Cyclingpencils has a very interesting post that shows a vintage Johann Faber pencil marked “Made in Japan”!
I hope some further information will come to light.
Palimpsest
Please take a look at Palimpsest, a blog with the the subtitle “On Writing Instruments”.
With many interesting posts on writers and literary subjects, pencils are a regular subject matter.
Jumbo Ito-ya pencils
The pencil talk laboratories took delivery of some Ito-ya pencils just over a year ago, and discovered that they were excellent for a house brand pencil. Of course the world’s largest stationery store is no ordinary “house”!
Ito-ya’s jumbo pencil is more than just a variant of the standard sized version.
Available in five very rich solid metallic finishes, the pencil presents itself very well.
To start with, the cap is a metal attachment painted black, not an eraser. I am so used to the regular sized pencils that I kept trying to use it as an eraser!
In a Faber-Castell rubberized Contour sharpener, sharpening this pencil is a joy. (And this is not the best sharpener.)
The cedar is just super straight grained, soft, and easy to sharpen. The pencil isn’t cheap, and the choice of wood must have been part of the cost equation.
The lead isn’t that of the regular pencil – it is a super dark and rich lead (a bit hard to erase) that might have some darkening ingredients apart from graphite.
All in all, a superb example of a jumbo or oversized pencil.
Mark Sheet pencils from Japan
These pencils aren’t aimed at writing, yet they are all superb at the task.
Sold to students facing multiple choice exams, they are specialty test pencils. These specific ones are made in Japan, and called “Mark Sheet” pencils.
Of course, test taking isn’t the only possible use, and today we’ll take a look at them from a writing perspective.
The pencils are:
Mitsubishi Uni 100 Mark Sheet pencil, HB
Pentel CBM10 Mark Sheet pencil, HB and B
Tombow LM-KMS Mono Mark Sheet pencil, HB
All are hexagonal with finished caps, and sold unsharpened.
The Mitsubishi is grey, with a black dipped end and blue ring. The lettering is white, and the pencil states, “Hi-Density Lead for Mark Sheet.” The cap is stamped “HB”.
The Pentel is navy blue, and has the slogan, “the best quality for OCR sheet marking.” The blue is offset by two silver rings and silver lettering. The HB has a marigold cap, while the B grade sports red.
The Pentel has a vivid bright blue finish, with a matte silver dipped end and silver ring. The lettering is in white.
All three pencils have nice finishes, and sharpen easily.
Certain pencil/paper combinations really shine (a subject for a future post), and on a Maruman Mnemosyne notebook, all three pencil brands are exceptional in their non-crumbling adherence, smooth application, and dark rich black lines. The best? For me, the Pentel, and especially the B grade version, stood out as a super-smooth writer.
Specialty pencils of course have specialty erasers, and the Uni Mark Sheet eraser does a great job. The formula seems somewhat different than other familiar erasers from Pilot or Tombow – more crumbly, but possibly even more effective.
(Pentel also make a “mark sheet eraser”, but I haven’t seen it in person.)
All are first rate, but writing with the Pentel CBM10 Mark Sheet pencil in B is an experience I especially recommend to all pencil users!
See also:
Pentel Mark Sheet Pencil – pencil talk, August 2008
LM-KMS – Lexikaliker, June 2009
MONO Mark Sheet Pencil Set – On the desk, at any time, March 2010
Faber-Castell compass leads
One of the oldest professional uses for graphite, compass leads are still made today.
Cylindrical segments in shape, the face of the wedge is an ellipse.
Pencil review: BILT matrix
Name: BILT matrix.
Full name and model no: BILT Matrix Charcoal Black HB2.
Manufacturer: Ballarpur Industries Limited (biltpaper.com), incorporated under a previous name in 1945.
Background: Ballarpur’s website says they are India’s largest paper company.
Weight: The pencils in the box I received ranged from 4.2g to 5.2g, averaging 4.6g.
Dimensions: Rounded hexagon with finished cap. 174.5mm in length according to the box.
Appearance: The pencils are hexagonal and unsharpened. The pencil finish is black, with the edges finished in silver. The text is silver, as well as the cap. The unsharpened ends are clean, with no paint spilling over.
The pencil is marked:
bilt matrix Charcoal Black HB2
Other notes: The pencils have a stated price of 3 Rupees each.
Grip: The pencil has a light gloss and is quite comfortable and easy to hold.
Sharpening: Regular readers know I like Carl sharpeners. But the Carl sharpens everything well, so I tried the matrix in an Eisen handheld plastic sharpener. It felt a bit tough to sharpen, though the result was fine. The wood was unfamiliar to me, probably one of the many species native to India.
Writing: I found the pencil to be surprisingly good. On Rhodia paper, the lead seemed somewhat smooth and very stable and non-crumbling for a budget pencil.
Erasure: With a Pilot Foam eraser, removing lines was no problem. The natural rubber Faber-Castell 7041-20 required just a bit more effort.
Overall: While I’m not familiar with Ballarpur Industries, I think they’ve produced a fine product in the matrix pencil – the pencil presents well and has attractive packaging, and writes much better than one would expect from a product that is priced at about seven US cents.
I’d like to thank hemmant for kindly sending me these pencils last year, along with some other Indian pencils. They have been a pleasure to discover.