For several months, whenever I’ve been too lazy to use my wall mounted sharpener, I’ve been sharpening my drawing and list-making pencils into a small glass on the coffee table. I’ve used grades from H to 9B, as well as Ebony, Layout, carpenter’s and water soluble pencils.

Over that time I developed a habit of rapping the glass against the table a time or two to send the graphite dust down through the shavings before leaving my sharpener and eraser on top. It started as a way to keep things clean, but as the layer of graphite grew at the bottom of the glass, I started thinking there had to be something I could do with it.

Eventually I scooped out the wood shavings and ended up with more than a 1/4″ layer of gritty black shards, fine dust and larger lead pieces. While pure graphite powder makes a great dry lubricant for things like sticky door locks, this was anything but pure. It contained all manner of fine wood shavings, paint chips, and who knows what else. I could have tried filtering it somehow, but it still would have enough clay, wax and other additives mixed in that I wouldn’t want to use it as a lubricant.

In the end I decided I would try reusing the mix for its original intended purpose, marking on paper. That translated into an experiment in graphite fingerpainting, the results of which you can see below.

Some tips if you try this yourself:

1 – Use loose leaf paper. I didn’t and it was very difficult to funnel the leftover graphite dust back into the cup without making a mess.

2 – Be sure there aren’t any unwanted indentations in the paper…because they’ll be highlighted by the graphite rub. I’d drawn a stick figure on the previous page of my sketchbook and its head was clearly visible on this page.

3 – Try making a shaded field and using an eraser to subtract an image from it. Tell people you did this on purpose, not that you made a big gray mess with an accidental circle in it and the eraser was the only way to make it look like anything recognizable.

4 – Think about how you’re going to clean your fingers off before you start. This way you won’t end up with black marks all over the bathroom door knob and light switch.

(Text and images, L.L.  Used with kind permission.)

Today’s product review salutes the remarkable Layout pencil, made in the U.S.A. by General’s. Here is a look at a hardworking pencil that defies the traditional grading system, making a pronouncedly bold and dark mark while retaining a sharp point. From the General’s factory in Jersey City, the Layout pencil earns its keep in my arsenal as a sturdy companion in writing and bookbinding.

The Layout of the Land:
Wood casing: Sustained-yield California incense cedar wood.
Shape: Round.
Finish: Gloss black, with white embossed titling.
Titling / Inscription: USA Since 1889 ; GENERAL’S Layout ; Extra Black ; No 555.
Core: Extra Black Graphite, ungraded.
Note: The General’s Layout pencils are untipped (without eraser), pre-sharpened, and made in U.S.A.
Availability: May be purchased singly, blister-packed pairs, or in boxes of a dozen, at art supply stores such as Utrecht Art, Blick Art Materials, Jerry’s Artarama, as examples. (My source is Utrecht Art, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.)

Perhaps due to its dark-marking, shape, and absence of an eraser, the Layout is billed as an “art” pencil. The manufacturer’s description cites the “extra smooth, extra black graphite,” which is “ideal for outlining and sketching,” and “used by animators since the 1930s.” The retailer Utrecht Art Supply cites the “soft and smooth graphite for deep, black lines and easy blending,” and Blick Art Materials’ catalogue advertises how “This versatile pencil is great for art, sketching, and layout work.” For years, I’ve been using the General’s Layout for basic writing — as well as for drawing and bookbinding. The slightly thicker diameter (as well as graphite core) provides for an easy grip. What I’ve always found extraordinary about the Layout is how this very dark-writing, somewhat soft pencil maintains a sharp point through a lot of use. Minimal sharpening is needed, and unlike most drawing pencils, the Layout doesn’t smear. That makes this pencil ideal for Rite-in-the-Rain paper’s waxy-finished water-resistant paper (see above photo). In the photo below, I’ve used the Layout in a journal made by Field Notes. Note how expressively I can make my accents! Imagine writing with a 3B that resists dulling like an H.

An all-purpose pencil for writing, art, and any craft requiring a bold and precise marking instrument, the Layout is a time-honored favorite. The term “layout,” is a vestige from the era of graphic design done-by-hand, with angled drawing boards, tracing vellum, t-squares, and photostat-cameras. The work of a layout artist involved diagramming and sketching out the sequences of advertisements, posters, publications, signs, etc. Well-drawn lines make the difference, in this kind of work. As the pencil’s name recalls the craft of manual graphic arts, the box design does the same with a pleasantly archaic cursive typeface. In the photo below, the General’s Layout finds its place among my bookbinding and paper conservation tools. Just a few sharpening turns, and the Layout joins my lunch break journaling.

For a typical restoration project, it is vital to have a marking pencil that is as bold as it is fine. I have to measure materials as diverse as coarse bookcloth and thin kozo tissue with great care so that all the part fit precisely together. The photo below shows a before-and-after of a 19th century casebound book’s textblock, with the early stages of case (cover) restoration.

In the next photo (below), the Layout is still sharp enough after marking the replacement fabric to provide bold and easily-followed marks on bristol board (for the new spine) and on smooth Permalife paper (for the new endsheets). The first photo in this pair may remind faithful pencil-users about the ways many of us perpetuate the practice of holding a pencil behind an ear. That’s a uniquely pencil-using and ancient gesture, keeping the writing instrument instantly at the ready. The Layout’s thickness, round contour, and glossy finish make it really hold well behind my ear! There’s plenty to be said for “stick-to-it-iveness.”

There’s also plenty to be said for having the right tools for the job. Here (photo below), the Layout has helped me get the restored spine to the exact size needed, such that I can graft it beneath the original 1880s board cloth. I maintain as many of the original components as possible, so that the book maintains its intrinsic grandeur while also being strong enough for library patrons to leaf through. We archivists like to refer to “preservation and access” as principles to our work.

Layout pencil back in the tool box (or perhaps over my ear), the book is all done and ready for the drying process. Notice the original spine-titling has been adhered to the new spine (of course with acid-free PVA + methylcellulose adhesive I mix myself).

By now, you can guess that I give the General’s Layout pencil the highest marks (indeed, bold, jet-black, and thus paradoxically rigid marks), also recommending you buy a bunch of these — so that a few are left in a tool box, your desk, a pencil case, kitchens, musical instrument cases, etc. The best sharpeners I’ve found for these are the small, handheld steel pointers (I use a Staedtler), which can encompass the Layout’s contour. If you need to erase some of those bold marks, white plastic erasers work best (and are archival, too). Happy Writing! Bonne Ecriture! Think of the upcoming Spring season as a layout for new written ventures. Are your pencils sharpened?

[Text and images, Speculator.  Used with kind permission.]

Joshua from Neko Heavy Industries (also check out the Etsy store!) sent us some very fine sketchbooks this winter — hell, he MADE us the giraffe print custom edition!  After a thorough run-through, WOW.

Vitals:
Cover Material: Faux fur-covered library book cover..
Paper: 216 g/m2 (80#) and Acid-Free.
Binding: “Patented nylon over steel cable with a steel ball and socket closure”.
Size: Assorted; Aprox. 7×10 inches.
Page Count: 50 sheets (100 pages).
Unique Characteristics: Replaceable paper, HEAVY construction, plastic internal protector sheet, custom ordering.
Origin: USA/handmade.
Availability: Neko2′s Etsy store and Neko Heavy Industries.

The flagship model of this review is a custom book made, in part, from the cover of an old book.  The giraffe material is securely and carefully glued onto the old book.  Only, unlike some others I’ve seen, these babies have brass-reinforced holes for  the rings and for the archor which holds the truly beefy elastic in place.  Don’t let the faux fur fool you; this book can take a beating.

The “rings” are actually cables with steel ball-and-socket closures that open easily and close securely.  This means that you can refill the book (Neko sells refills), remove pages, add pages (the holes are standard-spaced), and more the included plastic sheet.  This sheet is designed to protect the pages from ink, but it’s also excellent for preventing ghosting of the graphite onto other pages.

The paper is WHITE and SMOOTH as you’d ever want sketch paper to be.  Graphite glides effortlessly and wonderfully.  But — the real kicker is that it does so with pencils that are not as smooth as, say, a Palomino or soft-grade pencil.  The only other paper on which I have this kind of pencil-smoothness experience is Rhodia paper.  This paper is much thicker and stiffer.  While paper that is too smooth (like glossy paper) is practically useless for pencil, this paper remains tough/toothed enough to take on graphite and provide a smooth sketching surface for pencils.  It’s smooth enough that you can actually write with your very-soft Blackwings, while still being able to sketch and draw and get some darkness out of that famed graphite with a little pressure.  Frankly, and I don’t have a lot of experience with paper that’s this…nice.  But I’m really liking it and will certainly get more such experience filling up my Neko Heavy Industries book.

Neko Heavy Industries sketchbooks also win the day on presentation.  The giraffe book came with a custom sleeve, indicating paper type, etc.  For lack of a better phrase, this book felt like something bought from a local artisan shop while traveling, and definitely not like your run-of-the-mill “handmade sketchbook.”  Joshua tells me that he’s been making this books for over a decade, and the craftsmanship really shows.

He also sent a small, brown-covered notebook made from vintage office papers.  I would be remiss not to mention it, since I’ve wound up severely attached to it and wishing these were available long-term.

There’s something fun about writing on paper with oddly spaced lines and margins, and the alternating blank pages make this a great pocket notebook and sketchbook.

Speaking of portable sketchbooks, there are also Neko Heavy Industries spiral-bound, smaller sketchbooks, made from recycled covers.  I know, right, big deal — tons of people on Etsy make/sell these.  Having some experience with these types of books, I can say for sure that Neko’s are a [very huge] cut above the rest.

The spirals are tightly-inserted (I’d love to know how they do this), with perfectly drilled (?) holes and finely rounded corners that (sorry, guys), put Moleskines and Field Notes to shame.  Even better, this paper is hardly distinguishable from Rhodia paper by site and feel (minus the lack of graph lines, of course).  And, if you care about your paper and writing/drawing implements, you know that is very high praise indeed!  Mine has a cover from Burn After Reading, and I think my better half might steal it.

In the end, you’d do yourself favor to score yourself some goods from Neko Heavy Industries — unless supremely smooth paper, careful craftsmanship and versatility upset you.  You’d do yourself a BIG favor.  Spending your hard-earned paper/pencil/pen money on beautiful books made by hand (not some faceless corporation) and getting some of the best and most heavy duty books around is win-win, if you ask me.  I can’t decide if the mega-durable construction or the paper is what I like best about these books.  But, then again, I don’t have to decide.  They have both, and that’s what counts.  And, frankly, for what Neko charges, you can’t beat it.

1) Thoreau made pencils.
2) Some of these surveys still have pencil marks on them.  And who doesn’t enjoy a good chart of a woodlot?
3) Why not?

“The Concord Free Library received some money from AT&T to scan and host actual hand-drawn maps from Thoreau, with his notes in pencil (his own?) and ink, in his very…difficult handwriting.”

(Read more.)

[Image, P.  Used with permission.]

4) I’ve read about your extensive bullet pencil collection, with considerable jealousy. What attracts you to this type of pencil, and how did you build your collection?

First off, it’s the compact quality. I love having a tight little drawing tool in the front pocket at all times, and I’m here to tell ya, these little sonofabitches have saved my butt many a time…on airplanes, in meetings, in a pinch, wherever. I always keep one in the front, left pocket of my 501s.

I’ve kind of given up on erasers of any sort in these little guys, as the kind you’d score from a junk store or estate sale are old, old relics and the erasers are dried way up and dead. Rock hard, usually. So, there’s this certain model that didn’t come with an eraser, and just had a plastic tipped end. I collect these ferociously, with a good 20 or so hoarded away. Now, the classic type with the erasers, shit, I’ve got a couple hundred of those bad boys.

What I love about them the most, is how banal they were back in the day. Simple, cheap advertising tools given away at local businesses. Feed-n-seed joints, car lots, insurance agents, what have you. Just crappy little promo items that packed a real wallop. I’ve got a couple old salesman sample sets. Old and beat up, and a look into what it was like to have a guy sit down and say, “Here’s what we can do for your company.” So good.

I’ve built my collection junkin’ across America—scouring the dirtiest of estate sales, garage sales, junk stores, antique malls and the occasional eBay lot. You can score them in the Midwest pretty regularly, across the rustbelt and great plains. Farmers used these things. I guess a lot of them are collector’s items. I could care less. I use the things, and never pay more than eight bucks or so for them.

5) Despite the return of the famous Blackwing, pencils in America seem to be on the decline today. Models are canceled, and most companies have moved their production out of the USA. Can you comment on the current pencil offerings available in the United States in 2011?

I’m no authority on this stuff, so I’ll tread lightly here. I know this much, it’s harder and harder to make an American Made promo pencil. And, with good imprint applications that aren’t stock type crap. I was lucky enough to get a monster order in just before Christmas and man, love these things. Hex pencils, people!

6) The Field Notes pencil is downright gorgeous. With its round shape, lack of paint and green eraser, it’s obvious that a lot of thought went into it. Can you tell us a little about the design process and what made you choose its current form?

Like all Field Notes products, we started with the direction that the thing had to be natural at all costs. Finding the source with the green eraser was a happy accident. Plus, the cedar wood just smells so nice. Those things take a beating, just like our memo books! I have a pile of them all beat to shit, still kickin’ after a couple years on the scene. Those pencils WILL NOT disappoint.

7) Are there any upcoming pencil accouterments from DDC and/or Field Notes to which Comrades might look forward? Pencil clips? Bullet pencils? Brown sharpeners with black Futura print on them?

After an exhaustive search for the perfect pencil sharpener from existing sources, we gave up on that shit and started drawing up plans with a couple Midwestern Tool & Die manufacturers to craft the ultimate hand held sharpener unit. We’re still at the point of initial CAD drawings, blade strength options and ballistic grade metal sourcing. If we can pull these little buggers off, man, they are going to rule. Just you wait. They’ll be something to marvel at. And, get the job done for the ages!

We’ve got some leather stuff coming down the pipe for Field Notes made right here in Portland by our friends at Tanner Goods. Very, very excited about this project. And yes, there’s Futura Bold on these new items. You can take that one to the bank.

MANY MANY thanks to Aaron for helping to spread writing/noting/drawing joy, the world over!

[Images, A.D. Used with permission.]

1) Pencils are strongly represented in the DDC “longhand” series, and the Field Notes pencil seems to follow the eponymous notebooks in adventures all over the planet.  What do you like about pencils so much?

There’s just something simple and soothing about them. I mean, I don’t want to get too existential about bonded lead or anything, but, hell, there’s just so much possibility in each one! It freaks me out. That little pencil…the tool aspect…is this little gateway to a million ideas. I think about that kind of stuff with each one I crack into. In a world where things are more and more compacted, complicated, sped up and digitized, a regular old wood pencil is always there for you. Never needing to be recharged, you know?

The more I think about it, the more pencils—on some weird level—represent “complete freedom.” Freedom from digital ubiquity and predictability. There something cool about how you feel human when using a pencil. That feeling goes away the back to guys shaping rocks into cutting tools and stuff, I’d reckon. Or, maybe only in my head!

I like feeling one with the paper. Like this odd sense of “get it down now, or it’ll be forever gone” fills my head and hands, and I just go to work. Impermanent. Graphite can be erased. Imperfect. My hands screw up all the time. Interesting. The lines vary and never come out quite like you expected them to. I hope I’m making sense, readers!

2) What are some of your favorite pencils?  Vintage, current, perhaps a great individual find?  What do you look for in a pencil?

Basically, anything that’s natural wood, and, hexagonal! Now, for the readers, who are undoubtedly “masters of the genre,” this might sound a little vague. Basically, anything that feels good in the hand. I usually go after softer leads. Just so I can sketch and keep shit freed up. Also, if the thing is “Made in the U.S.A.” that always send a little jolt up the wrist. And finally, there’s just something incredible about an old pencil that’s seen 60 years whip by. Never, ever throw out an old pencil. Respect yer elders, citizens!

To try and get brand-specific, I had a good run with a pack of pencils by Papermate called “American Naturals.” Unfinished wood, made in the States and hexagonal. Good feel to those little guys. Still using the last one of the litter.

3) What is your preferred way to sharpen a pencil?  Blade-type-manual-sharpener, crank model, Bowie knife?

Forever, I’ve simply used my pocket knife to keep things sharp. I like the little pile of shavings it makes! I grew up with a wall mount Berol that hung over the stairs down to our basement. So there was this sense of floating when you’d lean around the wall, and hang on the pencil sharpener while sharpening. I haven’t thought of that one in a long time. Awesome. That’s what I remember.

In my junkin’ over the years, I’ve amassed a healthy collection of vintage pencil sharpeners. In fact, that’s one of the first things I look for when I enter an estate sale garage or basement workshop. And shit, I just pry that thing right off the wall and put it in my pile. Rescued! Even if I don’t use it, it’ll go to a buddy who needs one. The idea of some half-ass estate sale worker tearing it off and throwing it out just makes me sick to my stomach. So I always grab them!

Stay tuned this week for the second half of the interview, and MEGA thanks to Aaron for agreeing to do this!

[Images, A.D. Used with permission.]

More photos to come.  Mine’s full of carpenter’s pencils and assorted pencil gear.

Last week, Dan shaved one down, lit it, and the flame bore straight through the work table.  In addition to giving a pencil fine points, a magnesium sharpener, it seems, can work as a fire starter.  What’s more: if you have no knife but do (for whatever reason) have a screwdriver, you can shave the magnesium with the sharpener’s own blade, in a bizarre act of pencil-gear-self-destruction.

We need to do a more thorough How-To about pencil sharpener fire starting, and soon.  Maybe our first video?

Needless to say, don’t try this at home.  Dan and are both old Eagle Scouts with fire experience and, hell, he’s a professional fireman!

We actually had a very fantastically pencilicious evening, complete with woodworking, fire and beer buried in snow. We made pencil boxes from reclaimed oak and discovered a survivalist aspect of KUM wedge sharpeners.  More posts to come!

Edit: Mr. PJ tells me this:

Hey, John, glad your evening like mine was fun.  The photo’s of my grandparents’ hand-cranked, which I first saw in my   grandparents’ home in the old sun  parlour.  It had  several bookcases  my granddad had built.  The sharpener was secured to the top of one case  — which sadly fell apart during a move for my grandmother years ago.  So I salvaged the sharpener with my grandmother’s  permission.  Thus the old sharpener enjoys its  high  place on the files.  This oldie was also  used   by my granddad in his studies while attending  drawing  classes.  I am sure it sharpened  many a pencil used in his architectural  drawings.  I still use it, though it’s not secured.  I enjoy the fact that it still works so well.  pjkelley