I've ordered several times from Field Notes and received some of their pencils and pens along with my memo books. The recent present also included a pencil, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to actually use it and post a comment. The above isn't the best picture of pencil and scribbles, but it will have to do.
First, I love this color scheme. Cedar, black, silver, and mint green are a very pretty combination and so I'd keep these pencils around just to look at them. The cedar wood actually gives off a faint smell when sharpened, making me think of early American one-room school houses and general stores--places more likely to use pencils than fountain pens to write out homework and orders.
The Field Notes pencil is a standard #2, a wonderful soft graphite and clay mix set in a round (not hexagonal) casing. On one side is the Field Notes logo in black ink (dachshund's nose, I think). The other side has a great "About This Pencil" note: Lacquer-free Renewable Cal-Cedar Wood Casing, Recyclable Aluminum Ferrule, Enviro-Green Degradable Eraser and Certified Non-Toxic Imprint Inks.
It also writes, quite well in fact. A keeper, on my desk, for quick notes.
Wood-cased pencils may be something of an acquired taste for some folks, Diane. I've used the redoubtable Staedtler-Mars Lumograph for decades since my mechanical drawing days in high school. Recently I've ordered California Palominos (from www.pencils.com, if memory serves me), and bought Derwent from nearby Hobby Lobby and Michael's. Get yourself a quality manual sharpener/pointer, too, such as M + S, KUM, or Alvin.
ReplyDeleteI buy the darker grades, usually 4B or thereabouts, and that helped nudge me back to more regular use of a fountain pen, too. I kept wondering why the ballpoints and rollerballs I was using didn't give me the smooth dark line of the pencil. Well, duh, it's the ink! Duh, it's the nib geometry!
Thanks for the post, PB!
My standard pencil when I'm using one is also a California Republic Palomino, though I'm partial to softer leads (HB is my mainstay).
ReplyDeleteAnyone else out there using wood-cased pencils? Any thoughts on their use, or suggestions for good e-tailers? (If you're like me, and you live outside our larger cities, you probably want a bricks-and-mortar shop for your 4Ps stash. 4Ps? Pens, paper, pencils, penmanship.)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Diane, they are California Republic Palominos. Thanks for the post, Diane!
Jack/Youngstown
I really like these pencils. There is just something wonderful about writing with a nice, soft-lead pencil. I've purchased 2B leads for my mechanical pencils and love the softer lead.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: that's M + R sharpeners above, not M + S, as I mistakenly said. M + R makes a little featherweight magnesium puppy (and others) at about $2. A quality manual sharpener working a premium pencil yields an economical continuous shaving and needle-sharp point. Lesser pencils and sharpeners are prone to ratcheting and breakage. Yep, I have a pencil-chewing electric sharpener, but I use it rarely these days.
ReplyDeleteJack/Youngstown
So an M+R manual sharpener is the way to go? Where do I find these? I'd rather not use the electric sharpener anymore.
ReplyDeleteOnline shopping: www.pencils.com has a nice selection of KUM sharpeners, including models similar to M + R.
ReplyDeletewww.pencilthings.com also is well-stocked, and includes pencil extenders. Wondering how to use those last two inches of a costly drafting pencil? Extenders slip on to your pencil and are held in place with a compression ring. They work, and they look good.
www.alvinco.com is a super reference site, and can direct you to online and local retailers. Alvin carries M + R sharpeners, and also distributes the more difficult to find Dux and Dahle sharpeners. It’s also a source for French-made Maped.
www.dickblick.com, the art supplies’ powerhouse, has a store, Blick Art Materials, at 1-5 Bond Street, NYC.
I found my M + R sharpener blister-packed as Baumgarten’s, an Atlanta wholesaler if my memory is okay. I had to look closely: the sharpener is German-made of magnesium, and sold for under $2 at my local state university bookstore.
In a yellowed display box in an off-campus bookstore, I found an extraordinary manual sharpener, also made in Germany, that I bought for around $4. A spring-loaded aperture cover gives onto the blades and shavings’ canister. This looks as though the freshly sharpened pencil point ought to splinter as the cover returns to close up the sharpener. But, it works just fine. The overall size is about that of two boxes of penny matches.
The ubiquitous dozen-for-a-dollar wood-cased pencils sold to school kids have given people a misleading idea that pencils are inherently inferior. Do yourself a favor: get a dozen quality pencils (about $10 or $15), a good sharpener, and an extender.
Thanks, Diane, for letting me post this extended length comment. PB readers are very hip, but they may be less familiar with wood-cased pencils.
Jack/Youngstown
Also for premium wooden pencils you might want to have a look at the Jet Pens offerings particularly the Uniball Hi-Uni and Penmanship versions along with the Tombow Mono 100. I am currently keeping an eye out for the new Derwent pencil extenders 2-packs that are already listed as "out of stock" at Jerry's Artarama. They seem to have the same design as the Kutsuwa versions, but one if for 7 mm and the other is for wider 8 mm pencils.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zuzu, and thanks for the tips, B2-kun.
ReplyDeleteJack/Youngstown
Just ordered Alvin aluminum pencil extenders, similar in appearance to Derwent and Kutsuwa, at my local drafting and surveyors' equipment supply shop.
ReplyDeleteJack/Youngstown
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