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As well as the Staedtler WOPEX, the 2009 Paperworld show saw another innovative pencil announced – the Lyra Colorstripe.
This slightly oversized triangular colour pencil has a rounded rectangular core exposed on one side! The “stripe” (coated to preserve the pencil and your hands) is visible along the length of the pencil.
The Colorstripe’s designer, Formidable, has won several high level awards for the product.
About one year after the announcement, the product seems to be available in sets of eight and sixteen, as well as singles, in Europe, North America, and Asia. I would like to thank Gunther from Lexikaliker for kindly sending me this set of eight. The pencils are visually amazing. They are triangular, weighing about 6.8 to 8.5g depending on the core colour – quite a variation.
The black dyed wood is marked with silver lettering on one side with the bar code, EAN number, “Germany”, CE symbol, a model number depending on the pencil’s colour, and “COLORSTRIPE LYRA”. A bit busy, but I think the silver looks very nice on the black wood.
On Strathmore Bristol 300 Series 260g/m2 vellum, the tones seems quite satisfying. With black-dyed wood, a triangular shape, and having a cross section around 8mm, I was wondering about sharpening. Fortunately, Lyra provided a sharpener meant for this diameter. Thanks to an informative post at Bleistift, I recognize the “E” with crown symbol on the sharpener, indicating an Eisen product. There were no problems, and the pencil sharpened easily.
Well, there was one problem. When I started to use the pencil, it seems the lead core had been dislodged and unattached itself from the pencil. This is with the gold pencil. I haven’t had any issues with the other colours. Has anyone out there had this problem? I hope the issue was just with this individual pencil.
See also: Lyra Colorstripe
Almost a year ago, the 2009 Paperworld trade show saw industry giant Staedtler announce a new pencil technology called WOPEX (Wood Pencil Extrusion).
While neither extruded pencils nor reconstituted wood products are brand new, the combination certainly is, and being backed and promoted by Staedtler, the WOPEX may become a major development in pencil history. Extruded pencils are of course not brand new. In 1974, the former Empire Pencil Company of Shelbyville developed the EPCON plastic pencil. In 1993, the former Conté created the Conté Evolution, an extruded plastic pencil that is popular in many markets today. Last year, pencil talk took a look at the Conté Evolution Triangle pencil. So let’s take a look at the WOPEX. My thanks to Gunther of Lexikaliker for sending me a few samples. My experiments were done on a variety of commercial notebooks and with a Staedtler Mars plastic eraser.
Exterior The pencil has what I’d call a light metallic purple-blue finish. It seems to be a colour more likely to be seen on a car, and perhaps was meant to emphasize the high tech aspect of the pencil. The cap is unfinished. The obverse reads in silver lettering:
The reverse reads in black lettering: The PEFC marks attests to an environmental certification. Apart from the colour choice, there are three other things that really stand out. First, the weight. It is definitey heavier than a traditional woodcase pencil. While a Staedtler Mars Lumograph weighs about 3.8g, the WOPEX is about 8.4g – more than twice as heavy! Second, the surface has some sort of slightly rubberized grip. It is a different formula than an Ergosoft pencil. One thing about this surface type – after some sharpening, and being among other pencils and graphite dust, the pencil surface seemed to become noticably dirtier. The rubber surface does seem to absorb and retain graphite. Third, the hexagonal shape is extremely rounded. While this is no doubt an ongoing industry trend, the WOPEX pencil seems to take it a step further.
Writing On paper, the lead seems waxier than that of a Mars Lumograph. Not nearly as waxy as a Blackwing (I tested), but enough that I’m sure it will receive a positive reception from many. I had another sense that there was a “stay put”, non-smearing aspect to the lead. Apart from the case of using the pencil immediately after being sharpened, there appeared to be no graphite residue emitted by the pencil during use – the mark goes exactly where needed. I’m not sure if the manufacturing process will eventually allow for a range of grades, but for home, school, and office use, it appears to be a very solid offering. Sharpening I did not test this pencil in my favourite sharpener (the CARL desktop models), but in a handheld sharpener, it appears to sharpen with not much more force than a woodcase pencil. The shavings of course are a bit different, having a rubbery feel. I also tried sandpaper, and had no problems.
Erasure The WOPEX lead mirrored the performance of the Lumograph’s – excellent erasure with a Staedtler Mars plastic on Rhodia paper, and slightly less so on the Apica, for example. The erasure is not a problem. Conclusion It is a viable pencil offering, and the pencil’s texture, shape, colour, and weight all proclaim that it is something new. When many pencil manufacturers are still using decades old machinery, along comes this major investment in modern technology. Staedtler was no doubt aware of the challenges of creating a product like this, and have made it work. I really didn’t expect the WOPEX to perform so well.
In the larger scheme, what does it mean? A few years ago, I would have thought that the WOPEX wasn’t really a pencil. But it looks and acts (though doesn’t smell) like a pencil, and is made by one of the world’s pre-eminent pencil manufacturers. Though made of wood, it doesn’t have that beautiful ‘clip-clop’ sound when dropped on the floor. And the manufacturing process conjures up images of scientists in lab coats rather than woodworkers. Is it the future? The first woodcase pencils, before the Conté/Hardmuth graphite and clay blending process was invented, used raw graphite chunks. We don’t regret the advance that followed. Is the WOPEX the next leap forward? Here are three items that caught my eye this weekend: 1. The Independent’s 50 best stationery items. I learned about some interesting UK businesses such as drafting supply manufacturer Blundell Harling and online store Pencils 4 Artists. I saw the story via papernation’s tweet. Papernation itself looks like a very interesting store. 2. Death of a Brand – BOSTON Pencil Sharpener Company at Scription. An interesting discussion and some amazing photos of these old workhorses. 3. Lamy Design – From the Hammock at Dave’s Mechanical Pencils. This look at a Lamy catalogue caught my eye because I think I have that “white pen”. I had no idea that it was so noteworthy.
The Guilloche version is not the only recent Graf von Faber-Castell pencil variant. Also for sale in some markets is the original version, but without the silver plated cap.
I’d hesitate to call it a “discount” Graf von Faber-Castell pencil – but perhaps that wording is correct. PenciLog (in Korea) first displayed this pencil online – perhaps a year ago? A few recently washed ashore in Canada, thanks to an erudite and scholarly reader in the US.
Sold in paper banded sets of three, I’m not sure if this pencil belongs in the product line.
See also: Pencil Boxes (II) – Graf von Faber-Castell (pencil talk – February, 2008) Graf von Faber-Castell pencils. (pencil talk – July, 2006)
Graphite is not the only refill available for mechanical pencils and leadholders. Colour lead refills, red in particular, are available in several formats. They might be be used by teachers, accountants, or anyone seeking to make a noticeable mark. The thicker versions might have uses in carpentry and masonry. Let’s examine ten of them.
0.5mm Pentel PPR-5 Red – a faint but usable red. 0.5mm Staedtler Mars micro color 245 05-2 Red – much more vibrant and saturated colour than the Pentel lead, yet also fragile – frequent breakage seems to be the tradeoff. 0.7mm Pentel PPR-7 Red – also faint but usable. 0.7mm Mitsubishi Uni Color Red – a bit softer than the Pentel, also a redder hue. 0.9mm Pentel PPR-9 Red – the format makes the marks more readable than the thinner versions. Overall among the thin leads, the Pentel leads are slightly orange, while the Staedtler and Mitsubishi leads are truer reds.
2.0mm Koh-I-Noor 4300/5 Red – previously seen here, the lead is somewhat orange, and seemed faint. 2.0mm Fueki (フエキ) RA20 Red – this is a brand that was previously unknown to me, and I thank isu of the uncomfortable chair for kindly sending this lead to me. It is quite good, with vibrant colour and on the softer side. 2.0mm Mitsubishi Uni Red – not bad for writing, it seems to keep a point, and is on the orange side. It should be noted that the leads have an attachment that prevents them “falling through” clutch leadholders. This may make them unusable in certain brands. There is also a risk of this ring getting stuck in a leadholder.
3.15mm Lamy M42 Color Red – surprisingly hard for a lead of this diameter, it is a nice refill for a 3.15m pencil. 3.15mm Wörther Spare Leads Red – very soft, they are almost like wax crayons – a marking tool rather than a writing implement. They’re also easily the most vibrant. Among the thin leads, I like the Mitsubishi because it seems to be an accurate red. The Pentel, though performing well, has a slight orange hue that seemed not right. Though the Staedtler lead has great colour, it was too prone to breaking to be useful. Among the thick leads, the 2.0mm Fueki and 3.15mm Lamy were the standouts from a writing perspective due to their truer red lead. The Wörther would no doubt be good at rougher tasks.
Ten samples is by no means a complete survey of the category. Are there other brands that you like or special uses for red lead that you might have? Well, I was wrong in thinking yesterday’s post was the last of the year. At Scription, there is an interesting post on using mt masking tape to change the look of a pencil. I love the effort, but I’m skeptical about how usable the resulting pencil becomes – is there an uncomfortable seam? What happens when you try to sharpen the pencil? Incidentally, Scription is an example of the type of commercial blog I like – original photos showing items in use, not stock PR shots, and informed commentary, often critical, about stationery items. Anyhow, I thought I’d share some other uses of this tape. Especially at this time of year, there are these cardboard tubes awaiting the recycling bin in my household:
Well, with a little bit of tape, they are nicely repurposed:
The tape was purchased from pencils.jp. |
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