Any Good Wooden Pencils

[alarickc]

I put up a review down in the FP review section of a number of HB/#2 pencils. In the under $5/dozen I recommend the Staedtler Rally. If your willing to go to the $1 a pencil range the Mars Lumograph by Staedtler is excellent. And finally, if your willing to go for broke, at around $2 a pencil the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni and the Tombow Mono 100 are both unbelievably fantastic. I recommend the Uni if you want the absolute smoothest pencil and the Mono if you want a touch of feedback without it being appreciably less smooth.

[AllenG]

I have 2 boxes of Palomino pencils, one Blackwing, the other is Golden Bear. Of the two I like the Golden Bears better.

They smell good. I don't know what it is about them but they smell like a sharpened pencil should. It is one of those distinct smells that had etched itself into my memory since my earliest school days. Golden Bear pencils have that smell in spades.

[merlinsfv]

Used to like Ticonderogas and Eagle Miradas, but now they're just another offshore pencil in fancy dress. +1 for Derwent, Rexel, General and staedtler. Utrecht art has dome very nice pencils in many grades. Staples has a really nice black Staedtler in boxes of 36 on sale. They're very smooth and remind me of vintage blackwings. And they come presharpened !

[aawhite]

I love this topic. Half of all my writing is with (wooden) pencils.

 

I mostly use Koh-I-Noor 1500 (2B and 4B), Ticonderoga #2 and Mitsubishi 9800 (B and 2B).

 

The Mitsubishi is not as famous but I highly recommend it.

Edited July 26, 2014 by aawhite

[Ricardo1962]

Forgot to mention this one, a lovely wooden mechanical pencil handcrafted in Japan, the elusive Takumi Macinari! If the information I got it's true, the production run on these is only 100 pieces a month in 5 different woods, half being ball points. This makes 50 pencils a month, 600 a year! Mine is made of Walnut wood (Juglans nigra).

 

 

Better views of these pencils here, http://www.blift.de/main.php?g2_itemId=361

 

R.

[LWJ2]

I buy a half-gross package of #2s from Staples every few years. I usually use my Pelikan 0.5mm mechanical pencil with HB leads for writing and thumbnail sketching, the wooden ones get used in the shop to mark stuff and usually sharpened with a chisel or run across the sander. I'm barbaric that way.

 

When I worked in graphic arts we used the Staedler lead holders with whatever hardness leads the job required, pointing them with a Staedler or Alvin sharpener.

[Type 34]

Forgot to mention this one, a lovely wooden mechanical pencil handcrafted in Japan, the elusive Takumi Macinari! If the information I got it's true, the production run on these is only 100 pieces a month in 5 different woods, half being ball points. This makes 50 pencils a month, 600 a year! Mine is made of Walnut wood (Juglans nigra).

 

 

Better views of these pencils here, http://www.blift.de/main.php?g2_itemId=361

 

R.

Hi All

 

Can anyone help me buy a Macinari PENCIL ?

 

I'm a pencil person I just can't find a seller of these pencils I'm told there are some still out there.

 

Please help..

[rogerb]

I haven't bought a wooden pencil for many, many years, but used to use Pentel 0.5mm clutch pencils.

 

I was sent some Field Notes pencils along with some of my subscription notebooks a coupla years ago, and these have proved nice to sharpen and write with (about HB grade leads).

 

There's a certain pleasure in getting a nice point on a wooden pencil, with a very sharp pen-knife, I find

[Zookie]

I have a large stash of Dixon's Eldorado pencils that I use. I'd like to try some Chung Hwa pencils.

[RLTodd]

I find the Ticonderoga #3 to be satisfactory for my needs.

 

IMHO, they are no where as good as they used to be, but they are good enough.

The people who now own the name have them made in Mexico and China according to the boxes of #3 and #2 I have in the cupboard.

 

I sprang for a box of Palomino Blackwing 602 pencils. They are nice, but too soft for me.

[penrivers]

I hope you like this :

 

[ParkersAndPaper]

They aren't what they used to be when made in the USA, but I use Dixon Ticonderoga.

 

Watch where they are made. Chinese models are better than those made in Mexico.

[ParkersAndPaper]

They aren't what they used to be when made in the USA, but I use Dixon Ticonderoga #2.

 

Watch where they are made. Chinese models are better than those made in Mexico.

[NedC]

My current favourite drawing pencils are the Caran d'Ache Grafwood 775s. Very consistent hardness headings, and compatible with those of the Faber-Castell 9000, and a slightly oversized body that's a bit thicker in diameter than a standard pencil but not jumbo sized. They are hexagonal and have a lovely finish that ranges from light silver for the 4H to jet black for the 9B.

[Type 34]

Does any one know where I can get a Macinari Wooden Mechanical Pencil??? Please help>>>>>>>>>>>

[Cryptos]

I've been toying with the idea of practicing letter forms using a pencil. I have a Pilot S20, which is a beautiful thing indeed, but I am beginning to think that I really need a lead holder (2mm) or some real pencils. I also have a Worther stubby but it is way too short for letter work.

 

Problem is that pencils are very limited here. I can get a box of Tombow Mono 100 for about $20 including shipping from Japan. The Ticonderoga, Blackwing, Rexel and Derwent options are more problematic, not least due to uncertainty of the product when buying unseen.

 

On the lead holder front I do like a little aesthetics but not essential I suppose. I was looking at the Kohinoor Notebook pencil until I read how short it really is. Not sure why they did that. I guess I'll have to go down the Staedtler route as other options are far too pricey (Caran d'Ache, I'm looking at you!).

 

Anyone else got any suggestions?

[Ricardo1962]

Forgot to mention this one, a lovely wooden mechanical pencil handcrafted in Japan, the elusive Takumi Macinari! If the information I got it's true, the production run on these is only 100 pieces a month in 5 different woods, half being ball points. This makes 50 pencils a month, 600 a year! Mine is made of Walnut wood (Juglans nigra).

 

Here's a picture of a Takumi Macinari (BP version) in juglans nigra (walnut wood). Read somewhere that the push button (not visible in the picture), the pocket clip and the nose piece are made of ebony wood. Not sure about that though. The letters on the barrel are etched.

Just wanted to show how the wood on the pencil I own actually looks.

 

 

R.

[vjackso2]

I concur with a number of posts... Dixon Ticonderoga... I'm partial to the Black Edition. Top quality wood is easily sharpened, nice dark line, and a solid eraser. All I use for class.

[Ricardo1962]

I'll have to go down the Staedtler route as other options are far too pricey (Caran d'Ache, I'm looking at you!).

 

Anyone else got any suggestions?

 

Caran d'Ache and Staedtler leadholders are very nice. The Koh-I-Noor Toison D'or 5900 is also very good. It's ALL metal and the cheapest of the three. The Faber-Castell TK-4600 is a good option too.

If I had to choose one I would pick a C d'A without hesitation. Note that with the exception of the C d'A Fixpencil 77 the other two 2.0mm models (Fixpencil 22, Fixpencil 884) take shorter leads.

R.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Ricardo1962

[Algester]

Pilot Legno and the Pilot S20... wooden... next would be those elusive blackwings but they can't be found in my country