Sean over at Blackwing Pages is giving away a Blackwing 602 stub. If you have always wanted to try one, but never been able or willing to get one, here’s your chance! Head over to his blog and enter.
Author: Andy Welfle
Feed your oral fixation with these licorice pencils
Ahem. (Assume obnoxious infomercial announcer voice.)
HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?
You loan your pencil, perhaps a precious Blackwing or even your favorite Ticonderoga to a friend, because you are, as always, over-prepared with writing instruments, and they are, as always, under-prepared with nary a piece of loose-leaf paper on which to take notes (Why are you friends with them again)?
Your friend is, as always, grateful for your benevolence. Your meeting is done, and they return it, riddled with tooth marks. Like you gave it to them, not to take notes with, but to give them a fiber supplement.
It seems they absent-mindedly started chewing on it. With completely no regard for what they know is a borderline-unhealthy obsession with pencils.
It’s like you gave them your new puppy, and they chewed a couple paws off, and handed it back.
Maybe next time, you should get them one of these:
Cecilia Felli, an Italian designer, created this concept pencil out of licorice sticks, made from a sweet, chewy wood. When you chew on the end, you’ll get the sweet and spicy taste of licorice. And —never fear — the graphite core stops about halfway up so you have plenty of time to chew before you hit the crunchy, mineral-y center.
Of course, this design doesn’t take into account that after only your first chewing/writing session, your pencil will be left with a soggy, limp, kinda smelly pencil. I wouldn’t recommend taking that to a meeting or to school.
Also, if you’re like me you can’t sharpen a pencil with a knife without fairly deep lacerations. Can you pair this with some kind of specialized pencil sharpener?
Thanks to Geekosystem for the linkage. And here’s the original link.
The Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener
For as many different kinds of wooden pencils I use, I’m not usually too adventurous with my pencil sharpener. I usually exclusively prefer hand-held sharpeners, like my left-handed sharpener, my Palomino KUM Long-point sharpener, and the KUM Ellipse I keep in my jacket pocket almost all the time.
I remember with disdain the giant Cold War-era Boston sharpener of yore that would hungrily eat my pencil with its two giant dull grinders. It left me with a long, dull tip and the wood surrounding it half-eaten and dirty. Sure, it didn’t take as long to sharpen with that monstrocity, but it was loud, messy, and ineffective.
This summer, I got an email from Troy Decoff, who developed what he calls the “Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener“. It seemed to combine the heavy-duty nature of the wall-mounted sharpener with a smaller footprint and sharper grinders.
It operates very similarly to the Dahle Fifty-50, which I’ve reviewed on this site just over a year ago. Pull out the front, pinch the holders together, put your pencil in, and start cranking.
The benefits of this sharpener over the Dahle? Well, first, the pencil holder locks into place when it’s fully extended, unlike the Dahle, and it’s sturdier, with an all-metal case. And, most importantly, the point is much much longer.
Look how sharp! Buffy the Vampire Slayer would appreciate this sharpener.
While the point is not quite as long with the Palomino KUM Long-point Sharpener, it’s still very long. And very sharp. If the two-step manual process of the Palomino sharpener is too hard, this will be much easier.
One disadvantage is that, much like the Dahle, the grippers will leave a mark on the barrel of the pencil. If you’re just using, say, a Ticonderoga, it’s no biggie, but I don’t want to ruin the nice sheen on my Blackwing or my Hi-Uni!
I’ve brought it to work and keep it at my desk. It’s perfect because it’s quiet enough to not disturb my office-mates, and it’s quick enough to re-sharpen a dull pencil in less than 10 seconds.
Thanks, Troy, for making such a great product! I like this much better than most of the desktop electric sharpeners you see at office supply stores nowadays.
The Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener | $19.95 from Classroom Friendly Supplies.com
Some great photos of the California Republic Stationers-branded notebooks
As a follow-up from my post last week about the Palomino-branded notebooks, I just ran across these photos from Studio 602, the Pencils.com blog, featuring paper products to compliment the Palomino Blackwing, the Palomino, and the ForestChoice line. Click to embiggenfy.
These are perhaps my favorite, at least judging by the photos. It looks liek there’s a leather 5.5×8.5 clasp notebook, maybe an oilskin, Moleskine-style notebook, and some kind of cahier of unknown cover material with some illustrations on it. That Blackwing-man illustration was done by a very talented pencil artist Mogodore J. Bivouac when I worked at Pencils.com. I’m glad to see it gracing the cover of a notebook!
I’d love to see something with a sharkskin blue-grey color like the PB 602s, as well — the jet black looks dashing with the black PBs, and though it looks good with the 602s, a matching grey leather would be really cool.
This is the Palomino-branded line, with much the same — a clasp notebook, some Moleskiney things, and some cahiers, it looks like. What really stands out to me in this picture is the tall, skinny notebook directly underneath the single, orange Palomino pencil: it looks like it’s a narrower size than a standard 5.5×8.5 notebook. Maybe something like 4.5×8.5? This is purely conjecture, as this photo’s perspective could be off.
In any case, it looks really nice. As I’ve said before, it’s hard to do a black-and-orange brand without it looking like it’s Halloween-themed. Rhodia does it well, and I think this product line has captured it too.
I’m a big fan of the blue Palominos; it’s one of my favorite shades of blue, and the white eraser looks great perched atop the barrel. I would love to see a blue notebook, too!
That CalRepublic product that I’ve maybe used the least are the ForestChoice pencils. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that when faced with the thick, glossy, colorful Palominos or Golden Bears, or the superior-quality Palomino Blackwings, these envrionmentally friendly cousins take a backseat, at least in my pencil box. Nothing personal, ForestChoice.
These are interesting, and perhaps the closest match as far as branding look-and-feel between the pencils and paper products. Those little notebooks with the elastic band look like something you could get at Target (that’s a compliment! Really!).
What I like the best from this photo is the tall, skinny steno pad, almost the shape of a reporter’s notepad, which I used for years throughout college in my journalism classes and working at a local paper. I would use this pad quite a bit, for notetaking at meetings where I am standing up, for shopping lists, to-do items, etc. It looks like it’s a bit more everyday-functional than the other lines.
In any case, bravo, Pencils.com! I can’t wait to see this in real life (or IRL, as the kids say)!
What’s next? This may never happen, but I’d love to see a Golden Bear or Spangle line of notebooks for school that may be just a smidgen higher quality (and higher cost) than a Mead notebook. Or perhaps a line of hand-erasers or more sharpeners akin to the Palomino KUM long-point sharpener.
What do you think of the photos above?
Premium Palomino Blackwing-branded notebooks
Note of disclosure: I am no longer employed by California Cedar Products or Pencils.com — though I am still their biggest fan
If you follow Pencils.com on Twitter (@pencilscom), you may have seen this tweet hit the webbernets:
Although I’ve known this was coming for a while, I have no idea what they’re going to look like or when, exactly, they’ll be hitting the virtual stands. But I know I’ll be wanting one or a few with my last, dying breath.
The Gold Fibre Ampad writing pad with antique ivory pages. Great quality paper, lined front/checked back, and all around old-timey fun!
So that’s pretty exciting. I’m still loving my Palomino Blackwing 602s, and I’ve been wanting something nice upon which to write with it. My usual meeting note-taking paper tablet is this retro-rific Gold Fibre pad by Ampad (or its 8.5×11″ counterpart), but it’s not the most formal thing you’ll ever see, you know? And although I have several pad-folios, they take up a lot of room, room in my bag that competes for space with my laptop, charging cord, various pencil and pen wraps and other things that I’ve collected via my borderline hoarder tendencies.
Speaking of Palomino Blackwing branding, I love the new packaging for the Palomino and Blackwing brands, don’t you? Charles sent me this the romance shot the other day (click to embiggen the pencil geekery goodness):
The graphite drawings on the Palomino graphites are stunning, and I love the vivacity of the colored pencil line. (I assume this photo was taking by the very talented Sue Tallon, a still-life photographer who Pencils.com uses for stellar product shots.)
I’ll let you know when the notebooks are released, and I may even have a review up here!
Meanwhile, what pencils and paper products have you been using lately?
Woodclinched 