Happy Halloween, from your friends at Pencil Revolution! May all the spookiest doodles and scribbles be yours!
And stay tuned this week for a review of Translations Pencils and other pencil goodies.
With the recent discussions about the environment and wood, it seems very appropriate to mention some great recent posts by our good friend Woodchuck on why Incense-Cedar is such an excellent wood for pencils:
“Incense-cedar originally began to be used as a substitute wood for Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) which was the premier wood for US produced pencils and some European pencils dating from the mid 1800s through the early 20th century. It is commonly thought that the main purpose for the shift to Incense-cedar was due to dwindling supply of Eastern Red Cedar and there is some relevance here, but primarily from a comparative economic standpoint only. ERC is still widely used for commercial purposes today for products which most benefit from the technical characteristics contained in the natural cedar oil extractives of this species. Products such as closet lining, shoe trees, coat hangers, storage chests and natural oil extractives used in the essential oils industry for perfume and other cosmetic and scent purposes.
So what is the full story for the transition to Incense-cedar?” (Read on to find out!)“Unlike species that occur in groves, Incense-cedar can be found scattered among Douglas-fir, Jeffrey Pine, ponderosa pine and other species that dominate the mixed-conifer forest. Within the state of California, Incense-cedar generally comprises about 5% of the trees in a stand while just 1.5% in it’s southern Oregon growing range. Despite it’s popularity in a range of uses, Incense cedar has never become a mono-cultural plantation species as with other commercial western softwoods. As a prolific seed-cone producer it readily regenerates and proliferates throughout it’s growing range aggressively repopulating any available site on the forest floor. It’s germination and survival rate are excellent relative to other softwoods….there is more Incense-cedar growing in California forests today than at any time during the past 50 to 70 years based upon data from the US Forest Service mandated Forest Inventory and Analysis Project.” (Read on!)
[Excerpts, Woodchuck at Timberlines. Image, Oregon State University.]
This is both very good and very interesting news from Japan:
“Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and Tombow Pencil recently announced that they have jointly developed mechanical pencil ‘leads’ recycled from generator brushes used in TEPCO’s thermal power plants. Generator brushes are made from highly pure graphite (over 97 percent), and are crushed to form graphite particles. Generator brushes transmit electricity to rotating shafts and must be replaced on a regular basis because they get worn out from friction with the rotating shafts. Discarded brushes used to be disposed of as industrial waste in landfill.Having examined the cost and effectiveness of recycling generator brushes, TEPCO decided to recycle the brushes into mechanical pencil leads in collaboration with Tombow. TEPCO estimates that about 300kg of used brushes are replaced in its thermal plants annually. Recycling all these brushes could produce 24 million refill leads (1.5 million packages of 16 leads each). Tombow plans to put the recycled leads on the market during 2005.”
See article here. Thanks for the link, Armand and Mari!
[Image Treehugger.]
There were a number of accusations levied against the Revolution last week, and since a few hundred people read them before we were able to take them down, I suppose it’s appropriate to address them here, in a non-belligerent spirit, since we are a peaceful Revolution.
First, no, this site was not created as a joke, and many hours a week do not go into it as a joke. If some folks do not like pencils and prefer pens or computers, they are perfectly free not to be a part of our community.
It was suggested last week that we are promoting the killing of the planet’s trees through promoting the use of pencils. This is completely false. None of the manufacturers that we recommend go out and cut down trees for pencils that are not grown for that purpose and are not replaced. This is akin to claiming that meat comes from cows shot down in the forest. The fact is that some companies (like Faber-Castell and Staedtler) grow their own wood for their pencils on land where there were no trees before. Our friends at Cal Cedar are the largest pencil slat manufacturer in the world, and one would be hard-pressed to find a more responsible grower. Plainly, a pencil company that did not replenish its supply of wood would be committing corporate suicide. What some manufacturers did in the 19th and early 20th centuries is irrelevant.
No, Thoreau would not roll over in his grave because we promote the killing of the planet. Most Thoreau fans are aware of his innovations in pencil manufacturing and the fact that his family’s money came from making pencils and superior graphite. He never loved pencils but viewed them at best as tools, and usually as a way to make money for his father’s company. He didn’t sit around thinking about how great pencils are, so we could not “justify” the deforestation of the planet by how Thoreau felt about pencils. Besides, Thoreau never ventured far enough from Concord to actually see any wood that was made into pencils anyway. He never went to the South to see Red Cedar or to the West to see Incense Cedar (which wasn’t being used yet). And his ethic of simplicity would surely not shun pencils and probably not even blogs and gel pens.
No, we will not be promoting products from the likes of Proctor and Gamble, etc. First, they don’t make pencils. Second, we do not promote products from any company that engages in animal testing. California Republic doesn’t. Dixon doesn’t. Sanford doesn’t. The Germans don’t. Promoting pencils from companies that test on animals (parent companies, too) is not an issue now that Gillette no longer owns PaperMate and Parker anyway. Even Bic has a moratorium that has been in place for several years.
Our editor (me) was called a “corporate goon” and “a sad, sad corporate sellout.” While we very happily promote products we like and very gladly accept samples to review, we do not take money for our reviews. Period. This site is run out of my own pocket and never from any company. We would be very foolish indeed to take money from the manufacturers of what we review if we coupled this with the expectation that anyone trust what we say. Yes, we promote some pencils like the Palomino moderately aggressively, but that is soley because it is such a great pencil, made by great people, that more pencil lovers should try. We are spreading the word, not lining our pockets. Name-calling is just mean. If I am a sell-out because I freely promote pencils that lots of people think are great and not well-known enough, then sell-out I am.
A thousand apologies if we offend whoever anonymously posted the original list of reasons why Pencil Revolution is “stupid”; that is not our intention. However, the record must be set straight, and every effort has been made to be straight forward and not vindictive. We have no intention of being contentious.
We were planning on reviewing the Dixon “Black” (formerly the Millennium) in time for Halloween, since it is a great black pencil that not a lot of people know about and since I personally like it better than the Black Warrior as far as black pencils go. But I was online chatting with my buddy, and he asked why Ticonderoga is named such. I went to the website and saw the promo for Dixon’s new Tri-Conderoga, and, well, the Black will just have to wait a bit longer.
Technical data:
Material: Genuine California Incense Cedar.
Shape: Triangular, large diameter.
Finish: Rubbery black “Soft Touch” coating.
Ferrule: The famous Dixon green and yellow ferrule, triangular.
Eraser: High quality, latex-free black eraser.
Core: HB graphite.
Markings: Gold Foil. “DIXON TRI-CONDEROGA/HB(2).â€
Packaging: So far found in a pack of six with a complimentary sharpener.
Availability: Staples stores nationwide.
Origin: Missouri, United States.
Dixon bills this as “The World’s Most Comfortable Pencil.” With competitors like the GRIP 2001 from Faber-Castell, the Ergosoft from Staedtler and from Dixon’s own Tri-Write, these will be hard shoes to fill. But it turns out that the Tri-Conderoga is as unique as the other triangular-shaped pencils on the market, perhaps even more so. Faber-Castell’s GRIP 2001 has the unique grip zone and started the recent triangular pencil craze, at least to some extent. However, as fans of Petroski’s book are aware, triangular-shaped pencils date back to the mid-twentieth century, but the design was rarely used due to it being wasteful of wood (pg. 207-208). Staedtler has the rubbery Erogsoft in response, and Dixon has the Tri-Write, a triangular version of the famous yellow Ticonderoga. The Tri-Write is the only one of the three to be made of Incense Cedar.
The Tri-Conderoga is a departure from the other three for several reasons, the most obvious of which is the diameter. This pencil is nearly as thick as the wide pencils youngsters learn to write with. As we all probably remember, these are strangely comfortable to hold. However, the drawbacks with these thick pencils were that they usually had low-quality cores, stinky wood and thick cores that could not be sharpened to a point for use on adult stationary. The Tri-Conderoga has a core that is the same thickness as regular pencils, so they can be sharpened just as well as others. Dixon’s very nice Product Manager tells us that the Tri-Conderoga “is totally different than anything on the market – for adults.” He’s very very correct, and I can’t find a thing about this pencil that is anything but adult. Don’t let the diameter fool you at Staples. These are not the same things you used in first grade.
The coating does not feel as thick as the one on the Ergosoft, and I’d consider that a good thing. The thickness of the “soft feel” finish does not hinder sharpening at all, and it does not give under pressure from your hands — it is not spongy or shifty. It’s very solid and does exactly what it is supposed to do. Speaking of sharpening, Dixon includes a pretty nice black sharpener with the packs of six pencils that has two holes, one of which fits the Tri-Conderoga perfectly.
The core is, as you’d expect from Dixon, smooth, dark and strong. I don’t think we need to go into that much more here. Writing with a Dixon is always a pleasure with these great cores.
Adding to the quality feel of the pencil is the ferrule. Of course it is yellow and green like the famous yellow Dixons, but Dixon went the extra mile and made a special ferrule just for this pencil. It is the custom triangular fit that we would have loved to see on the otherwise terrific Tri-Write. The new ferrule fits very flushly with the barrel, and you won’t find the paint-spread (yay, we coined a term!) that a lot of modern “quality” pencils are suffering from these days around the ferule.
The eraser matches the quality of the pencil’s feel, and I haven’t touched a Dixon in a long time that didn’t have a great eraser on it. It’s large and triangular, and having points on the eraser is especially nice for correctly the smaller errors one sometimes makes.
Writing with the Tri-Conderoga is, admittedly, a bit awkward at first. This is not really due to the diameter but rather to the severity of the triangular shape. I for one don’t hold my pencils correctly when I hold them in my natural way. I somehow got away with gripping my pencils incorrectly, and the good sisters at St. Thomas didn’t notice. With the GRIP 2001, the triangular shape is rounded enough that it can be gotten around; I can hold it the way I’d hold a round pencil. The Tri-Conderoga is so triangular that this cannot be replicated. The shape and size of this pencil mean that you have to hold it correctly.
But that is not a bad thing. On the Tri-Conderoga’s website, Dixon cites studies showing that triangular writing instruments promote the proper grip that leads to comfort and legible handwriting. Rather than passively promoting said grip, the Tri-Conderoga performs a feat of pencil TOUGH LOVE and makes you hold your pencil correctly. I said this was awkward for me at first. But inside of a written page, it became more natural, comfortable, and I did notice a new degree of uniformity in my writing. The pencil did exactly what it was designed to do and did it very very well, and I found it to be comfortable to write with inside of a few minutes. Very comfortable.
Some people might prefer the GRIP 2001 for its millennial paint job or German heritage, and some people might still prefer the Tri-Write for it’s traditional yellow gloss. But anyone who appreciates writing comfort at all would enjoy at least some test runs with this pencil. The writing is smooth and comfortable. The eraser is top-notch. The pencil itself is very up-scale and stylish, but it does not feel fragile like some more expensive pencils do at times. Rather, it’s very durable and solid. And of course, there’s the great smell of the cedar.
We would definitely recommend this pencil. The exact combination of the precise shape, the unique size and the finishing touches really set this pencil apart. This is no ordinary triangular or coated pencil. It’s truly revolutionary.
Apologies! Due to illness in the Revolution, there are no goodies for today. We’ll be back Monday, with a review of the new Dixon Tri-Conderoga that we have a small stash of currently. Very sorry.
I love pencils. I give them to most of my friends, family, colleagues and really just anyone I like at all. Some people don’t use them, citing imperfections of pencils in general, such as the fact that they can be erased, that they need to be sharpened, that they don’t fit in your pocket, etc. These are certainly legitimate concerns. There are times when I use ink instead of pencil, for a few things. I know, graphite is a higher calling, but what can you do?
While pencils are a gift from the universe, there are some things that I’d personally like to see done with pencils in general, specific kinds of pencils and certain manufacturers. I have a feeling that I’m not the only one, so I’d ask that the People share here what they’d like to have changed about or added to the pencil world.
Our friend Heller Levinson has a new book of poetry out entitled ToxiCity. Mr. Levinson tells us that he writes his poetry in pencil, with a Dixon Ticonderoga (#2) or with a Pentel 0.7 P207 when travelling. The artists responsible for the cover art — Margo Kren and Ed Paschke — begin their work in pencil, to boot! Graphite aside, from all counts, Mr. Levinson’s work is nothing short of revolutionary.
“ToxiCity is a volume for the starving masses of readers to devour, then shelve among poets who refused to succumb to the shrews and molls of convention and mediocrity dolling themselves up as muses. Nothing is lost in Heller Levinson’s prolific study of philosophy, history, music and the arts: the poems in ToxiCity are like a palimpsest where diverse lexicons, facts, detailed observations all meld….
—from the introduction by Anthony Seidman”
[Image Howling Dog Press.]
Johnny writes about childhood pencils in MungBeing magazine:
“When I first arrived at Kindergarten, we all had little boxes that we put onto the top shelf of our cubbies, standing on five-year-old tiptoes. In my little blue box that day was a Faber-Castell GOLIATH – a thick, red pencil with soft-feeling lead and a nice pink eraser on the end. Of all the goodies in my blue box – scissors, paste, a ruler, etc. – I was most excited about my big pencil. There were boxes and boxes of markers and wax crayons at the pre-school and even more at home that my parents provided for my brothers and I.. But one pencil, only one. And so grown-up looking! I had just turned five and suddenly felt immensely important that I had been given a single pencil that would allow me to do so much. My introduction to pencils was thus to a quality German pencil, and the rest of my childhood pencilship was tainted by this….
….But I think that what people love about pencils is not necessarily something akin to childhood innocence. I don’t think it’s possible to recover the naivety of the sandbox, nor is it desirable to do so. The responsibility that comes with knowing what we know that we did not know as children – whether we know it from education or worldly experience – is not something that we can shirk off just by using pencils or any other magical tools. The reason pencils resonate with adults is that they remind us of the sense of wonder that we had as children. Only, as adults, this wonder is armed with some degree of practical wisdom in that pencils put us into a position of wonder that is coupled with power and freedom. We look at the world differently when we remember being kids, and we have the freedom to explore our world that we might not have had as school children with homework and parents and curfews. Most importantly, we have the power through what we already know to look in the right places for what we still wonder about as adults.”
Read the rest of the article here.
[Image, J.G.]
Visit the home of the Big Black Pencil for one of the coolest-designed websites around.
“Big black pencils are as much a part of Leo Burnett as that ever-present bowl of crisp apples. Why? Because Leo believed big ideas come out of big pencils.”
I sat here for a half hour playing with the pencil and the links. Who is Leo Burnett? Check out the Wikipedia article about him:
“Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an advertising executive famous for creating such icons as the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Tony the Tiger.”
[Thanks for the link, Armand!]
Have a terrific weekend! Hopefully, we’ll be able to review the new Dixon Tri-Conderoga next week sometime.
We have Faber-Castell’s GRIP 2001 for a nicely-made, comfortably grib-able pencil. There is also the Staedtler Egosoft, which is covered in sticky stuff. Not as popular is the Dixon Ticonderogo Tri-Write, which is a triangular-shaped version of the popular yellow Dixon.
I was talking online with a good friend of mine last night about why the Ticonderago is called such. On visiting the company webpage to find where they give Fort Ticonderago as an explanation, I found something that kept me up a little last night.
Dixon has a new pencil that they are billing as “The World’s Most Comfortable Pencil” — the Tri-Conderoga! Dixon gives its features:
* Larger, more control
* Cushy ‘Soft-Touch’ finish
* Triangular-shaped
And it’s made of delicious Incense Cedar, too. As soon as I can find some, I’ll put up a review. I’m really excited about this pencil. The pen world is getting the Pilot G2 Mini, and we get a sleek new Dixon!
Small note. The sitefeed is back up at http://www.pencilrevolution.com/atom.xml. Apologies for it’s short absence.
If I may wax personal, I want to admit being more than a little upset to learn that a certain pencil I previously enjoyed is made of rainforest wood, not Incense Cedar. I know, this should make no difference. It was hard to sharpen and had no smell before I knew what it was made of, too, and I ignored it. I think I’m upset that it’s maker flaunts it as a great quality pencil (and charges a lot for it) but then won’t pony up and make it out of cedar. There are probably even reasons for this, like a $3 a pencil price tag result, etc. I won’t pretend that I know much about wood or about what works best for what.
But it’s weird that something so small can shake my faith in a pencil. It’s like when you have a pencil you love but then realize that it’s core smears all over or that you have a near-perfect pencil that comes with a terrible eraser that ruins the whole affair. Or, worse, that you have a pencil you love above all others but cannot obtain anywhere.
Is there some implicit search for the perfect pencil, or do we just get jolted when we learn that our favorites could use some evolving? Or do we delude ourselves into thinking we’ve already perched on the perfect pencil and then find out that there’s a glaring design flaw, upon which we get shaken up again?
We’ve reviewed pencils made in the United States and Asia so far, but we’ve not yet talked much about European pencils. It’s only fitting, then, that we review something from Faber-Castell, specifically the Grip 2001. We are very happy to have Frank C. — who works in research in the Garden State — write the review of this award-winning pencil.
According to Faber-Castell, “For centuries there was no change with the pencil. Faber-Castell has proven that there is still potential for improvement with this apparently simple product. Shortly after its launch the GRIP 2001 pencil was prized with several important design awards. For the magazine Business Week it was the best ‘Product of the Year’,” and several other accolates to boot.
First, some technical info:
Material: Jelutong, a rainforest wood that grows in Indonesia.
Shape: Triangular, with grip zone.
Finish: Water-based lacquer in metallic grey.
Ferrule: None, capped end in grey or black, depending on lead grade; black triangular ferrule on eraser-topped version.
Eraser: (On ferruled version) Soft black rubber.
Core: 2B, B, HB, H, 2H (B reviewed), specially-bonded and break-resistant graphite.
Markings: Black Gloss. “GRIP 2001 Faber-Castell†with company logo of jousting knights.
Packaging: Varies. Usually sold in open-stock or dozens. Fine stationers and art supply shops are the best bets.
Origin: Stein, Germany.
Now, for Frank’s review:
“Let me state up front that the Grip 2001 by Faber-Castell is my favorite currently-available pencil (the Blackwing 602 is my all-time favorite, but I’m sticking to currently-available pencils). Why? Because I like pencils that write a dark line but can be used for day-to-day writing (only 2B and 4B for me), and the Grip 2001 fits the bill, for me, better than any pencil around.
The other factor that cements its position as my top pencil is the way the Grip 2001 is designed to never slip in your hand. Using what Faber-Castell calls the ‘Patented Soft-Grip-Zone’ (what looks like to me little raised black dots) makes it easy to grip the pencil without it slipping up and down your fingers. I’ve also found that I don’t have to grip it as tightly to write, which means that I can write with it for longer periods of time than other pencils. One downside—when you store the Grip 2001 next to other pencils it has a tendency to stick to them!
The Grip 2001 has a triangular shape, another excellent ergonomic factor in its favor. I’ve found that the triangular shape fits flush between my fingers, meaning that I never find myself rotating the pencil like I do other traditionally-shaped pencils. Again, this is another ergonomic detail that makes the Grip 2001 stand head and shoulders above the other current pencils that I’ve tried.
While it’s great to have the attention to design detail that the Grip 2001 provides, it would mean nothing if the pencil didn’t deliver a great writing experience. And this it does, with a dark line that never smears. It’s also extremely easy to sharpen, even with the triangular shape.
So, given the great writing experience, excellent design, and ergonomic features, it’s easy to see why the Grip 2001 is an excellent pencil and my current favorite. It may be a bit more expensive than average (I purchased mine from Pen City, although I have seen them in a local Office Depot), but it is worth it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
Many thanks to Frank for the review and the photos!
[Images Frank C. and J.G., used with kind permission.]
With the start of the various holiday seasons, we see countless pencils with pumpkins, ghosts, and goblins all around. Some have giant erasers, fuzzy tops or sparkly paint. But what are the People to do when we want a festive pencil that does not write like a black rock and smell like dirty old wood? With Halloween and the winter holidays almost upon us, what are we to write with?
Fear not! There are some respectable pencil manufacturers who can rescue us junky holiday pencils! Just to name a few:
Musgrave Pencil Company has several holiday-themed lines, including Halloween.
Dixon makes reward pencils, including some for Halloween. You can never go wrong with Dixon.
And Californian Republic makes holiday-themed pencils in their Spangle line which are available through the Pencil World Creativity Store. You can even score a free set of Halloween pencils with the purchase of Palomino artist pencils (which are great pencils) for a limited time.
As a friend of ours pointed out, pencils would make a healthy alternative to candy for handing out to trick-or-treaters, while promoting education and children’s creativity at the same time.
And for us grown-ups, they are a nice way to celebrate the holidays we still love.
[Image CalRep.]
Our friend Alcarwen at That Shadow My Likeness writes about the terror of being without a pencil sharpener:
This is a disaster that I’ve known a few times myself, and I would not wish it on anyone. Pulling out a blade is the bravest way to handle such a situation, to be sure. It’s downright heroic!
Many thanks, Alcarwen!
Forbes ranked the “20 Most Important Tools” recently, and the pencil scored #4!
“Writing may be one of the most important discoveries in human history. But it was easy-to-use writing implements–including the pencil, pen and brush–that made mass education and literacy possible. Cheap, reliable and convenient, the pencil represents these tools at their best. And because the sword came in at No. 8 on our list (more about the sword), we can now say for sure that the pen is mightier than the sword…
….In 1662, the first mass-produced pencils were made in Nuremberg, Germany, and in 1795, a French Chemist named Nicolas Conté invented a technique to make pencil leads out of powdered graphite and clay. In 1770, Edward Naime, an English engineer, created and began selling the first rubber erasers. The practice of painting pencils yellow began in the 1890s. Pencil manufacturers wanted to advertise that they were using high-quality Chinese graphite, so they painted them a color associated with Chinese royalty. Today, 75% of the pencils sold in the U.S. are still painted yellow. “
Thanks for the link, Doug!
[Image Dave Klug.]
If I ever step into ink, I usually like to use something a little seasonal, especially in the autumn. Pilot makes a new burgundy G2 now, and the brown Le Pen is an equally great color — sepia with a purple-wine tinge.
But Ashley writes in with a very good question: What are we pencil folk to do when we are bored with graphite grey?
“I love the Pencil Revolution! I am still happily scribbling away with my awesome Cretacolor Monolith woodless graphite pencils, but I have a new urge to write in color. Can someone at the Revolution suggest any colored pencils that are suitable to write with? I have a lovely Stabilo aquarelleo in blue. This has a thick waxy core and is meant for glass, plastic, etc. I enjoy writing with it because it is smooth and fluid, but the thickness has two problems if you just want to writ. It makes it hard to get a nice point on it, and needs too frequent sharpening to keep any point. That said, I would appreciate any new reviews or ideas about colored pencils specifically for writing. Thanks! Vive la Revolution!”
I have some All-Stabilos that are water-soluble china markers, but Ashely’s right. They are not good for writing on paper unless you want to sharpen an already dull point every other line. And trying to write with an artist-type colored pencil will only waste a nice tool.
Some companies used to make indelible pencils in different colors — non-erasable pencils that contained aniline dyes in different hues. But, with the advent of portable pens that don’t make a mess in one’s pocket, those went the way of the manual typewriter. The only ones I can find for sale in the United States are the NoBlot ink pencils, “A Bottle of Ink in a Pencil.” (We’d greatly appreciate info about any others!)
Prismacolor makes Verithins: colored pencils with a very fine core. However, the lead is the same soft formula (?) as the Primacolor colored pencils, so they will probably dull extremely quickly.
Another item to try might be something in the new line of Erasable Checking pencils that Dixon has out. I have only tried the red, but I can vouch that they are very nice checking pencils and that you might be able to write with them as well.
Does anyone else have any ideas?