Any Good Wooden Pencils

[Josey]

Can anyone rec me a Blackwing-like carpenter pencil?

[risingsun]

Can anyone rec me a Blackwing-like carpenter pencil?

Some beauties here:

http://www.penciltalk.org/2009/04/carpenter-pencils

[setriode]

You people kill me. After reading some of the stuff you guys linked to on here I went over to JetPens and blew forty bucks on getting one pencil each in grades HB, 2B, and 4B of the Staedler Mars, Tombow Mono 100, Mitsubishi Hi-Uni, and a three pack of Mitsubishi Penmanship 4B's. I also picked up a blackwing long-point sharpener and some well reviewed erasers. Gah! You people are sucking me in to wood case pencils!

And you haven't even been to pencils.jp yet? Wait until you see the goodies they have.

[captain1796]

The Faber Castell pencils that have a cap with a clip and built in sharpener. Or I just found these all graphite pencils. No wood at all, so you don't get an issue with the point not being perfect. I think they are made by Dixon.

[Ricardo1962]

That's my review, my pencil, my hands and my drawing! Nice to know it's been helpful to others. A wonderful MP!

review of the Mitsubishi Pure Malt Oak Wood Premium Edition 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

 

As for wood case pencils, for general use I'm very fond of these,

http://pencils.com/product/forestchoice-2-graphite-pencils-12-pack/

 

Staedtler Mars Lumograph, Faber Castell 9000, Tombow Mono 100 and Mitsubishi Hi-Uni are among the best wood case pencils ever made. That's common sense among pencil aficionados.

 

I've been using these more often. I think they are superb,

http://apassionforpencils.com/product/graphite/cleos-red-graphite-pencils

 

There are others, way too many to list here. I would go for the ones I could easily obtain. I guess the Staedtler Mars Lumograph is available almost everywhere!

[risingsun]

That's my review, my pencil, my hands and my drawing! Nice to know it's been helpful to others. A wonderful MP!

 

Ricardo, your glowing review convinced me to order one of the Pure Malt Premium MP's yesterday... I hope I enjoy mine as much as you do yours.

[inkstainedruth]

I'm personally fond of lead holders (Berol Turquoise and Staedler-Mars). A single box of Berol leads lasted me for years (maybe a decade). I mostly use 2H, but they come in a variety of hardnesses (I think they go from something like 8H to 6 or 8B). I think you can maybe also get non-repro blue leads (or, at least, you used to be able to), and I've found lead pointers for as cheap as a buck on clearance.

I like them because you can get super sharp points; and you don't have a lot of waste. Plus, they're effectively click pencils, with clips so they're shirt pocket friendly. The holders tend to run about $5-6 US, and a box of leads about twice that, but will last and last (although admittedly you would probably go through the softer leads faster).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Edited July 20, 2014 by inkstainedruth

[laserlight]

That's my review, my pencil, my hands and my drawing! Nice to know it's been helpful to others. A wonderful MP!

review of the Mitsubishi Pure Malt Oak Wood Premium Edition 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

 

Thanks for enabling... though it is partly my fault. I resisted successfully after reading your review, but after suggesting it to andreasn, I succumbed and bought it on Rakuten. Nooo...

[Ricardo1962]

Ricardo, your glowing review convinced me to order one of the Pure Malt Premium MP's yesterday... I hope I enjoy mine as much as you do yours.

 

Hi there "risingsun",

If you're into MP's you will sure like it. These are becoming scarcer by the day, I have a couple others from the same series, including the now nearly impossible to find, 2.0mm clutch pencil.

After using the leads that came in my .5 I filled it up (6pcs) with pilot B leads. Uni nano dia in B are also very good, you should try them both.

[Ricardo1962]

 

Thanks for enabling... though it is partly my fault. I resisted successfully after reading your review, but after suggesting it to andreasn, I succumbed and bought it on Rakuten. Nooo...

Would be nice to know what you and "risingsung" think of it!

[Ricardo1962]

Also, the Pentel Sharp Kerry is a ...MUST! ...And the Pilot S20 (drafting pencil with fixed sleeve not pocket safe though), and... I'd better stop now!

[leicamaster]

+1 for the Palomino Blackwing 602. The Mitsubishi HiUni's are lovely as well, but terribly expensive. You also can't go wrong with stuff from Generals and Musgrave for the price...

[risingsun]

Ricardo, I've got some Pentel STEIN 0.5 leads in 2B and 4B that I'm looking forward to trying in the Pure Malt. I love a good, dark line from a MP.

 

Oh, and I have a dark blue Pentel Kerry in 0.7 that I don't use enough, but do appreciate the style and feel. A capped MP just makes sense to me as a FP user.

Edited July 20, 2014 by risingsun

[furious]

Vintage wooden pencils such as Dixon's Eldorado and Eagle Turquoise in F-3B grades are my favorites. Have them at both desks in a cup sharpened and ready to go.

[Ricardo1962]

Ricardo, I've got some Pentel STEIN 0.5 leads in 2B and 4B that I'm looking forward to trying in the Pure Malt. I love a good, dark line from a MP.

 

Oh, and I have a dark blue Pentel Kerry in 0.7 that I don't use enough, but do appreciate the style and feel. A capped MP just makes sense to me as a FP user.

I usually use B leads on my pocket pencils mostly because I can also get a darker line ( as with a 2B) by pressing a little harder. They don't break as easy as 2B's or 4B's. Pentel leads are very good, probably the best ones out there.

So, you have a Kerry. I have 4, all .5's, one in brown (71 edition) 2 in black and one in red loaded with red lead. Always carry one (black) with me, that or a Lamy 2000!

Edited July 20, 2014 by Ricardo1962

[Ricardo1962]

A few months ago I've sharpened an HB Castell 9000 manufactured by the American A.W. Faber, Inc. shortly after WWII using leads imported from Germany. These where made between 1946 and 1953. The most incredible thing is the (very) intense, wonderful incense cedar smell the wood releases! I have older pencils than these that I use, they all do their job flawlessly as if they where made yesterday!

I Don't know what will happen to my beloved FP's after I'll be pushing up daisies. My wooden pencils, well those will come with me, sort of speak!

[furious]

A few months ago I've sharpened an HB Castell 9000 manufactured by the American A.W. Faber, Inc. shortly after WWII using leads imported from Germany. These where made between 1946 and 1953. The most incredible thing is the (very) intense, wonderful incense cedar smell the wood releases! I have older pencils than these that I use, they all do their job flawlessly as if they where made yesterday!

I Don't know what will happen to my beloved FP's after I'll be pushing up daisies. My wooden pencils, well those will come with me, sort of speak!

Yes, the smell of a freshly sharpened vintage pencil is wonderful! Of course, the cedar used before WWII was of a different type, I.e. old growth, which cannot be duplicated today. And there is something special about the graphite too.

 

Personally, I take great pleasure in the fact that I can open an original box, select a pencil, sharpen, and use as it was intended so many decades ago. Just think the people who made them are long gone now!

 

I often think the same kind of things about my vintage fps.

Edited July 20, 2014 by furious

[Ricardo1962]

Yes, the smell of a freshly sharpened vintage pencil is wonderful! Of course, the cedar used before WWII was of a different type, I.e. old growth, which cannot be duplicated today. And there is something special about the graphite too.

 

Personally, I take great pleasure in the fact that I can open an original box, select a pencil, sharpen, and use as it was intended so many decades ago. Just think the people who made them are long gone now!

 

I often think the same kind of things about my vintage fps.

Totally agree with you!

Some of the best graphite ever found was used back then, it came from somewhere in Russia/Siberia. Those mines where exhausted a long time ago. The most important brands used it in their pencils, that is why they are so special. This doesn't mean todays graphite is of inferior quality. For instance, manufacturers came up with some innovative processes that allowed grades Like 10B or even 10H. That would probably be impossible to make in the "old days".

[laserlight]

Would be nice to know what you and "risingsung" think of it!

 

My Suntory Yamazaki Pure Malt whisky in an oak barrel, I mean Mitsubishi Pure Malt Oak Wood Premium Edition 0.5mm mechanical pencil has not arrived yet.

[tinysnail]

I've always liked Dixon Ticonderoga (dark, but a little too smudgy sometimes) and the Canadian Staedtler Norica (I find it less dark compared to Dixon but breaks less and is less smudgy; apparently it is a Canadian thing? there's a review here that shows what it looks like http://apenchantforpaper.blogspot.ca/2013/01/pencil-review-staedtler-norica-hb.html). Both affordable as hell.