Greetings from the Offices of Pencil Revolution, after a year and a half’s time. Apologies that comments have not been moderated since the summer of 2006. There are still several thousand of combined spam and comments to be trudged through, one of these days. There was a lot of dust when we checked in — and many comments that lead us to suspect that there are some things that need to be clarified.

We never sold anything or made pencils. We certainly wish we could take credit for crafting things like Palominos, Forest Choice and Dixons. There were a lot of requests for information about California Republic (Palomino) products and many nice comments about the same. We would direct you to Woodchuck for all praises , which he deserves for making such a wonderful pencil, and also for questions, which he will be able to answer.

We never took money from anyone and never made any money on the site. Pencils sales and shops probably spiked a bit (who knows?) as a result of the Revolution, but we never accepted money for this. No one was paid for reviews. If we were, comments about these reviews which might have been negative would never have been allowed, which they were.

Rude, mean, offensive and insulting comments will never be published, even if we stop by more than once a year and a half to check on things. You’re wasting your time and not making anybody laugh if you post the “you guys suck” comment. Poorly written accusations of gross commercialism, untrue claims that this was a money-making scheme and questions about the rigor of our research will also pass the spam filter.

Anyway, the contact link was taken down because, frankly, I could not keep up with writing back to folks, answering questions, researching problems, etc. It became a full-time job, which I could not handle with a cross-country move and a doctoral dissertation to write beginning in 2006. I am very sorry to lessen contributions from talented people, but the multiple hours a day that running this site required just became impossible to maintain as something fun on the side.

If you are still seeking new pencil adventures, Notebookism does, from time to time, post pencil related articles and always has something interesting to read.

We will continue to host the site for the foreseeable future. However, it would be cruel to suggest that normal posting will resume any time soon. Perhaps one day…

Yours in the spirit of Revolution,

Your Editor.

From the same fountain of awesomeness that brought you Moleskinerie, we are happy to spread the word about Notebookism.

We all share a pleasant affliction - the urge to create on paper.

The smell of smooth creamy paper sends our hearts aflutter. The delicate tinkling of nib against inkwell accelerates our pulse rate. We stare endlessly at the first blank page.

Welcome to Notebookism. This is the place to indulge yourself with kindred spirits.

[Image, Notebookism.]

One of the implicit goals of Pencil Revolution was to change the way that people think about pencils and to win the humble pencil back its place with gel pens, fountain pens and computers. This goal became explicit over time, and was coupled with the project of creating enough buzz that pencil manufacturers would take notice and [re]introduce quality pencils like the old days.

We think it might be boasting a bit — but might also still be true, nonetheless — to claim that we have had some success. But perhaps the popularity of pencils like the Palomino that you heard about here first and the increasing availablity of gear like KUM sharpeners and Don’s Pencil Things attest to a least a moderate degree of change in people’s perception of the pencil.

But, someone asked, “Is the Revolution over?”

Is a revolution over when it has achieved its goals? Maybe it shouldn’t be, since there is always more to accomplish and always accomplishments to defend. But posting will nonetheless lose much of its frequency (as it has this summer), due to a major [physical] relocation of our editor and some other reasons. But we’re still here.

Infinite thanks to all Comrades who keep the fighting the good fight, in the studios, coffeeshops, pencil-blogs and trenches. Pencil Revolution never would have lasted this long without you.

This piece is by Matt Downey, a student of music and pencils.
I love pencils. All kinds of pencils. I have a weird love of graphite and gel ink. I carry untold numbers of implements with me at all times. I know that it is explained via OCD, but I feel I must have a source of graphite with me. I am a Music Composition major at a SUNY (State University of New York).  I just finished my freshman year. At the bookstore on campus there are few implement choices. Sharpwriters, Matics, and overpriced Pentels. The woodcased pencils are not worth mentioning except the overpriced art pencils such as Turquoise which are in another section of the store entirely. When comparing the Pentels to the Papermates and the Bics, $5 gets you one of the former and ten of the latter two. Among music students I have observed that the Matic is the choice most often made. Twenty years ago the allegiance would have been given without question to the Mongol. To Sanford a cry of “bring it back,” along with the Blackwing is futile but heartfelt.

Technical Data.
Material: Plastic.
Core: .07mm.
Point: Plastic fixed needle.
Eraser: White vinyl.
Markings: “BIC (w/mascot) Pencil .07mm #2” on clip.
Origins: Varies. I’ve seen China, USA and France.
Availability: Office supply stores, CVS and anywhere BIC writing products are sold.

All right, it’s confession time. I learned to write with a Mongol and a Matic back about 13 to 14 years ago. Matics are a sentimental favorite of mine for that reason. This has not prevented me from abandoning them in favor of Pentels (wish I still had that P205) but I have always come back to it because of its merits:

1.Solid tip: Although plastic, it is not flimsy as the Papermates. Also I fear every other mechanical pencil in this price range I have tried has felt like it was not worth buying. This feels solid.

2.Balance: It is similar to a woodcase without an eraser if you remove the clip as shown in the photo.

3.Eraser: White vinyl and soft. It erases better than a standard Dixon. From the point of view of people at my school that is the deciding factor. The Papermate has the same thing they put on the American, which is an abomination. Now the Pentels, which are ten times the price, have better erasers, but no one wants to spend $5 dollars on a pencil that Staples gives in three packs for the same price. So the eraser is great, and is the reason many people buy this cheap item.

Cosmetically, it looks like Bic’s Cristal pens, except it comes with a colored clip. It is inexpensive and writes well.

Now after the reviewing is done I will throw in my biases.

I like dark lines and smooth writing. My favorite woodcase pencils are: Palomino (check out Timberlines 6/20/06), Forest Choice, and I just got some Mongols with which I relive school days. On the Mechie trail, I favor various Pentels .05mm equipped with .05mm/2B lead.  The only things I do with Matic pencils is break off the clip (OCD) and switch to Pentel HB lead which I think is slightly smoother. This pencil is also available in .05mm but I haven’t seen any in the bookstore for some time and don’t have any to review.

Conclusion: A good buy for general purpose. A must have for pencil lovers as they are of a high quality and cheap. To me there is something important about having samples of both types of pencils, regardless of which one garners more use. In my case I sketch (music) with wood and score (make the sketches the piece envisioned) with mechanical. Why? My handwriting is horrible and scores need all the legibility I can muster. Uniformity in point helps with that. For a sketch, which is to say the creation of the piece, wood seems best. I am an equal opportunity pencil freak, and I recommend that you check out a Matic without delay.
[Images and text, M.D.  Used with very kind permission.]

Dandelion Wine is a whole lot of summer in less than two hundred pages. It tells the story of young Douglas Spaulding, who lives in Green Town, Illinois. At the beginning of one summer, he and his brother decide to record the things they do in the summer, in order to keep track off the regular activites and experiences of children during that season — from buying a new pair of tennis shoes, to making dandelion wine — whose taste brings a bit of summer to even the longest and most dreary of winters and coldest of hearts.

Just why this little novel by Ray Bradbury is of interest to Comrades and Pencil People lies in lines like these:

He brought out a yellow nickel tablet. He brought out a yellow Ticonderoga pencil. He opened the tablet. He licked the pencil.

Douglas licked the yellow Ticonderoga pencil whose name he dearly loved.

For, you see, the main character’s pencil of choice is the Ticonderoga. Pencils figure strongly in this little book of wonder, even near the end of the story and the end of summer:

And then, quite suddenly, summer was over.
He knew it first while walking downtown. Tom grabbed his arm and pointed gasping, at the dime-store window. They stood there, unable to move because of the things from another world displayed so neatly, so innocently, so frighteningly, there.
“Pencils, Doug, ten thousand pencils!”
“Oh, my gosh!”
“Nickel tablets, dime tablets, notebooks, erasers, water colors, rulers, compasses, a hundred thousand of them!”
“Don’t look. Maybe it’s just a mirage.”

Dandelion Wine is a splendid read for anyone who remembers being a child in the summer and all of the little things we all did to stay cool and not bored — or for those who want to remember.

[Images, J.G. Special thanks to Matt Le Claire who recommended this book in a comment on Tom’s review of the Ticonderoda.]

Comrade Carol sent us in some very fine pencil drawings, which we post here with permission of and thanks to the artist:)

At Navy Pier in Chicago, there is a bronze statue of Oak Park native Bob Newhart.  What is special is that he is holding a pencil:)

[Images, J.G.  Used with my own not-so-kind permission.]

Jeremy from Loud Style has caught the pencil blog even more than the last time we checked in.

My little collection has grown quite a bit in the past six months. Since my last blog post about pencils is the most visited page on this site (after the homepage of course), I decided to write about them again.

My favorite pencils are often the natural, unpainted variety of incense cedar pencils. A nice coat of varnish is fine — completely bare is even better. The details and my opinions of the pencils pictured are below.

Read on about natural pencils such as the Blackfeet Indian, Musgrave, Forest Choice, Mongol and more!

Once again, comments will go unmoderated, and email will be on hold until I return home late Tuesday night from my trip. Apologies for tardiness (again).

[Image and text, L.S. Used with permission.]

From Comrade Ashley:

Here attached are some photos of a new use for short, stubby pencils. Office Depot sells thin, plastic Mead brand index card cases. They hold 50 cards. I’ve discovered that they can also hold a small pencil — the ones I don’t use because they’ve gotten too short, but are still functional. Moreover, a few index cards can be secured to the outside of the case with a rubber band, a la expensive Levenger index card holders!

Vive la Revolucion!

Many thanks to Ashley, a truly dedicated Revolutionary:)

[Text and image, A.M.  Used with kind permission.]

Finally, another sharpener review! This piece is courtesy of our good friend and pencil champion Woodchuck.

KUM and California Republic Stationers have collaborated to introduce a special edition Palomino Long Point Sharpener. This is an adaptation of the premium “Automatic” Long Point sharpener from KUM that features a two step process to acheiving a perfect point. The first step sharpens just the wood leaving the graphite core mostly untouched for step two; sharpening the graphite core to a fine even point. Normally available in a translucent red finish this special edition is translucent orange to complement the Palomino graphite pencil range.

Type: Dual 8mm holes - to sharpen regularly-sized pencils in two steps.
Blade Material: 2 Steel blades (plus 2 replacement blades included).
Shavings Receptacle: Translucent orange plastic with clear plastic hinged lid; oval profile.
Point Type: Long Point (approx 2.3cm from sharpend pencil point to lacquer coat 0.5cm exposed graphite core).
Markings: “Palomino California Republic Stationers” is imprinted in gold on side of the sharpener; “KUM Automatic Long Point” appears on the clear lid with “Made in Germany” on the bottom.
Physical Size: Approximately 2 1/2 inches long X 1 1/2 wide X 1 inch high.
Availability: Palomino Limited Edition through Pencil World Creativity Store; standard KUM Automatic online at Pencilthings.com, Dick Blick and art and office supply stores.

Prior to being exposed to this two-step sharpener I was a devotee of the KUM metal wedge sharpeners favoring either the magnesium two hole or a block type one hole sharpener. I have several varieties of these, both with and without various container formats. I’ve even gone so far as to string a two hole magnesium wedge sharpener to a lanyard for use during fishing trips. I still enjoy the range of magnesium wedge sharpeners for the simplicity, and the clean, short points when I’m using a Golden Bear or Prospector around the house or office.

However, I’ll no longer touch my Palominos with anything but this Long Point sharpener. It provides a fine, crisp point that lasts longer between sharpenings than the wedge point. The feel and performance when writing or sketching is just great. While it does take a bit more care to protect the sharper point for the first few minutes of use than the more blunt wedge shape of other sharpeners, it’s worth the effort. This sharpener also makes the pencil look so much more of a premium product, much better than our initial factory sharpening which does the best job we can do without hand sharpening and creating a higher risk of damage during shipment. If I could find a way to provide the Palominos with this quality point straight from the factory without any damage I’d do it in a minute.

Each sharpener comes with two spare blades and a cardboard case with operating instructions on the two-step sharpening process. The blades are interchangeable, as it’s the design and precision milling of the light magnesium alloy that positions the pencil relative to the blade to achieve a perfect pencil point. The screw-mounted blades are held absolutely immovable, do not loosen, and the pencil does not wobble while turning. Since you’re sharpening the graphite alone in the second step, you can get to a great point purely by feel as you can really sense the lighter resistance of the graphite on the steel blade.

One thing I still don’t quite understand is the name “Automatic”. Though it was explained to me as something to do with the autostop feature so that the 1st step of sharpening the wood alone does not oversharpen the pencil, it seems to me this is really a manual sharpener. Thus the “Automatic” terminology seems a bit out of place, and for our purposes we have dropped the Automatic name from our eBay listing.

KUM produces two standard styles. A red version which is just the same as this Palomino limited edition and blue version which adds a 0.5mm mechanical lead pointer to one side. Both are available through PencilThings.com and other places online.

As far as this special edition Palomino Long Point version is concerned I was first introduced to this sharpener back in January at the Frankfurt PaperWorld fair during a meeting with KUM Owner and Managing Director Fritz Luettgens. I knew immediately I had to pair it with our Palomino pencils to ensure our users had the opportunity to experience the best sharpened point in the world with our fine quality pencils. The whole group at KUM was great to work with and patiently created a series of color variations until we got just what we wanted, a nice translucent orange with our gold California Republic Palomino imprint on one side.

[Images and text, Woodchuck.  Used with very kind permission.]

We have been remiss to not have mentioned our friend Armand’s divine source of all things paper, including Moleskine notebooks and Palomino pencils: Paperitif — Written and Stirred.

At Paperitif, you can find fantastic gift sets ranging from gardening to travel and fly-fishing:

Paperitif.com is a new company based in Lake Villa, Illinois, USA offering distinctive gift sets featuring the best materials for writers, graphic artists, journal keepers, musicians and other professionals and hobbyists. At Paperitif, we believe that its “always better on paper” and invite you to rediscover the joys of text; the handwritten kind, that is. Yes, we’ve got the materials! Just add personality.

Stop on over, and enjoy Armand’s wonderful photos and the opportunity to treat yourself or a lucky recipient to a beautiful gift.

[Images, A.F.  Used with very kind permission.]

It has been a long time since we posted a review of a pencil, and that is one of the purposes this site was meant to serve when I started it. Among the pencils that keep popping up on the list of what Comrades would like to see reviewed is the Mirado Black Warrior, the pencil which will lead the charge in this resolution to a more consistent program of posting reviews.

Material: California Incense Cedar.
Shape: Round.
Finish: Glossy black with gold lettering.
Ferrule: Red-banded brass.
Eraser: Genuine Pink Pearl.
Core: Waxed-ceramic/graphite composite. Available in #1/B, #2/HB, #2.5/F, #3/H.
Markings: “USA/Mirado Black Warrior/HB/[two hearts].”
Packaging: Varies from open-stock, to packs of eight or ten, to boxes of a dozen.
Origin: Made in Lewisburg, Tennessee, United States by the Sanford Corporation.
Availability: Widely available in office supply stores, art supply stores, university bookstores, department stores and online.

What the Mirado Black Warrior has over other pencils that are as widely available is that it is obviously of a higher quality. It is not nicer than the Mirado Classic, but the latter’s yellow color does little to set it apart from cheapos you might find discarded on the sidewalk. The Black Warrior, with it’s black finish, banded brass ferrule and rounded shape, stands out among American pencils when on a desk or sticking out of a shirt pocket.

The obviousness of its quality does not end with the appearance. PaperMate bills the Mirado pencils as the smoothest writing pencils in the world. While that is certainly a matter for debate, the core of the Mirado is smooth, due to being impregnated with wax. This has its ups and downs. On the bright side, you get the above-mentioned smoothness and a superior strength of point that resists breakage and lasts long between sharpenings. On the not-so-bright side, the ultra-smoothness has the price of leaving a very faint line, even for an HB pencil. As a partial remedy, you could try the #1/B grade, which maintains the legendary smoothness and generates a darkness of line that runs a little darker than a Dixon #2/HB. Personally, I prefer this grade for writing and the HB for underlining and marginalia in books.

There is debate over whether “rough” erasers like the Pink Pearl damage paper too much compared with something like the Staedtler Mars plastic eraser. With the pumice in the Pink Pearl, this may very well be the case, and I would never use one on watercolor paper or the like. But that is not the purpose of the Pink Pearl or the Mirado. While one can certainly sketch away with a Black Warrior (and I have attended boring lectures where people did just that), the primary purpose of Mirado pencils is writing. A new Mirado with a semi-soft Pink Pearl will not burn holes through the pages you write on. It might remove a small layer, but only an overly heavy hand or inferior paper will cause ruin for pages of writing with a Pink Pearl. If one is concerned about the microscopic flaws such a rough eraser might cause on writing paper, one might not like a Mirado. Not caring about that myself, I prefer the eraser on Mirado pencils to the eraser on any other Sanford pencil, by far. The eraser does what it should do, while managing to last far longer than softer erasers. They are a bit on the messy side, but no one said this Revolution was going to be a tidy one.

Writing with a Black Warrior is a new experience for someone used to hexagonal pencils. With the glossy finish, even only slightly damp hands make getting a good grip a bit difficult. On the other hand, the round shape allows for holding the pencil in different positions, and I imagine that Comrades who have had the corners of a pencil embedded into fingers will appreciate the gentler shape of the Black Warrior. They fall right off the desk, so angle them carefully.

Of course, the Black Warrior smells heavenly because of its cedar construction, and sharpening a rounded wooden pencil is a breeze with any quality sharpener. And there are always some times that a very sharp and light-marking pencil is exactly the tool for the job, such as writing in precious LOA volumes. Still, with the softest grade, one can enjoy the smoothness and the darkness of a fine American pencil. Considering their relatively inexpensive price tag, wide availability and impressive quality, the Black Warrior is a formidable tool to have in a Comrade’s graphite arsenal.

[Text and images, J.G.]

Comrades, Pencil Revolution will take a short break this week, until later this week.  I am doing some travelling until late Wednesday.  So please excuse lateness in returning messages and in moderating comments until at least that time.  Have an excellent week!

We are happy to be able to post some work from artist Graham McArthur from Australia, along with an essay on pencils:

For as long as I can remember I have loved to write and draw and for as long as I can remeber the pencil has always remained my first choice for both writing and drawing.

There is nothing like a good pencil, and I can’t think of a more versatile, immediate or interesting medium. Being so universally familar and easy to use makes the pencil the most immediately accesible tool for most people. Used mainly as a linear writing or drawing instrument, the graphite pencil is very much at ease creating tone and textural effects as well as implied colour. It is these properties in particular that interest me the most. The availability and range of pencils seen today makes the medium more attractive than ever before providing unlimited potential for an open mind and inventive imagination.There is great joy to be had in spending endles hours gently persuading the pencil to leave its silky grey tones on delicious paper. The implied colour of graphite can be enhanced with a restrained use of a single coloured pencil creating a sense of mystery and inviting the imagination of the viewer to create more implied colours in the mind’s eye.

As a semi-retired illustrator my work these days is just for fun and self indulgence. I no longer try to please the client or the unknown viewer. I still like to paint and to experiment with a variety of media. However, without the restraints placed on me by the brief, I find that I am being drawn more and more to the simple but incredibly and wonderfully expressive nature of the most versitile medium of them all. Long live the pencil.

Many thanks to Graham, whose blog — featuring lots of great artwork — you can check out at Eidolon.

[Image and text, G.M. Used with kind permission.]

We received this message, which we quote here with permission:

I’m an executive producer and run a London based production company called Academy Films.

I am presently in Toronto about to shoot a Nokia TV commercial w/c 29th May.  We need a pen spinner to spin a Nokia mobile phone in the advert, and I have found you on the internet.  Do you think you might be interested?  The shoot takes place in Toronto and the pen spinner would be required from around the 29th May to the 2nd June.  We would pay for return business class flights to Toronto, accommodation and some spending money.  We would also pay a fee for appearing in the commercial.

Please let me know if you are interested or might know of others that might be.

Thank you very much.

Kind regards,

Sally Campbell

You can reach Ms. Campbell by email (don’t forget to change the symbols): sally.campbellATacademyfilmsDOTcom.

Dave sent us this post about his experience with Staedtler’s great customer service:

It’s fair to say that my emails to customer services at various pencil companies have produced a fairly consistent response. That is, deafening silence, no response whatsoever. But there is one exception to that rule, namely Staedtler. Both German HQ and their Australian subsidiary have promptly replied to my enquiries. Staedtler Australia even airmailed me their CD “Facts about Pencils” in response to a simple enquiry, and the covering note was personally signed by the CEO, so they obviously take customer relations very seriously.

It looks to me like their CD “Facts about Pencils” is aimed at children around the 8 to 10 year old age bracket. It opens with the question “Have you ever wondered where your pencil comes from?” accompanied by the raucous sounds of the Australian bush and a friendly cartoon kangaroo and koala bear. Then 5 short movies take you through the pencil manufacturing process:

• Where Do Pencils Come From?

• The ‘Unleaded Pencil’

• Shaping the Pencil

• Painting the Pencil

• Labelling & Packaging the Pencil

There is also a “Student Workbook – Teachers Aid” section, and two bonus movies obviously from Staedtler Germany. One movie is about erasers, the other pencils - who would have guessed how erasers were so important in teenage love?

It was good to watch the movies to see all the automated machinery producing pencils by the zillion - pencil leads and erasers just being continuously squeezed out and chopped to length. I was particularly interested to see the painting process and how they get the pin-striping and other effects. The German movie mentions that Staedtler’s two manufacturing plants in Germany produce 1.7 million pencils per day.

Many thanks to Dave!

[Image, D.P. and Staedtler.  Used with permission.]

Doug at the Grand Pooba of pencil sites, The Pencil Pages, posted a great story a few months ago retelling a tour he took of Sanford’s pencil factory in Lewisburg, Tennessee (United States), and I set it to post in the future, but after the Blogger-to-Wordpress switch, the post disappeared. Many apologies for the long delay, but Doug’s pages are well worth the wait.

Please check out the great photos and details of pencil manufacturing from Doug here.

[Photos, D.M. Used very extra kind permission.]

By my alter-ego, who is a [semi-] normal person who does more than just admire pencils.

Drawn on a pizza box with a Faber-Castell GRIP 2001 (HB) in the dark while watching “Globe Trekker.” I swear I can usually write/draw at least a little better. But damn it, drawings on pizza boxes are funny, and I had to share.

See a larger image and complete story here.

[Image, J.G. Used with my own permission.]

Don from Pencil Things sent us this great cartoon a few weeks ago. It’s a piece by Rube Goldberg, co-founder and president of the National Cartoonists Society and unquestionably one of the most famous cartoonists in history.

Read more about Rube here.

View the conceptual blueprints, so to speak, of this exquisite contraption (and how it works!) here.

[Image, Rube Goldberg.]

Professor Henry Petroski (pencil hero and pencil author) mailed us copy of a wonderful article he wrote for American Scientist for the March/April 2000 issue (Volume 88) entitled, “Why ‘The Pencil’?” in which he describes the onset of the pencil fascination that we all familiar with here at Pencil Revolution. While not available online, local and university libraries will likely have the archives of the journal, where Comrades can delight in this courageous piece. Subscribers of the publication can access the archives online, and both backissues and downloadable PDF versions can be purchased if the library comes up empty.

What’s more, Mad Tora sent us two links from The New York Times. The first is an article about Professor Petroski’s latest book, Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design. The article describes the theme of the text, asserting with Professor Petroski that, “The analysis of engineering’s failures offers some good lessons.”

Read the article here.

And you can read the introduction to the book here.

Another, for the Sudoku fans in the Revolution, also from The New York Times. It seems that the explosion of popularity of the game has sent pencil sales in England skyrocketing 700 percent!

Read the article here.

And learn more about Sudoku here.

Finally, Comrade Steve alerted us about a nice piece our friends at Moleskinerie posted last week about the myth of Space Pens and the legend that the Russians used pencils instead.  Read on!

[Images, NYT and Wikipedia.]