Graphite Dust: On the Avoidance Thereof.


A few weeks ago, Ana Claudia from Brazil wrote in to Pencil Revolution asking about graphite dust solutions. I was in the process of cleaning out my pencil box that week myself, faced with the same issue, and I suggested that we pose the problem to all Comrades:

“I found this site about two months ago, and it was a pleasure to know that there are more crazy people like me that love pencils and discuss them!!!! At that moment I was hoping that someone could help me to solve the biggest problem I face using wood pencils and that even causes me to avoid using them more often: the dust! I don’t know about you guys, but I always have all my pens and pencils and everything else in the pencil case completely dirty from graphite dust. Actually it’s become a bit better after I’ve begun to use a vertical case, but even then the stuff becomes dark. And it’s hard to clean everything, especially because I know they won’t last clean for so long…So, I ask for help!!!!!! Please! I don’t want to move again to mechanical pencils! How can I avoid this?”

So, what do you do when graphite dust covers everything like a layer of shiny grey snow?

[Photos and text, A.C. Used with permission.]

January 31, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , , | 12 Comments »

Happy Blogoversary to Dave!

Dave’s Mechanical Pencils is five years old this weekend (it’s sill the 29th in this part of the globe)!  Many Congrats to Dave, with whom I share a distant connection to Southern Illinois (and especially SIUC).  Dave’s almost tempted me into mechanical pencils more than once, and that says a lot.

January 29, 2011 | Editor | No Comments »

Review of 2011 Daycraft Planners.


Today’s review comes from Frankie in Baltimore, who reviewed the Ecosystem Architect book for us last month.  Mr. Lee sent these three to PR HQ this autumn, with other very nice notebooks.

It’s the end of January, which makes it the perfect time to report back from test driving a trio of 2011 planners from Daycraft. Should you decide to make one of these your constant companion in 2011, you’ll still have eleven months of pages to fill with your appointments, birthdays, (hopefully) vacation time, and other reminders.

What with this being the New Millennium and all, there are any number of electronic ways to keep yourself on time and on schedule. If you’re like me, you probably have a combination of both paper and virtual methods. I have a wall calendar at home and at work to lay out the month at a glance, followed by my work calendar on Microsoft Outlook (partly required because it is also shared with my boss). But I can’t part with the old-school romance of a paper-and-pencil weekly planner that goes with me wherever I do. Because I need something I can carry with me, portability is a must –- which leads to the conundrum of allowing enough space to write without making the planner the size of a phone book (remember those?). Each of the Daycraft planners I tried achieves a balance between space to write and compactness. And each of them comes with particular designs and features that you can select to fit your personal and professional needs.

Daycraft Vogue Diary

Vitals:
Cover Material: Stitched quilted polyurethane.
Binding: Case.
Size: Assorted; 4.5 ” x 7.5” (pocket size) as tested.
Page Count: 248.
Colors: Ivory (tested), Blue, Black.

Unique Characteristics: International guides featuring holidays, telephone codes, airports, taxes, even driving conventions; list of international golf courses; vintage chart for the wine lover.
Origin: China.
Availability: Asia, Europe, and Australia. But Yanks can buy them online with international shipping here.

With its fashionable quilted cover and slender profile, the Vogue diary would look right at home inside my (or your) girlfriend’s evening bag. But don’t let the slightly Sex and the City look fool you – the Vogue diary is a hard worker. Mine has been in heavy rotation lately -– in and out of my bag, tossed across my desk, shoved in between other notebooks -– and I can attest to its durability. Its format covers one week in two pages, with each month distinguished by a sheet in a different color. You can keep your place with the red-orange velvet bookmark. Within the week, there are about 1.5 inches of space to write (less for Saturday and Sunday). The week-to-week format is great for plotting out appointments and distributing your workload. I’ve often found that with a page-a-day planner, items I don’t get around to on one day tend not to make it to my to-do list on another day. For all three planners under review here, the paper is smooth and takes to pencil well with no issues with ghosting or smearing. That has held true for the variety of pencils I’ve used so far, including the Palomino, Golden Bear, and Mirado. The international guide at the front of the planner is helpful for the global traveler. I appreciate that Daycraft acknowledges that not all of us have — or want — smart phones.

There are definitely days when I could use a little more space to write, and sometimes I resort to post-its for an extended to-do list. But the portability of the Vogue is tough to beat, and it remains my planner of choice for 2011.

Daycraft Chromatic Days Diary

Vitals:
Cover Material: Fine Italian polyurethane.
Binding: Case.
Size: Assorted; approx. 5 ” x 7”
Page Count: 128.
Colors: Orange (tested), Green, Yellow, Blue, Red.

Unique Characteristics: Four-color printed edges.
Origin: China.
Availability: Asia, Europe, and Australia. But Yanks can buy them online with international shipping here.

The Chromatic Days Diary was serious competition with the Vogue Diary to be my lieutenant for 2011. It’s slim and sophisticated, with a smooth, flexible cover and a modern look. The four-color printing on the edges also makes it colorful without being garish or obnoxious. The orange cover and orange ribbon bookmark are especially aesthetically pleasing. The Chromatic Days Diary lays out one week per page (not per spread), beginning at the end of August 2010 and carrying its user all the way through 2011. It contains fewer additional features than the Vogue but includes international holidays, a year at a glance planner, and pages for notes and a venue list. Its week-per-page layout makes space to write a bit smaller in the Chromatic Days diary -– only about three quarters of an inch. But if you don’t tend to write copious amounts of information in your planner or only need it to track certain things, Chromatic Days is a terrific option.

Daycraft Make My Day Diary

Vitals:
Cover Material: Cloth.
Binding: Case.
Size: Assorted; approx. 6.25 ” x 7.25”
Page Count: 216.
Colors: Black (tested), Black/Yellow, Blue, Blue/Yellow, Red, Red/Yellow.

Unique Characteristics: Black printed edges, perforated memo pages
Origin: China.
Availability: Asia, Europe, and Australia. But Yanks can buy them online with international shipping here.

Somewhat weightier than the Vogue or Chromatic Days Diaries, thanks to its cloth hard cover, the Make My Day Diary is similarly slender and portable. Squared in shape, it displays one week over two pages with a vertical layout that reminds me of the weekly vertical planner from Moleskine that I had a few years ago, but without the hourly markers that I found rather constricting (if I don’t have a meeting at 9 a.m., may I still write something on the 9 a.m. line?). The color palette inside the journal is cream rather than bright white. Each month is introduced by a sheet declaring “Make My Day” in different fonts, spelled out with different materials (including light, vegetables, and computer keys). While this planner wouldn’t look out of place on your bookshelf with your other hardcovers, the “Make My Day” pages lend a bit of subtle whimsy. Like other vertical planners, this one poses some challenge to fit your daily to-do list within its 1.25 inch-wide column. But it’s a trade-off between writing space and portability, and in leaning toward the latter, I think Daycraft makes the right choice, And any one of these three planners may just be the right choice for you in 2011.

[Text, F.G.  Used with permission.  Images, J.G.]

January 27, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Pencil Art from Sarah Melling.


Sarah Melling sent us some of her wonderful pencil art, which is featured below with some prose from the artist.

“As a former interior/graphic designer with grown children, I have found time to return to something I love – drawing. After spending so much time at the computer as a graphic designer, digital drawing does not interest me at all. I love being ‘unplugged’ and using just pencils and paper. Most of my work is botanical subject matter – I’m quite taken with the art forms and patterns found in nature. My colored pencil work is done using Prismacolor pencils, and for graphite work, I use Derwent Graphic pencils.

I love the simplicity of using pencils and colored pencils; they’re not messy and they’re perfectly portable. Pencils are a humble instrument, to be sure, but they have such a long history and are capable of so much. Some of my favorite works of any artist, even the Great Masters, are their pencil sketches.”

We used to feature artists’ work fairly frequently, and we’d definitely like to do this more. If anyone has some art they’d like to submit, please use the CONTACT form, and we’ll get in touch!

(All images copyright Sarah Melling 2011. Used here with permission.)

January 26, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments »

More Kits from Rad & Hungry.


Hen sent us some press releases that we’re a little late in posting.  Check out the January kit (France) and the February kit (Mexico) for some pencil goodies from around the world.  And, if Comrades have some of these kits, please let the rest of us know what  you think of them!

[Images, R&H.]

January 19, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments »

From the Mailbox: Testing Pencils.


Comrade Ted wrote in last month about a question for which I’m certain he can find lots of advice from our community members:

Hello!  I have enjoyed your website and wonder If I might ask you an opinion on a question I have been looking to answer.

I am looking to find the ideal testing pencil. While this may sound fairly dull, I have taken a great interest in discovering this dream pencil. You see, I am preparing to take the LSAT. Only wooden pencils may be used, and time is a crucial make-or-break factor on the test. When you’re only given 1.29 minutes to answer every question, suddenly the effectiveness of the eraser you are using and the degree to which you work to fill in a bubble come into effect substantially. I am trained in art, however, so I can appreciate the finer qualities in a well-made pencil. Here is what I’m looking for. I’m hoping the experts out there can help point me in the direction of something I have not tried yet (something exotic perhaps?).

I need to find two different pencils, but one requirement stands the same for both.  Both need to have a really fantastic eraser. I mean top notch. If I could find a pencil with a Mars eraser attached to it, I would be a pretty happy camper.  But alas, I have not found such. The best erasing pencils I have found as of yet are the Staedtler Tradition and, a close second, the Faber-Castell 9000.

The last two features are where the two pencils need to differ.  Feature 1 is a need for a long lasting point, firm enough to make small narrow marks but soft enough still to fill in the bubble of a Scantron pretty fast.  Feature 2 is sort of the opposite. I need just enough lead to make a few small marks, but it needs to be as soft as I can get away with to do so, so as to fill in Scantron bubbles as fast and effectively as possible.

I have come across several which have worked pretty well, but I wonder if anyone has any other suggestions.  Here is what I have already tried:

Staedtler Tradition – (far too lightly colored lead and too hard, but great eraser)

Staedtler Norica – (lead quality is pretty good, but maybe a bit softer and not as crumbly would be preferred; sadly, the eraser on this is not the same high-quality as the one used on the Tradition)

Faber-Castel 9000 B and HB, with eraser attached – (good eraser, but a bit too hard even in the B variety; I wish they made it in a 2B)

Rhodia – (good eraser;  but the lead just does not last long enough; it’s either too soft or just crumbles a bit too much — not sure which)
Palomino HB, with eraser – (the lead is great to write with but perhaps just a bit too soft for my purposes; it wears a little too quickly; but more importantly is that the eraser is not effective enough)

Musgrave HB – (good lead, however the eraser cannot handle the leads richness)

Musgrave Test Scoring 100 – (perhaps the closest I have come to the second variety I described; good eraser and good lead quality; would love something like this only with slightly harder lead and perhaps with an eraser like the one on the Staedtler)

I’m very curious about many of the Japanese pencils I have been reading about but wonder if any are offered with an eraser (I realize this is not preferred when the pencil is of high quality most of the time).  Any advice/info would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks very much!

Please leave any and all aid you might be able to offer Ted as he advances in the law school application process!

January 12, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , | 22 Comments »

Dalton Ghetti images at Scription.

I’m not going to steal any of Patrick’s wonderful images but will, instead, let his great post and photos speak for themselves.  Read on here!

January 10, 2011 | Editor | Tags: | 2 Comments »

Marking Bone with an IKEA Pencil.

Evidently, our favorite writing/marking tool has a use that might be a little…unsettling to read about. Pencils are very good for marking bone during surgery.

“The use of a pencil to mark osteotomy cuts in craniofacial and maxillofacial surgery is well established, proving superior to methylene, Bonney’s blue, and felt tipped skin markers that struggle to transfer an ink mark to bone, or are washed away by irrigation or tissue fluids.4 5 Sterilisation, originally achieved with 18 hours of dry heat,6 is now performed by autoclaving, making a pocketful of IKEA pencils from one shopping visit last for many months­­—important in the current financial climate. The only problem is that on repeated sterilisation even the hardiest of pencil splits. Ours proceeded to extrude its graphite core before it was even removed from the protective wrapper. We have solved this problem by wrapping silicon cuffs around the pencil—maybe we could suggest this to the designers at IKEA?

Despite this, pencils remain a safe and reliable method of marking bone, making the Argos pen safe for now, at least.”

(More.)

January 5, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , , , | 7 Comments »

Review of Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener.


A few months ago, Troy contacted us about reviewing the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener, a burr-type sharpener that boasts smooth and quiet sharpening and quality construction. We took delivery of this heavy-duty green sharpener this fall and have put it through lots of tests with lots of pencils. And, golly, we have not reviewed a sharpener in ages! This is a very worthy harbinger of further sharpener reviews.  This machine is great.

Vitals:
Type: Single burr, 8mm hole.
Material: Metal body, mechanics and handle, with plastic tray and small parts.
Shavings Receptacle: Large, clear plastic tray.
Point Type: Very long.
Markings: “Pencil Sharpener”.
Place of Manufacture: ???
Availability: Official website and Ebay store..

This is, frankly, a big and heavy sharpener. I’ve heard tell of devoted Comrades carrying burr sharpeners around with them for their daily writing needs. I never do that myself. What I look for in a crank/burr sharpener is metal construction and heft, frankly. I like that this sharpener is burly and solid. It comes with mounting hardware, but I’ve never used it. Since the clips hold your pencil in place, you only need one hand to hold the body still while you crank out a nice, long (LONG) point.  You can even hold the machine in your hand (or on your lap) with one hand, while the other cranks the handle.

Watch a video of the sharpener in action.

One of the best features of this sharpener is its auto-stop. The teeth/clamp feed the pencil into the burr mechanism. You turn the crank. The pencil gets sharpened. If you are my age and remember the old sharpeners we had in school that would just eat your pencil if you didn’t stop turning the crank, you might be relieved with this sharpener. When the point is achieved, the feeder stops, and turning the crank doesn’t engage the blade any longer. I put this to the test with some completely new pencils. The auto-stop kept the pencils from getting shorter at all. On very close inspection, the graphite at the point still retains the flatness of its unsharpened state just enough to see with very good eyes. It’s sharp like a pencil, not like a pin — there are no minuscule points that will crumble immediately.  This sharpener does not eat pencils.

Speaking of the point, it makes a KUM Longpoint look…stubby.  If you like a really, really long point but are not particularly adept at whittling your pencils with a blade/knife, this might be just the sharpener for you.  Below, from left to right, are unfinished “sample” pencils with points from: Classroom Friendly Sharpener; KUM 2-step Longpoint; KUM brass wedge.  (Note the pin points on the KUMs which are ready to break off.

The smooth cranking action and sharp burrs really place this in the realm of very quiet sharpeners. When I think of the wall-mounted, decades-old behemoths that used to eat my pencils in grade school, I wish heartily that the good sisters of St. Thomas had one of these green beauties around.  The wall-mounted monstrosities were loud enough to silence even very loud math lessons from Sr. Teresa Mary.

This machine is not flawless. If there’s one thing that bothers me, it’s the teeth that grip your pencil for sharpening. This sharpener might not eat pencils the way that some burr machines do, but it does bite them a bit. This varied from indentations in thickly lacquered pencils to mini-holes in old Mirados. However, since a pencil is a tool that, by its very design, gets sharpened away anyway, these bite marks are overshadowed by what a great point you can get and how nicely this sharpener is built. I showed this to my good pal, and he said the same thing as me: So what?  It’s a pencil for writing/drawing.  And, for the record, he sharpened his pocket pencil with it and immediately wanted to know where to get one.

As it stands, it’s my favorite crank/burr sharpener to date.  I really like the vaguely retro looks of the chrome and green paint, and the metal body and heavy construction leave me thinking that my 8 1/2-month old daughter will wind up using this for school at some point.  I keep mine out in the open because it’s a handsome piece, and I definitely intend to pick up a second unit for my office.

January 3, 2011 | Editor | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments »