Comrade Stephen has a nice post over at Paper and Pencil about some very beautifly Italian pencils made by Nava Design:

Sometimes writing instruments present us with choices between form and function: something that writes well, but doesn’t meet our aesthetic standards. I don’t think this is a major issue for pen users - high price points can be realized for fountain, rollerball, and ballpoint pens, which means that pen manufacturers are able to attract significant design resources and talent. But for the woodcase pencil, who apart from Faber-Castell seriously invests in design?

The answer is Nava. They are an Italian brand known for leather journals and briefcases. I recently discovered that they make pencils - and what pencils they are!

Read on.

[Images and text, S.L. Used with kind permission.]

This review comes from Stewart C. Russell of Scruss fame, to whom we owe many thanks.

Material: Unknown (cedar or pine?).
Shape: Triangular with rounded edges.
Finish: Black and Yellow stripes, rubbery body.
Ferrule: Red-capped end.
Eraser: None.
Core: Quality Staedtler HB.
Markings: Made in Germany; Staedtler Noris Ergosoft; HB.
Packaging: Varies.
Origin: Made in Germany.
Availability: Increasingly limited, formerly at Office Depot in the US.

A new school year was always heralded by a couple of Staedtler Noris pencils in my pencil case. It was good to be reunited with this old favourite in its new form.

It’s one of the recent crop of triangular (well, a Reuleaux triangle, at least) cross section, like the Faber-Castell Grip 2001 and the Ticonderoga Tri-Write. Like most European pencils, it lacks an eraser, so it has a much better balance in the hand than the erasered Tri-Write.

A bit of thought has gone into the Ergosoft. Firstly, it’s got a little panel to write your name on. Since the pencil is three-sided, it’s actually large and flat enough to write legibly on. Its other design feature is its matte, non-slip grip. This feels very good from new; how it wears, however, I’ll get to later.

I mostly write with pencils, so I’m always looking for a good HB stick. The Ergosoft’s lead is very smooth, and the wood case is of high quality. While it keeps its point tolerably well, it makes quite a dark line, and does need sharpening slightly more often than I’d like. I’d say it’s softer than both the Tri-Write and Grip 2001 HB.

While the Ergosoft’s coating is great when new, it does begin to suffer from a sort of “dread skin disease”, peeling back into waxy little clumps. This wouldn’t be so bad if the coating didn’t include the printing on the wood case; after a while, the markings wear off. I’d expect more from Staedtler, even though it’s only an aesthetic issue. Once the non-slip coating has worn off, the pencil has a pleasant satin finish, but doesn’t look very classy.

Staedtler also make a larger Ergosoft Beginner’s Pencil (EAN 40 07817 153017, Art. Nr. 153). This uses a thick soft graphite core, around a B/#1 grade. It’s too soft and wide a line for my handwriting, but if you have a bold hand, you might like it. The wood case on the Beginner isn’t of the same quality as the standard Ergosoft; the ones I’ve seen have some voids and tough spots, so don’t take to the blade nearly as well. A beginner’s pencil that doesn’t roll off the desk has to be a good thing. I often wonder why they’re traditionally round?

The Ergosoft is a more finished pencil than the Triplus Slim (previously reviewed). It has a rounded cap where the Triplus has bare wood, and a finer-grained wood is used for the case.

Ergosofts are extremely hard to find. I’ve only found them in one stationery store (Midoco, in Toronto, at Bloor & Bathurst — a real pencil paradise). I do wonder if the pencil hasn’t been discontinued; then again, the usual range of pencils you can find in shops is very limited.

I still like the Ergosoft, despite its skin condition. It has the distinctive Noris wasp stripes that stand out on the most cluttered desk, and just maybe stop people pilfering it. If you can find them, and prefer a pencil without an eraser, the Ergosoft is a good write.

[Text and images, SCR. Used with permission.]

Professor Henry Petroski is the author of the monumental The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance and Vesic Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University. He was kind enough to submit to a short email interview about pencils, which we post here for the benefit of all Comrades the world over:

PR: Do you use pencils frequently? If so, what do you usually use them for?

HP: I use pencils all the time. I do not feel full dressed if I do not have a pencil in my pocket. I use pencils for writing notes and reminders to myself, for underlining and making annotations in books, for editing manuscripts, and for virtually all writing that does not explicitly require a pen.

PR: What is your favorite pencil, or some of your favorite models, types or manufacturers?

HP: The pencil I carry with me is a Pentel, Model P205, using 0.5 mm lead. This mechanical pencil has a well-balanced feel, not unlike that of a good-size wood-cased pencil. Because it does not have to be sharpened and carries a good supply of lead in its barrel, I am always ready to write, no matter where I find myself. I like the thinness of the lead and the fact that I do not need a sharpener. When working at my desk, I usually have a variety of soft-lead wood-cased pencils handy. I have no particular favorite—any quality pencil will do. But I do not like to write with inferior pencils—those with scratchy lead or poor quality finishes.

PR: Given its rich history – of which you are certainly the expert – what do you think the future of the pencil will be?

HP: The future of the pencil will be much like its past. It will remain a basic writing implement. I am always encouraged when I check into a nice hotel and find a high-quality pencil rather than a cheap ball-point pen placed beside a notepad. I have also attended many meetings where pencils rather than pens have been provided.

PR: Do you have any words of wisdom for budding pencil enthusiasts?

HP: Look carefully at the pencils you encounter. The best made ones are examples of quality manufacturing that approaches fine craftsmanship. Just because something is mass produced does not mean that it does not have high aesthetic values.

Many thanks go out to Professor Petroski, and we renew the urge for anyone who loves the pencil to check out his very fine volume on our favorite implement of expression.

I am catching the night train to Memphis, Tennessee, so the Offices of the Revolution will be closed until Monday. Please forgive any delayed returning of dispatches and some comments that might not get published until after the weekend.

We’ll be back this coming week with a short interview from Pencil Hero Henry Petroski and other goodies.

Have a great weekend.

Best-selling author Trevor Romain writes about what the world would be like if children did not use pencils in school on his blog:

I read yesterday that some schools are going to stop teaching cursive writing and instead kids will be taught how to write using a computer keyboard.

I am truly saddened.

I am saddened because this action is certain to spell the death of the #2 pencil.

The loss of the good old #2 will be tragic.

I mean, let’s face it, that ageless yellow friend with the useless pink eraser on the top is the one common thread that ties the world of creative expression together….

The #2 is amazing. It does not have an instruction manual. It doesn’t need a warranty. It can draw in any language. It can be chewed and stomped and it will still work. It doesn’t need a battery. It floats. And it works just fine after getting wet.

Without the #2 how can children send quickly scribbled notes to each other in the classroom? They would be reduced to sending instant text messages that can never be kept in a scrapbook.

Read on.

[Image and text, T.R. Used with very kind permission.]

Spitzen oder nichtspitzen: das its hier die Frage.

“To sharpen, or not to sharpen: that is the question.”
(William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Act III, Scene i.)

I have never been able to adopt a clear principle of action regarding exactly when to sharpen my pencils. Do I sharpen when the sharpness of the point is gone? That seems a little extreme, since it would require that I constantly sharpen (or use sandpaper pads), given that most of what I use pencils for amounts to long stints of writing. Do I wear the lead down to the wood? This seems extreme at the other end, since I would wind up writing in large, Kindergarten letters half-way through what is thereby considered a point. While large letters are not undesirable per se, they don’t fit in my notebooks.
So it would seem that the proper time to sharpen my pencils would be somewhere in between. But where? I do turn the pencil so that I use the points that several flattened plains have made at their intersections (see figure). This enables me to keep the letters fine without resorting to the blade just yet. But at a certain point (!), I give up and cut the wood and graphite with a sharpener.

The thing is, I’m almost never consistent on where this is, on when I finally sharpen the pencil and decide how much graphite is going to get shredded without having fulfilled its purpose of making a mark.

It varies by how hard and how dark the pencil I am using is. Darker leads can be used while dull, since I can still read what I write with them. A lighter German pencil is something I really prefer to keep sharp. It varies by how expensive the pencil is and how precious it is to me (i.e., how many of them I have in my stash). Palominos and Castell 9000s get very close to the wood before I dare to sharpen them, but I don’t mind cutting up a Mirado that is only marginally dull.

What I’m writing on matters, too. I have found that thinner Moleskine paper likes a sharp point, while Rhodia pads and Moleskine sketch books don’t seem to mind a smoother and duller point. Working out logic problems on my bathroom mirror (how Goodwill Hunting is that?!) is futile with too sharp of a point on my china markers. Cheap notebook paper causes any non-sharp pencil to smear everywhere, if the lead is anything softer than an HB.

This is not to mention situational factors. Do I have a meeting to attend where I don’t feel like pulling out a sharpener, or can’t? If so, I will sharpen my pencil before I leave, no matter how much lead is left. Am I putting the pencil into my pocket? I will leave a little dullness. Is it going into the cup, and is it cedar? If so, I will leave it dull so that I can sharpen it and enjoy the aroma the next time I use it.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

How about you? When do you know that it’s time to sharpen your pencils?

[Images, J.G.]

Happy Easter to all Comrades and other Sentient Entities of the Revolution!

While not necessarily Easter in theme, the work of artist Juel Grant takes the form of drawing in pencil on eggshell; and we usually associate decorating eggs with the Easter holiday — at least where I’m from. Please check out Juel’s spectacular and revolutionary artwork — and very nicely designed website.

My greatest sense of purpose and fullfillment is realized when engaged in the meditative conversation of drawing.

I draw with pencil on eggshell. Of the many surfaces with which I’ve experimented, nothing awakens and stirs the senses as this one does. It has never ceased to challenge and inspire the best of my abilities. The shape; timeless, transcendent, continuious,… the embodiment of life.

As I draw the surface expands, grows more vast. I hold in my hand a globe who’s landscape I roam in solitary bliss. I love that place, what it asks of me, what I become in it’s presence.

Here is the page featureing drawings on eggshell.

Thanks to Carol for the link!

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

While we are predominantly a peaceful Revolution, it does come to mind that defensive means of protecting our graphite and cedar might be desirable at some point. With this in mind, Olivia sent us this cool link to the instructions for making a blow gun using ferruled pencil erasers.

Please, however, heed the warning from Instructables:

This IS a weapon and it IS dangerous. The blowgun should never be pointed at another person, and be careful where you shoot it. I’ve had the darts ricochet back towards me several feet on occasion. Also, be careful of pricking your fingers, eyes, etc. while making the darts. Thanks.

Indeed, to quote Jean Shepherd, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Please be careful, and maintain such a piece of equipment only in the wake of Inkish Tyranny! But please please please don’t shoot anyone in the bum and tell them we said to it.  Or any other part of their anatomy.  Or at any animals.

[Image, Instructables.]

This is the first post about what we will call “Revolutionary Reading,” i.e., books that have some bearing on pencils and the Revolution. All Revolutions need their pamphlets, chapbooks and other volumes, even if such poetry or prose is not necessarily akin to some sort of doctrine.

It is only appropriate that the first such post be on Professor Henry Petroski’s The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance. This book is widely available in trade paperback, and the current edition is actually a very well-designed book itself, with a durable cover with very nice graphics. The height is actually longer relavtive to the width than more books, and this gives it a pleasing grip and span.

The Pencil is a book about engineering told through the sustained example of the pencil. What you get is the story of the pencil, from its origins in England in the sixteenth century to the pencil industry of the late twentieth century and everything in between. Professor Petroski covers graphite discoveries, the production of pencil “leads,” wood, erasers — and there is even an entire chapter devoted to my personal gadget, the pencil sharpener.

The text is extremely engaging, even though we non-engineers might be tempted to be wary of reading a book about engineering. In my own field (philosophy), I can certainly spot a boring book. But take my word for it: this is an exciting book for anyone who uses, likes or admires pencils. Far from being boring, it reads like an epic novel, with the protagonist and hero being the pencil, with other heroes that help the pencil along the way.

While it seems that pencils are simple objects at first glance, Professor Petroski shows that they are anything but simple, as he details the technological advances and engineering geniuses who have brought us our wooden warrior. Do you know why, for instance, Incense Cedar is the preferred wood for making quality pencils? Do you know what people used for erasers prior to rubber ones? Or just how long it took for sharpeners (as we know them) to appear on the scene? If you give The Pencil a good read, you will know all this and more.

Certainly, having some understanding of what forces, minds and inventions have brought us pencils affords us a much greater appreciation for the humble tool that many us take for granted. If you are intersted in learning more about our graphite champion and/or in reading an enlightening and entertaining book, then The Pencil is for you.

[Photos, J.G.]

Devoted Comrade Dave in New Zealand recently made a week-long experiment with wooden pencils, a foray away from the mechanical pencils he so excellently writes about on his new and very well-written blog:

Now whilst my main interest is mechanical pencils, I am certainly not immune to the charms of wooden pencils, so I thought that it was time to put my mechanicals away and have a “wooden week”.

Anyone visiting a selection of shops here in New Zealand would quickly get the impression that Staedtler was the market giant, with Faber-Castell a fairly distant second, and so I decided to trial three Staedtlers and two Faber-Castells.

I chose the following HB grade pencils as a reasonable selection of different price ranges, qualities and designs:

Monday - Staedtler (Australia) Pacific 830
Tuesday - Staedtler (Australia) Tradition 110
Wednesday - Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 (Made in Germany)
Thursday - Faber-Castell Grip 2001 (Made in Germany)
Friday - Faber-Castell Goldfaber 1221 (Country of origin not identified)

Read the rest of the results here.

[Image, D.P.  Used with kind permission.]

Dennis wrote in recently with this question:

My problem is with sharpeners:

Tri-Conderoga pencils, KUM large sharpener:

When I try to sharpen the pencils, I get gouges, repeatedly broken leads, and spirals on the lead that’s left.

What is the magic?

To be sure, sharpening by blade requires a good bit of skill. But even without a straight blade, there is a certain trick or magic to getting a perfect point on pencils, with a manual or a crank sharpener. It is often the case when I am in a hurry to put a point on a pencil that I get the effect that the pencil would have if the lead were not centered, even on a pencil which is perfectly centered in the wooden case. For instance, using the same KUM Longpoint sharpener, I murdered the point on a Dixon but then got a perfect result the next time with the same sharpener.

So, Comrades:

What is the magic?

[Photo, J.G.]

Woodchuck recently wrote about pencil certification on Timberlines, and it would be very good to get some feedback on that post on the topic of pencil certification:

Later this week I’m attending the Annual Meeting of the U.S. Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA). Participants include finished product manufacturers and marketers with operations in the US as well as component suppliers. I used to look forward to this event each year as an important chance to get together with key customers, other businesses and friends in the pencil and writing instrument industry. Coming from a family business background I can remember attending one of the former Pencil Makers Association meetings with my parents when I was still in High School and later after college before I had joined the family business…

….In the meantime I remain interested in consumer feedback on this particular issue. Do you place any more value on such third party certification programs, industry sponsored or not? Do you view a PMA, EN71 (European standard) or ACMI certified product as safer than one without one of these certifications? Does it bear any relevance in your purchase decision at all?”

Please check out the rest of Woodchuck’s post, and please leave a comment or two there about what pencil certification means to you: “Do Industry Associations Matter Anymore?”

This is probably running the risk of excessive auto-promotion, but….well….so be it.

Pencil Revolution creator/editor John will be on CBC* Radio’s “Freestyle” this Monday (tomorrow) for a very short interview about pencils and the Revolution. Comrades outside of Canada can listen online during the program, which airs from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (-5 hours GMT). Comrades outside of Canada can still tune in online here. I believe the show is on Radio One.

[*Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for non Canucks:^)]