Comments and Questions

A page for comments, queries, and questions that aren’t in response to a particular post.

307 Replies to “Comments and Questions”

  1. Hi fisk,

    Thanks for the help. Well, I have the PITT extra soft in my pencil box and it is a lovely pencil, it’s a bit waxy. It’s slightly below pierre noire still, I have the Koh-I-Noor too, it’s around the same blackness of the PITT, but also below pierre noire. I found a Koh-I-Noor Progresso, it’s a woodless full graphite lead, the 8B is closest to conté pierre noire I found. I bought a Derwen Drawing Ivory 6700 and it’s ok too.

    I also notice that the paper matters a lot, the paper used on this site must differ from me or it’s the camera adding contrast, some high tooth paper like coquille board produce very dark blacks, but I can’t find it anymore.

    My reason for wanting a pencil like that is this: http://oi48.tinypic.com/1h3uhf.jpg The artist made very dark lines (it’s pitch black on the original but my flash went off) but it wasn’t on coarse paper, it was on something smooth it seems, maybe the paper used to be different back then, but I can’t reproduce it atm.

  2. Aurelie,

    Do you happen to know the name of the artist that created your tinypic?

    Regarding your coquille board… I did find some stateside here:
    http://www.lenzarts.com/art_supplies/coquille-board-paper.html
    There is a comment on this page that says that a smooth surfaced coquille board is no longer on the market but you can order a sample of their existing stock if need be.

    I’ve got a pierre noire in my own stash somewhere. Maybe I should give it another shot.

  3. I have a silver 3″ Mordan propelling pencil from the mid 30’s I think…best i can tell from the hallmark.
    It has a ring attached for a pocket chain (I think) and I can see the lead and it has a push button top but I cant but cant get it to descend. Any idea to how I can unjam it or how much its worth?

  4. I am a Artillery Detatchement Commander and forward observer in the CF. Big fan of the blog and while my own tastes are pretty humble I am a user of the Tri write in my line of work a reliable pencil has to be within armys reach and am looking for a readily available pencil extender and point protector such as the tohkin penicl extender. If you could lend your expertise I am in Oromocto, NB outside of Fredericton. Looking for something reliable,accesible and durable

    Appreciated

    SK

  5. Peter, Perhaps you would be better served by doing a google search for pen/pencil printers, contacting them with your photo, and letting them do some legwork for you. An ALL black pencil might prove a bit difficult to find and be more expensive… but then I’m not in printing these days.

  6. I did for 4 hours!:) but im really desperate, so after I found this site and tryed it here.

  7. Are you doing the printing yourself or are you hiring it out?
    What is your required quantity and your deadline?
    What is the best email address to contact you?

  8. Peter,

    I’m pretty sure that at such a small quantity, nobody will be able to help out with this. You may want to consider getting a larger lot of at least a thousand if this project of yours needs to come together. That is… the impression is more important than the money spent.

    I’ve got a few emails out for you and received ONE response saying that the rep is looking first to see if your pencil blank is available. And, this is without even touching the subject of minimum run.

    I’ll follow up when/if I know more.
    If this works out for you, I’d like compensation/commission.
    My price… is two of your pencils. So there.

    fisk

  9. Hi,
    thanks for your effort.
    The price is important, if they wil be cheap and affordable, we can print 1000. We are a design firm, so really want to pencil which looks great, not just ordinary pencil with eraser in the end.
    When you will know some news, please let me know. And of course you can have 2 pencils, even more!

    Thank you for help

  10. i am trying to find out some info on the grooved pencils from dixon. is there a big market out there for something like this or is it a slow mover purchased by someone who wants something different

  11. What is the best wooden pencil for taking IELTs test? What is the bes handheld sharpener and eraser?

  12. I am trying to find a really large eraser for graphite drawing. I’ve considered using rubber cement to glue several staedtler erasers together. But I would like to find something commercially available. Size could be in the range of 6 x 3 x 3 inches. Any thoughts or leads?

    Thanks,
    Tony

  13. I am absolutely stumped why noone makes a mechanical pencil that has a click eraser. You can click to make the lead advance, but you cant click another button to advance the eraser. I love the Pentel P205 and similar pencils that have the tiny eraser because its the perfect diameter, but the moment you wear it down, its a huge hassle to get off and replace it. I have no idea why they didnt just make that eraser advance the same way the lead advances.

    I know about the twist eraser types, but they always have big chunky erasers that are way to wide, also some of them start to retract as you use them.

    Any suggestions?

    thanks

  14. The Pentel QD7 is a nice mechanical pencil with that curved “Zaner-Blosser” grip, but the twist out eraser may still be too big for you. I measure mine at being 5.5 mm across.

  15. It’s been kind of quiet lately, so I thought that I’d relate a “Cedar Pointe” story from last night. I went to a “Hobby Lobby” store here in the U.S. to buy a suction cup hook for Christmas decorations and couldn’t find any. Since I was there, I decided to buy another box of 1 dozen General’s Cedar Pointe #2 pencils. I’ve enjoyed using the initial set that I bought – directly from them I think.

  16. Hi, I love the Prismacolor Col-Erase pencil but I read that Prismacolor’s production moved to Mexico and since then the quality of their Turquoise pencil fell down. So, I’m wondering if the same fate can happen to the Col-Erase or the quality stays the same as the ones made in the USA ?
    If somebody used both types (made in the USA and in Mexico) enough to make a good statement, I’d be glad to read thoughts about it. Thanks !

  17. Greetings fellow pencil enthusiasts,
    I’m writing today in hopes that someone will be willing to comment a bit on just how their stock/collection/hoard is kept organized and put away. For some time I’ve been trying to find an economical but attractive method for keeping my ever-growing supply of drawing materials. Until now, I’ve used mismatched cigar boxes, flat jewelry boxes and an assortment of shoe boxes to keep things together. As I grow older I find that keeping things in such a higgledy-piggledy manner is more challenging… because when I can’t recall exactly which box something is hiding in… I simply run along and buy a new one, or go without. My memory has certainly been sharper. What can I say?
    I’m hoping that members of this site’s community will share solutions that work well for them.

    (I probably have enough paper to start my own shop as well, but that is for another day.)

  18. Thanks Jüri for responding. May I ask how you store them?

    If anyone else would like to chime in as well, I’m all ears.

  19. hi fisk my name is kim yu hyun from korea
    please call me kim
    if you don’t mind why don’t we exchange some pencil? lol
    i can get korean pecils or Writing Instruments that you wnat
    if you interested in please reply me
    lastly keep your pencils sharp
    bye~~ and have a nice day lollol

  20. Hi everyone,

    I’m searching for a manufactur of 1h pencils, which also will print your name/logo on the pencil. I’m an cartoonartist, and I give cartoondrawinglessons to childeren. I live in the Netherlands, and there we have Bruynzeel as a manufactur. For all my life i use the Bruynzeel 1h pencil for sketching and would love to give the children the same pencil to work with. I already contacted Bruynzeel and they only make the HB pencils themself. So they could not print on the 1h, they get them from somewhere else, already stocked in a can with pencils of other harnedness. Now I’m looking for the manufacturer of this 1h pencil, or an other manufacturer who makes 1h pencils and also does custom prints for them.

    Maybe someone knows a good company…

    Thanks in advance! Toine

    You can see the 1h pencil here: http://www.twiskbv.nl/images/T/140050.jpg
    You can find an example image of the set here: https://www.penciltalk.org/2007/05/bruynzeel-high-grade-1605-pencil

  21. 1H is not normal marking degree of pencils as 1B too. Normal is H and B. I had conversation with them some time ago. May be therefore they are not manufacturing 1H and 1B pencils :-(

  22. Hello all

    Thanks for the great resource! I’ve been enjoying the reviews and discussions here greatly the last few weeks. I’m looking to find a 2-3mm lead holder and leads for sketching that aren’t incredibly shiny.

    I have the Koh-I-Noor 2mm black leads and 8B graphite on order to try. I’ve read about the qualities of the Staedtler Mars Lumograph 7B and 8B pencils, but can only find Mars Carbon leads up to 4B. I’m also considering the 3.8mm Koh-I-Noor range. Can anyone suggest a lead to try?

    Cretacolor have their Nero pencils (which I really love) in 5.6mm lead format but I dislike the chunkiness of the 5.6mm lead holder I have. Maybe someone has an idea of a comparatively thin 5.6mm lead holder that would take those Cretacolor leads?

  23. Hello my friends,

    I was just recently clearing my grandfather basement and I found these awesome Mephisto, Scala, Toison D’or and a lot of Koh-I-Noor pencils. My wife almost threw them away but I managed to save them. So now I am searching for their new owner. I believe there are people who collect these beauties. My wife made a lot of pictures of them when she saw their great condition.

    Please call me anytime I don’t sleep. : P

    Have a great day all

    Kris

  24. Hi fisk my name is kim yu hyun live in korea just call me kim
    anyway i have a question what is difference between dixon ticonderoga beginner and my first?
    I am sure you can answer my question.
    At last have a g day

  25. Hi – I’ve been fascinated reading all the questions and comments. Now I have a question. Does anyone know of a pencil printer who can print all the way around the pencil? The BIC film system is no good for this project because they can’t guarantee that the film will meet up correctly. I need 2000 printed with a spiral of lettering, I’d be grateful for any suggestions anywhere in the world – Gillian

  26. Dear Sir

    Very much enjoy the web site.

    Found two Dahle mechanical sharpeners recently .They are table mounting , plastic case. they were orange or red in colour . Made in Germany. Sharpen very nicely

    Any information out there on Dahle? have they gone ?

  27. Hello.
    Now and then I browse your site and enjoy the diverse selection of pencils displayed and reviewed here. I myself love pencils of all kinds. Anyway, I just created a pencil forum. Members can read/write reviews about pencils, talk about pencils, talk about paper, talk about sharpeners, and post links to their pencil/art blogs or websites. I have 0 members right now. The site is a totally new work in progress. I’m looking for a few members that share my interest in pencils and some feedback on what the forum is missing.

    The site address is: http://www.pencilnet.proboards.com/

    Please take a look. Thanks.

  28. Greetings !

    My name is Rick Nordal and I have invented a novel paper and ‘ pencil ‘ game.

    The game is called ‘ Connect Score ‘. It combines Chess with Dots and Boxes.

    The game and it’s rules can be seen at: http://connect-score.blogspot.ca/

    I was wondering if you could do a review of the game.

    Thank you for your time and I await your reply.

    Rick Nordal ( Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada )

  29. Hi!

    I run the blog a frozenpocket.com. I’ve been looking for a Mitsubishi Hi-uni lacquer pencil for a while now. I’ve reached out to a few people, but I have not been able to find an available one. Do you have any leads on where I might be able to acquire one?

    Thank you,

    Shang

  30. Shang, sorry for the very long delay in responding. You’re enquiring about a special limited edition pencil that was sold only in Japan, and years ago. So today, only the resale market will offer this pencil.

  31. Thank you for your response! I hadn’t checked in a while, so my apologies as well for the delay in responding. I have been scouring the secondary market for a while now, but have had no luck. I hope I will be able to find one soon!

  32. Pencils clearly are an emotional issue with some people. Check out Staedtler’s Wikipedia page at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staedtler

    Someone has it in for Staedtler that they wrote this:

    “It is also prolifically known that it was Hitler’s favorite writing instrument and would often get enraged if he was given an inferior product (e.g. Sheaffer). It is not widely known but sources closest to him say that he died with a Staedtler HB pencil in his hand. It is extremely speculative but the “HB” that is best known as “Hard Black” was reportedly changed after the passing of Adolf Hitler as it was initially called the “Hitler’s Bleistift”.

  33. Shang, best wishes with finding that special pencil! I love the spatula review at your blog.

    Andre, I’ve already heard about this. I’m not sure this is about pencils or Staedtler. That would depend on whether it is a mischief maker who picked a random page vs. someone bearing some sort of grudge. I can’t tell.

  34. I have 3 1001 staedtler mars-lumograph woodbarrel mechanical pencils. A 4H, F, and a H. I’m trying to find the value and see if any interest in someone buying, thanks.

  35. I have the most complete rotring pencil set ever. I started buying them back in 1988 when I started when started to work at manufacture. I have the pen, fountain pen, and the roller ball pen and all the pencils .03 .05 .07 .09 in the rotring 600 series. I made the .03 from the cheaper version.

  36. Hi

    A few decades ago there were pencils which were made of some sort of very smooth plastic wood composite. I loved them because I cannot stand the touch of rough wood. But not only are they no longer around, I can’t even find a mention of them online.

    Anyone know what they were and how I might get some?

    Thank you!

  37. Hi Natasha,

    WOPEX pencils from Staedtler are made of an extruded compound that incorporates wood. They should be available from general office supply stores or online.

    Bic is also know for extruded plastic pencils, such as their “Evolution” brand. They are also found at office supply stores or online.

  38. Hello!

    I was reading a blurb you did in June 2010 about the J.S. Staedtler Colour Copying Pencils (#2957) and it’s the only place I’ve seen them mentioned on the internet (can’t see your pictures though), and was wondering if you had any more information about them. I know they were from the 1920s and pre-Lumograph…I’m curious because I was at an estate sale recently and acquired a full unsharpened set with all the inserts intact…and all dozen pencils inside, unsharpened. Even the tin is in the best condition of any I’ve seen anywhere. Not sure what these would be worth, but they’re beautiful and are proudly sitting on my desk until further notice. Thanks!

    J

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *