A companion to Eberhard Faber’s geometry pencil, this is a triangular shaped pencil that mimics an architect’s scale.
Though I have only one, I did sharpen it! It is a delight.
My thanks to Gunther from Lexikaliker for sending me this pencil!
Pentel woodcase pencils
Though Pentel may be known for mechanical pencils and lead refills, their woodcase pencil products are equally outstanding.
In our lineup today, we have:
The Pentel Mark Sheet pencil is Pentel’s entry in the test scoring category. In HB, the pencil is dark blue with silver lettering. The cap is dark yellow/light orange. As a pencil, it is astounding. It sharpens easily, and writes incredibly smoothly, leaving an extremely deep, rich, saturated line – that is also erasable.
The pencil was not an entrant in last year’s test of the top Japanese pencils, but it might have been a contender. It is just amazing!
The TUFF pencil is a mystery to me. In grade H, it writes very nicely. I think it would be extremely satisfactory for someone seeking a pencil that keeps a sharp point, and writes smoothly, with a line as dark as most mainstream HB pencils.
Next, we have a turquoise version of the Pentel Black Polymer 999. The pencil has a turquoise finish and Japanese language text. Automatic translations of Pentel literature call this a “pencil for copyist” or “copyist pencil”. Perhaps someone can advise?
The space for a name on the side of the pencil suggests it is for students.
What I do know is – it is a fantastic pencil! The smooth writing qualities just amazed me. It’s nice on cream paper, but on a white paper like Clairefontaine or Rhodia, the dark rich graphite just pops! My only reservation is the turquoise colouring, which I am not sure I like.
The “regular” Pentel Black Polymer 999 in HB is another well known top pencil. My growing impression is that it trades just a bit of smoothness for deep blackness, without the production of crumbles. The 4B in the series is quite amazing, creating super saturated black lines. What’s in the pencil? Is it a “polymer lead”? Stay tuned … I think we’ll learn more in the future.
The Pentel Black Polymer 999? is the top of the line. In H, it would be fine on bright white apper. I think it is quite a bit smoother than the TUFF, the other H grade pencil. It also boasts an extremely nice black lacquered finish. Though there is too much text for my taste, it is a very classy looking pencil.
We’ve heard that Pentel isn’t a woodcase pencil manufacturer per se – they subcontract their production. What can we say? Well done! The only possible criticism I can think of is that they don’t have as full a range of grades as their competitors. But everything they have done is first-rate.
The online Pentel 2009 catalogue shows the Pentel Black Polymer 999, Pentel Black Polymer 999 Copyist, and Pentel Mark Sheet Pencils. The others may be discontinued.
| Name | Slogan | Model | Bar Code | JIS symbol |
| Mark Sheet | the best quality for OCR sheet marking | CBM10 | yes | no |
| TUFF | HI-QUALITY | CB6 | yes | yes |
| Black Polymer 999 | * | CB1 | no | no |
| Black Polymer 999 | the highest quality for general use | CB100 | yes | no |
| Black Polymer 999? | supreme quality for drawing lines of high density | CB200 | no | yes |
Nice pencils, Pentel!
The pencils were shown on a Mateo Ilasco No. 309 “Blueprint” notepad, and sharpened with a Carl Decade DE-100 sharpener.
My thanks to isu from the uncomfortable chair for kindly sending me the majority of these pencils.
Set of 500 colour pencils
Just after mentioning Mitsubishi’s set of 240 colour pencils, we have this: A 500 colour set! Astounding!
(thanks to Kero556’s twitter feed)
Koh-I-Noor 2.0mm leadholders and colour leads
The leadholders
From Koh-I-Noor we have the Toison D’Or 5900 and 5608 2.0mm leadholders. In an accompanying role are Koh-I-Noor colour leads.
The 5900 is a leadholder which seems to be modelled on the Toison d’Or woodcase pencil. The weight and hardness of the body suggest metal composition, but I could be wrong.
It has a clip stamped “Koh-I-Noor”. The clip edges are rough to the touch, and appear very cheap.
The cap unscrews and revels four extended blades which form a sharpener. Clever, it works, though not as well as a standard format sharpener.
The 5608 (top photo) is something new. Sleek and svelte, it is really a 2.0mm mechanical pencil in a very portable format. The Toison d’Or’s awkward stamping is replaced with a retro rendering of the Koh-I-Noor name. Nice!
It also has a cap with a four-blade sharpener. Unfortunately, there is a problem. The 5608’s sharpener can’t sharpen the pencil’s lead since the pencil lacks the ability to grip the lead during sharpening – the lead just spins and spins around. Other blog posts have noted that this problem is shared with other large diameter lead mechanical pencils. This also prohibits the lead from being sharpener with other sharpeners while the lead remains in the pencil.
The leads
Colour lead in wide lead sizes (2.0, 3.15, and 5.6 mm diameters) can be a great joy – easy to use, and allowing great control. Unfortunately, it can also be hard to find and expensive.
Koh-I-Noor’s leads were a delight to discover, due to the range of colours and the richness of the lines.
For a few days, I thought I had discovered an exceptional stationery item.
Sample marks on both a toothy artist paper from Canson, and a Marumann notebook:
Then something happened. A lead snapped, jamming the containing leadholder. While I’m not an expert, I know this is very odd – leadholders have very simple mechanisms – they are essentially a “clutch” surrounding a tube for the lead – and they don’t jam. Then another leadholder jammed. Something was very odd about this lead.
I thought the 5608 might be a great document review pencil with a blue lead – but to my frustration, the lead wouldn’t go in the pencil. That was the clue and the answer – this wasn’t really 2.0mm lead!
I took out the micrometer, and a few samples of Koh-I-Noor lead averaged 2.13mm in diameter. For a reference, I tried measuring a Mitsubishi Uni lead sample – that was 2.01mm.
The Koh-I-Noor lead is significantly off specification! It won’t fit even in the manufacturer’s own pencil – nor can the lead fit in standard KUM/Staedtler/Faber-Castell lead sharpeners (I have tried). It further creates complications in standard 2.0mm leadholders.
Though the colours are nice, I am very disappointed with this offering. Koh-I-Noor is a mainstay of drafting, drawing, and writing supplies that I admire, but it looks like the design department got the whole budget for these products, while engineering was neglected.
Staedtler Norica pencils
The Norica is one of Staedtler’s second tier brands. Apart from this page at Staedtler Thailand (which shows yet another Norica), I don’t find it officially mentioned by Staedtler.
We have here the (modern) 132 46 from Thailand, and the vintage 130 41 from Great Britain. Comments from a previous post indicate that there are even more variants out there!
In Canada, the modern Norica is sold at “big box” type stores. From a distance, one thinks it might be a Mars Lumograph (which one must presume is the intent), but it has a much lower price.
In HB, it has a crunchy, compacting dark lead, and is much higher quality than I would expect from a discount pencil.
The Great Britain Norica, in a B grade, offers a fainter lead than the Norica’s HB. It is also a nice pencil.
Comparing the two pencils reveals some interesting design contrasts. I think I prefer the older pencil.
Bruynzeel pencils
Bruynzeel is a Netherlands pencil and art supply brand, now owned by Sakura of Japan. A couple of years ago, we took a look at the Bruynzeel High Grade pencil. Today, we’ll look at three more pencils:
The Triple Grip is a triangular pencil, just slightly oversized. I like the shape and dark blue colouring quite a bit.
The design pencil 8615 is hexagonal, and finished in grey, with a black cap and red cap ring.
The design 8815 is round and has a natural finish, with black cap.
The two design pencils are also marked “Holland”.
The Bruynzeel name has a different font on each pencil. Maybe the name is considered distinct enough to not require consistent branding?
The two design pencils write quite nicely (much better than the High Grade), while the Triple Grip unfortunately is just average. I would say the 8815 stands out as another rare example of a high quality round pencil.
My thanks to blog reader Huib for sending me these pencils.