Pencils

[Diamondback]

I'm rusty on AutoCAD and OK on SketchUp, but really need to start looking for something like SolidWorks. Should we take this to PM?

 

[panamag8or]

Well, this thread made me go dig in the storage hell, and I found 2 boxes of A.W. Faber Castells. One box has 4 dozen #9000 2H pencils in little tins; a dozen per tin, still price tagged at $5.50/dozen. The other has some slightly newer #9000 H pencils... 6 tins of 12. They are all eraserless pencils, though.

I didn't know about the blackwings, but the next time I'm rooting through my grandmother's garage, I will definitely look out for those.

Edited to add: The box with 4 dozen seems to date from 1952, and the other box is most likely from the early-mid 60's.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Lietz sharpener (they're called "lead pointers"?) and Pickett lead holder. I took a semester of drafting in my freshman year in high school (1977). The instructor must have been in the market for a new set-up, because at the end of the semester he gave these to me. His name and SS# are etched onto the bottom. More of that crinkle finsh I love.

Lee

I remember these well because my accountant dad had one in his office at home and had them at the office for everyone who worked for him as well. Sometime between late 70's & mid 80's, they'd all switched over to the Pentel .5 mm mechanicals. I've still got one of the lead pointer sets and loads of various versions of the mechanical pencils. Used to have a .7mm with red lead and the .5 mm regular lead for making notes & cross reference keys in ledgers and worksheets.

 

[John K Stetson]

Damascus and Wikipedia History

This reminded me of a box I found recently, which contained a lot of my college engineering drawing kit. Turns out I have several boxes (a few still shrink wrapped)
of Damascus Drawing Pencils (Richard Best Pencil Company, Springfield, NJ) in
a few different hardness levels.

I don't consider wikipedia an authoratative source, but there's some interesting lore here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

 

[MrBern]

blackwing 602 pencil

Eberhard Faber Blackwings! Again, this is why we love the Lounge! Thanks, Bern! I believe the family that made these in Germany are wealthy nobility and own a very spectacular castle. So they're not made any more? They were really like Mercedes Benz pencils. It was just a pleasure to hold them in your hand. The black paint was gorgeous, the lead was soft and smooth but didn't smudge. My grandmother used them till they were nubbins.

Dan,
heres a more recent review of the Blackwing pencil. Seems they are going for about $40 on ebay.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/14/review-of-35-blackwi.html

 

[MikeBravo]

Pencils rock

I use a pencil at work rather than pens like everybody else does. The notes don't need to be permanent and I think it's more environmentally responsible.

A bit of wood and some mud, readily biodegradable. Goes out with the organic rubbish after being broken down already rather shipped to a recycling plant.

Mechanicals? Pretty cool. Prefer 0.7mm, gives more line options. Mind you, it's just sketching for pleasure

 

[mwelch8404]

Y'all just made me remember a Space Race anecdote.

The problem: how to write in zero-g? A regular ballpoint won't work, needs gravity to feed the ink.

NASA spends umpteen million dollars to develop the famous Fisher Space pen, an elegantly engineered (overengineered, some say) solution to the problem.

The Russians? Just used pencils instead.

Just struck me as related and humorous.

Nope.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

 

[ShooShooBaby]

i mostly use pencils when i'm in math class. i'm at the point of the quarter where my favorite mechanical is lost somewhere in my messy bedroom, so i'm switching off between a lower quality mechanical, and one made out of recycled dollars that my uncle gave me a few years ago. i'm one of those lefties who drags her hand across the page as she writes, so to be honest most pencils drive me a little nuts. i use a Hello Kitty sharpener shaped like a little house

 

[~*Red*~]

This thread makes me happy

I love pencils, even though I hardly use them. And I can't wait until we finally get a house to stay in and I can put up an old fashioned pencil sharpener. I have a crazy love for all things for the office... particularly pens and pencils.
I miss the old stationary stores that you could walk into to find that exact pen or pencil you needed, and test them all out. Now it's just crappy office depot.

Please show more of your fabulous pencils! (and sharpeners! That WWII one is fabulous!)

 

[zaika]

All these mentions of mechanical pencils reminded me of one that I have in the family archives:

That belonged to my great grandmother, Hattie M. Lewis. Here's how the pencil tucks into the book:

the rendering of her name is spectacular!!! as an aspiring calligrapher, i'm in awe.

as for pencils...i use a mechanical pencil at work. i like the way it glides across my paperwork. ball points feel like i'm ripping the paper. maybe i press too hard? [huh]

i still remember the smell of freshly sharpened pencils from my school days. i loved standing at that sharpener, finding the perfect sized hole for my pencil (it was just a habit i had of not following what was in front of me, even if it was right. lol), wasting time while i slowly sharpened my pencil and daydreamed. lol

 

[invention13]

A Rotring 600 mechanical pencil (unfortunately no longer produced). Solid brass and a beautiful feel.

I alternate between this and a Pelikan M800 fountain pen.

The results of a long quest....

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

a Pelikan M800 fountain pen.

The "Stresemann" (morning dress trousers) design, green stripes? I always found that appealing.

 

[Luddite]

I too have recently abandoned the mechanical pencils I have been using for so many years and gone over to total fountain pen use. Mrs. L, however, is a serious pencil user, preferring Ticonderoga yellow pencils over all others.

The mention of Eberhardt Faber takes me right back to my father's office - he used nothing but green and black striped E. F. indelible pencils. I think ink was not permanent in the presence of darkroom chemicals.

I'm pretty sure I have a box full of turn-of-the-century bridge and dance card pencils somewhere, I know I have a beautiful box of similarly-aged Koh-I-Noor replacement leads; I'll have a fossick in the collection and post some pictures later.

There's nothing like the smell of a freshly-opened box of pencils!

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

Sad Day for Dixon Ticonderoga #2

A sad note on the Dixon Ticonderoga #2;
I have always fought for the use of Ticonderoga pencils in the county government I work in. Purchasing agents, who have no use for a pencil, always purchased the most inexpensive pencils they could, to save a few cents on the bottom line. I now purchase them from my budget, not under their control. I just purchased two dozen at our local Staples, and noticed a change in the boxes but did not take the time to read the fine print. Upon returning to my office I read the box carefully and to my disgust found “Made in China” at the very bottom. A tradition since 1795, gone the way of Levis, Arrow shirts and Lionel Trains.

 

[Miss 1929]

Ahoy

I love my 1930s RMS Queen Mary mechanical pencil! Came with lots of leads in it, and I hope I will be able to find the same size when they are gone.

 

[MrBern]

The new Blackwings

Eberhard Faber Blackwings! Again, this is why we love the Lounge! Thanks, Bern! I believe the family that made these in Germany are wealthy nobility and own a very spectacular castle. So they're not made any more? They were really like Mercedes Benz pencils. It was just a pleasure to hold them in your hand. The black paint was gorgeous, the lead was soft and smooth but didn't smudge. My grandmother used them till they were nubbins.

Dan,
theres a new company taking up the mantle of producing Blackwings!
And BTW, Im happy to see that its an American company.
Heres a review of the prototypes!
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/27/first-impression-of.html

 

[MrBern]

I take it back:

Cal Cedar produces a growing range of pencils for our OEM and Private Label customers in our Propen facility in Laem Chabang, Thailand.

 

[MrBern]

pencil

Pencils.com confirms that it will be releasing the new Blackwing soon.
And notes that Stephen Sondheim preferred the blackwing:

http://www.pencils.com/blog/best-pencil-world-joseph-finder

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

I Love Pencils

I use them all the time to sketch and to write. I teach art so I always have a box of dixon Ticonderoga #2. Because the cheap pencils have leads that break inside and the kids sharpen em down to nothing in minute a total waste of money. I am not a big fan of the mechanical pencils as I always am too heavy handed with them and break off of the leads and I think they are worthless for most shading. I also provide the faber castel in a range of hard and soft leads for more advanced drawing projects for my students.
I also have lots of pencils at home for my 3rd grader and his home work as well as for copying patterns so I don't destroy the originals.

I like pencils because they don't assume you will be perfect. Erasers are my friends too.

 

[James71]

I use pencils every day, for three different purposes.

At work I am a water quality analyst which requires me to make notes while scanning thousands of data points. I tend to use either a mechanical pencil with a 7mm lead for that or one of those standard staedler black and red pencils that are standard issue in govt depts. I write left handed so I tend to mouse with my right and write without looking with my left. I then translate those notes into reports and directives in word and excel.

For a while they were issuing horrible rubbery non-wooden pencils that always had broken leads in them, or useless paper pencils made out of old chinese newsprint wrapped tightly around the leads.

When I am sketching and drawing for pleasure I use faber castel leads in various grades, and a set of their excellent colour pencils in the tin.

When I am writing songs I use whatever is to hand when something comes to me, but most of the time its a staedler pencil.

Everything but the mechanical pencil is sharpened with my pocket knife.