas gift. The extruded plastic would be easy to carve and would hold detail very well, unlike a cedar wood pencil. I haven’t been able to find a manufacturer of those type of pencils anywhere. If anyone would have some sort of contact information, I would be very pleased to hear about it.

I have heard that there are some pencils being made with basswood instead of cedar. Basswood is the most popular wood used by woodcarvers. If anyone would have a source on basswood pencils, that might work also.

Thank you for your time to read this. I admire the passion which all of you express in using an instrument that has been supposedly “improved on” over the years. There is nothing that can improve on working with a nicely sharpened pencil!

Larry Yudis, General Manager/Owner
The Woodcraft Shop
2724 State St.
Bettendorf, IA 52722
563-359-8501
thewoodcraftshop@mchsi.com
http://www.thewoodcraftshop.com

By: Yi

Yi — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:23:20 +0000

1 have seen WOPEX.I think that tyhat pencil is better than WOPEX.
your review was very great!!!

By: Robert M.

Robert M. — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:31:06 +0000

I’ve been playing around with the WOPEX in HB and 2B. Not much a fan of the HB, but the 2B, while it doesn’t strike me as a 2B in either darkness or in hardness, is very usable for writing. I’m a little ambivalent on the feel of the surface, and I do not really like the way the material sharpens in my rotary sharpener, but the slight heft and the writing performance make for a pretty nice pencil overall. I don’t know if they’ll grow on me, but they might.

By: penciladmin

penciladmin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:42:19 +0000

Thomas, welcome to the blog, and thank you for sharing your findings! I also like the weight of the WOPEX. “Waxy” literally refers to wax as an element in the pencil core, which typically results in reduced surface tension.

By: Thomas reher

Thomas reher — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:32:01 +0000

i’m in no way a pencil expert; more a general user; but i thought you might like to hear my feelings about this pencil.
to me the WOPEX feels very nice; i like the weight(albeit maybe a tiny mit to heavy) of it and also the rounded corners.
the thing that makes it shine for me is the feel of the lead; i find it a lot pore pleasant to write with than the Mars.
i don’t know if that’s what you mean by “waxy”, but if it is i find that a good thing.
not being an artist; i can’t comment on it’s ability to make drawings; but as a general writer i find it very pleasant!

By: Chetan Bole

Chetan Bole — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 07:37:14 +0000

WOPEX Pencils..
There is certain ‘drawback’ of such extruded pencils!!
As I belong to this Industry, I very much know and understand them!!

Those are as under:

Q 1)•DARKNESS: You cannot increase the darkness of this pencil like 2B or 8B. In our traditional Wooden Pencil, lead is manufactured separately by adjusting the percentage of Graphite and Clay. More Graphite and less Clay makes Pencil darker. While mixing the solid mass of Graphite and Clay a manufacturer can achieve as much as darkness in Pencil Lead. But this is NOT at all possible in Non-Wood Extruded pencil. The Polymer Resin (Plastic) can carry a certain amount of filler for during extrusion. Graphite itself is a ‘Lubricant’ material and addition of more graphite may create slippery surface in extrusion machine.

Ans :- It is possible to make darker pencil not as much 8B but upto 4B.

•STRENGTH: The Pencil wood, itself have certain strength. Wood in form of a Pencil does not break so easily. Here the casing part of a ‘Extruded Pencil’ is not wood, it is composition of various fillers and resins. This ‘compound’ material cannot produce strength and resistance to breakage like our traditional Pencil!!

Ans :- Your right sir. But when we mix wood fiber with polymer it possible to get strength in polymer pencil not as much wooden pencil.

•FEELING: A Pencil made of WOOD comes with a feel of ‘wood’. Try comparing use of both kind of Pencil; definitely a Wooden Pencil always wins!!

Ans :- Again your right sir.When we mix wood fiber with polymer it feel like wooden pencil.

•COLOUR LEAD: Similar to graphite lead, one cannot have perfect darkness of Colour Lead. Colour Pencil in Wood always rules the world!!

Ans :- Colour Pencil in Wood having 2 to 3 % moisture. In polymer darkness of lead it is possible only the issue is costing.

Finally how many days or years we use wood pencil one day we accept polymer pencil or 0.5 polymer lead clutch pencil.

Also import of wooden slats also costly.

By: James

James — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:07:59 +0000

Irv: I clicked on the ADL link and it was certainly worth the visit! The “Silk Purse from a Sow’s Ear” is a wonderful and truly inspirational read. It’s places like ADL that give Geekdom the good name it deserves. I absolutely love the “never say die” attitude that seems to rule there. Thanks for that!

By: Irv Arons

Irv Arons — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:21:23 +0000

It’s interesting that Harshad was developing his extruded plastic pencil at about the same time that we were developing the Epcon pencil process. We began work on the Epcon pencil in 1969, but didn’t have the material and the extrusion process under control until about 1973-1974, when we transferred the process over to Empire. They began full production by about 1975. All of this is explained in my writeup about the development of the Epcon Pencil in ADL Chronicles.

Irv Arons
ADL Chronicles (http://adlittlechronicles.blogspot.com)

By: Staedtler Wopex 2B and 2H « Bleistift

Staedtler Wopex 2B and 2H « Bleistift — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:49:22 +0000

[...] You can find a review of the Staedtler Wopex HB at pencil talk. [...]

By: Battle of the eco pencils « Bleistift

Battle of the eco pencils « Bleistift — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:24:14 +0000

[...] I would like to thank Lexikaliker for my first Wopex pencil. You will find reviews of the HB and 2B Wopex on his blog (Google translation). You can find a review of the Wopex (in English) at pencil talk. [...]