Pencil Points

Breathing new life into an old bullet pencil

/ Andy Welfle / 3 Comments

I added a Palomino Prospector pencil to this bullet pencil.

Inspired by the excellent tutorial over on The Jungle is Neutral on restoring bullet pencils (a follow-up to a great post about the history of bullet pencils), I decided to whip out the Dremel and do a little work on one of my favorites.

I started by sanding the glaze off the eraser. I should have used a finer grain on the sandpaper for a smoother finish (and also a steadier hand), but it’s functional now! I’ve seen better, but I can now erase a pencil mark from a piece of paper with this eraser.  Continue reading →

Happy Anniversary, Pencil Talk

/ Andy Welfle / 1 Comment

PencilTalk.org has been around for 5 years, which is no easy feat for any blog, let alone one about a specific topic like pencils. It is one of my favorite blogs to read, and I draw much inspiration from Stephen.

If you’ve never been there (though I suspect you have), go check it out. Stephen is one of the best photographers I’ve seen.

Pencil sampler packs: A good idea?

/ Andy Welfle / 7 Comments

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but the reason I decided to start writing about pencil was because I bought a California Republic sampler pack from PencilThings. As I recall, it had a Palomino, a Prospector, a Golden Bear, and a ForestChoice, and it was only three or four dollars! It was such a steal, and I think it taught me to appreciate pencils as an instrument for writing, rather than a throwaway item.

PencilThings no longer sells a sampler pack, and I can’t figure out where to get them. I’ve been thinking about selling sampler packs of various pencils on this site, not really to make a profit, but as an educational outreach tool. I could sell a 4- or 5-pack for $5 or less, and include a letter explaining some of the finer points of using the pencil. What do you think about that idea?

Some of the ideas I’ve had:

Pencils from Around the World:

  1. Palomino (USA)
  2. Chung Hwa 6151 (China)
  3. Hi Uni or Tombow (Japan)
  4. Staedtler Mars Lumograph (Germany)
  5. Helix Oxford (UK)

California Republic Sampler:

  1. Palomino
  2. Golden Bear
  3. Forest Choice
  4. Prospector
  5. Palomino Blackwing

Fine Writing Sampler

  1. Palomino Blackwing
  2. Palomino
  3. Tombow Mono
  4. Faber Castell 9000

Triangular Sampler

  1. Golden Bear Triangular
  2. Dixon Tri-conderoga
  3. Marco Grip-tite

Do you have any ideas? Would you get any of these sampler packs for friends you’re trying to evangelize pencils to?

Checking in

/ Andy Welfle / 1 Comment

Whew! It’s been a busy week here at the Woodclinchery, what with my day job, some medical emergencies in the family, and whatnot. I missed the Open Thread Tuesday, for which I apologize. I’ll be back soon, with my Chung Hwa 6151 review! I’m putting it through all the trials and tribulations I can think of. So far, it’s really nice.

Meanwhile, check out this little 4chan cartoon. This was totally me in 4th grade.

Write for Palimpsest!

/ Andy Welfle / Leave a comment

The Powers That Be over at Palimpsest are accepting submissions for their Pick-a-Pen and Post-a-Stub page! If you have a story to share about your favorite writing instrument, and don’t have a blog, or simply want to diversify your byline, check it out. Tell ’em Andy sent you. I think I’ll be submitting something too, as soon as I figure out what to talk about. I do have some good pen stories… Continue reading →