Year: 2008

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Faber-Castell Perfection 7056 eraser pencil

Faber-Castell Perfection 7056 eraser pencil

Wow, perfection! Or, maybe not…

The Perfection 7056 is a woodcase pencil format eraser from Faber-Castell.

Unusual looking by pencil standards, it is a very lightly hued/pale (almost ash) woodcase pencil with a light pink eraser core. It walks and talks like a pencil – but acts like an eraser.

Faber-Castell Perfection 7056 eraser pencil

The format provides convenience and a familiar grip – if you can hold a pencil, you can hold this eraser. It also provides an always “clean” eraser surface for those who prefer or require this – just sharpen, and the eraser is like new.

As to the eraser itself – I am a bit confused. The photo shows marks from a Staedtler Ergosoft in HB on a Rhodia pad. The right side was erased by the Perfection, and for comparison, the left side was erased by a Staedler mars plastic eraser.

Faber-Castell Perfection 7056 eraser pencil

Faber-Castell Perfection 7056 eraser pencil

What a difference. The Perfection has several pluses, but as an eraser, it seems quite sub-standard compared to typical format quality rectangular erasers. One note: it did seem very gentle on paper – perhaps the forte is in a specialty area.

Do you use this eraser? What do you use it for?

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Dong-a Hongdangmoo Office Pencil

Dong-a Hongdangmoo Office Pencil

This is the second post in a series on the pencils of Korea.

Dong-a is Korea’s oldest pencil maker, established in 1946. The Hongdangmoo Office Pencil is a basic offering, and I am told that it is the most common office pencil in Korea. It is not clear to me if it is manufactured in Korea.

Dong-a Hongdangmoo Office Pencil

A few notes:

– It does have a slightly larger diameter than the Hankook Sharp.

– The eraser seemed exceptionally good for a pink/red eraser. In fact, it is an excellent eraser by any measure. I’m not sure how they did it.

– The wood appeared to be cedar, and the pencil easily sharpened. The top photo shows an attempt with the KUM Long Point.

– The lead is much scratchier than that of the Hankook Sharp.

Overall, I think the choice between the Hankook Sharp and the Dong-a Hongdangmoo is a tough one.

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Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

It has been over two years since we last looked at a copying pencil.

The Sanford Noblot, like the Koh-I-Noor Kopierstifte 1561, appears to be a regular graphite pencil, writing with a traditional “black lead” core.

There are still several copying pencils on the market with coloured leads, but the Noblot is the last one I’m aware of in the graphite style.

It is a handsome pencil, with silver lettering on a luminous grey barrel, and a metal cap.

It also has a slogan on the reverse side : “A Bottle of Ink in a Pencil”.

Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

The obverse reads “Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705”.

Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

If you look carefully, you can see an impressed remnant of the Eberhard Faber heritage: “Woodclinched U.S.A.”.

Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

As a pencil, it seems a bit cheap and scratchy. It is definitely an indelible pencil, trouncing the erasure attempts of even the Staedtler Mars plastic.

To test the copying quality, I drew (imperfectly) a circle on a sheet of Bloc Faf paper.

Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

I then wet the paper revealing a rich cobalt blue:

Sanford Noblot Ink Pencil 705

With tissue and other paper types, I’m afraid that I couldn’t pick up much more than a smudge of blue. I’m curious about the exact paper choices and water application techniques that would be required to use the pencil as a working copying pencil.

Do you use this pencil? What do you use it for, and how do you use it?

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Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

In March, we looked at the Lyra Mega Liner highlighting pencil. The offerings in this category are few, but there is at least one alternative.

I just discovered that Staedtler Austria also manufacture highlighting pencils. The ones I found are packaged in a “blister pack” and are sold as “Bible Highlighters”.

Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

The pencils are round, and finished in white with black text. The caps are dipped in a colour corresponding to the highlight colour – blue, green, yellow, and pink.

Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

A couple of nice touches – each pencil is supplied with a protective plastic cap, and there is a sharpener included in the kit.

I tried them on a pocket Larousse French-English dictionary, and on newsprint. (The packaging specifically mentions dictionaries.) While they are definitely gentler than liquid pigment highlighters, and thus probably a better choice for finer papers, I wasn’t completely sold. The highlight looks more like a faint smudge than a “highlight” to me.


Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

Staedtler Dry Highlighter 146 pencil

Overall, I suspect they could be useful with the right paper type, but weren’t great on the paper types I tried. They are also a standard pencil size, so sharpening should not be a problem.

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