The Crazy Old Pencil Guy

[Zookie]

OK, I admit it. I 've become a fanatical pencil collector and not ashamed of it! My latest thing is a quest for unfinished "green" pencils, of which I've managed to gather quite a few.

While out shopping, my wife and I went to a dollar store where they are selling what is called Ticonderoga Renew pencils. Made in China of course. Made from wood scraps, they are unfinished with the green and yellow ferrule, a green eraser, and nice green imprint. Ten in the box for 1.25 usd. 

They look very similar to the Palomino Forest choice and Musgrave Greenbelt.

If anyone is interested, I'll do a test of the three.

Doug T. (aka Zookie) 😀

[Sailor Kenshin]

Yes please…I've been playing with pencils lately.

[Zookie]

Due to an apparent lack of interest, I'll send you the three along with my thoughts on each.

Send me a pm with your address, and I'll get it out to you.

Thanks,

 

Doug

[Sailor Kenshin]

2 hours ago, Zookie said:

Due to an apparent lack of interest, I'll send you the three along with my thoughts on each.

Send me a pm with your address, and I'll get it out to you.

Thanks,

 

Doug

Oh my…do you mean me?

 

PM sent!

[Anne-Sophie]

Doug, I have just seen your post.

 

Right now, people are busy, so they might come to FPN, a lot less.

 

Because pencils are so versatile, and maintenance free, they are perfect to take on vacation, start up a youngster interested in drawing, practice handwriting, etc...

 

New pencils are always good to know about, the lead hardness is very much like nib width. 

[Gloucesterman]

I too would be interested in a pencil review.

I have a few pencils that I have picked up at a local fund raising shop where people donate stuff and the money they make supports the local food pantry.

I even bought a NOS Boston (?) wall mount pencil sharpener which I am planning to sell/give away at the Commonwealth Pen Show (Boston, MA) in September.

[Zookie]

I apologize for being snarkey. It's been a rough week and I've been a bear lately. 😬

[dipper]

On 7/5/2022 at 8:54 PM, Zookie said:

My latest thing is a quest for unfinished "green" pencils, .....

Green, as in "green timber"? No paintwork, or varnish. Just the bare smooth wood - so good to hold in the hand?

 

I do like that type of pencil, especially vintage examples:

From the top down:

1 ) Faber-Castell "PITT OIL BASE". Current production. Could be excluded from the "green" pencil list because has a very thin varnish sealant on the surface. But included because these are my favourite drawing pencils.

2 ) Wolff's Carbon, made by Royal Sovereign. Another artist's pencil. Has a curious unique texture to the lead.

3 ) "National Westminster Bank" HB office pencil.

4 & 5 ) My rarest "green" pencils. Not for using, these two are just for holding and musing about their history. Manufactured for the British Stationery Office "S. O." marked. I guess 1950s - 1960s but could be older? "The Stationery Office" was established in Britain in 1786 to arrange the supply of stationery to government departments.

 

 

[Zookie]

I was thinking of any pencil that has no lacquer or finish. Here in the states , the manufacturers call these "green" pencils.

They're just pencils to me.

The others are called "natural finish" these are the ones with a clear finish. I have quite a few of these as well.

The Musgrave Bugle is one of my favorites. They have a nice website, well worth checking out.

[Gloucesterman]

4 hours ago, Zookie said:

I was thinking of any pencil that has no lacquer or finish. Here in the states , the manufacturers call these "green" pencils.

They're just pencils to me.

The others are called "natural finish" these are the ones with a clear finish. I have quite a few of these as well.

The Musgrave Bugle is one of my favorites. They have a nice website, well worth checking out.

It would be appreciated if you were able to share website links and addresses here.

Thank you.

[FlyingClay]

@Zookie Long time pencil nut and collector here too.  I've actually been collecting pencils for the better part of 50 years.  I collect both wooden and mechanical pencils.  I was also a technical draftsman for many years in a previous life, so beyond just pencils I collect all manner of things related to technical drawing also, but it all started with wooden pencils.  I have more wood pencils than I could possibly ever use in (50) lifetimes

 

Fascinating history behind pencils, and far more complex in many regards than even fountain pens (which have a very interesting, albeit much more intuitive historical trajectory).

 

I don't think you'll have to worry about a 'lack of interest' in pencils here, certainly not from my perspective!

 

 

[Gloucesterman]

6 hours ago, FlyingClay said:

@Zookie Long time pencil nut and collector here too.  I've actually been collecting pencils for the better part of 50 years.  I collect both wooden and mechanical pencils.  I was also a technical draftsman for many years in a previous life, so beyond just pencils I collect all manner of things related to technical drawing also, but it all started with wooden pencils.  I have more wood pencils than I could possibly ever use in (50) lifetimes

 

Fascinating history behind pencils, and far more complex in many regards than even fountain pens (which have a very interesting, albeit much more intuitive historical trajectory).

 

I don't think you'll have to worry about a 'lack of interest' in pencils here, certainly not from my perspective!

 

 

This thread is definitely piquing my interest in pencils.

A recent purchase of a (for me) large group of pens included one sterling silver mechanical pencil. A much more knowledgeable friend is fixing it and has identified it as a "stockbroker's" pencil.

I am looking forward to getting it back and using it on a regular basis. It has a serpent style pocket clip and no eraser. I will post a picture when it comes home.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have a golf pencil.  And I don't play golf.

[Gloucesterman]

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have a golf pencil.  And I don't play golf.

You could use it if you just putter around the kitchen if you want.

 

It's interesting to think that at times in the past many/most people carried a pencil with them and used them for notes and letters.

 

Does anyone know why people licked the point of a pencil? I have seen it in old movies and long ago several times in person.

[Sailor Kenshin]

25 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

You could use it if you just putter around the kitchen if you want.

 

It's interesting to think that at times in the past many/most people carried a pencil with them and used them for notes and letters.

 

Does anyone know why people licked the point of a pencil? I have seen it in old movies and long ago several times in person.

I see what you did there!  🤣

 

I've seen pencil-licking in the movies, too, and I don't know why either.  Maybe they liked the taste?

[dipper]

7 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Does anyone know why people licked the point of a pencil?

When a sharpened pencil has been worn down with use, and you don't have a knife or sharpener in your pocket, what can you do?

Eventually you wear the tip down to the thin hard slivers of wood surrounding the tip of pencil "lead" ("strip" is the actual name).

So you lick the tip of the pencil. The hard thin slivers of wood soften and collapse slightly. The "strip" can press down unimpeded onto the paper again, and the pencil start writing.

 

The best pencils do taste nice also!

[Zookie]

I promised a pencil test, and have a little time this moning, so here it is. This is, I believe, my first test of any kind so I hope I did a good job.

 

 

And here my thoughts

 

 

I really like the Musgrave the best of the three, but I'm spoiled. They make great pencils, and they're made in the USA as well.

I'll try harder with the next pencil comparison. Thanks

[Maurizio]

I’m happy to join this thread. I’ve become very interested in drawing over the last 3 years or so. I have already accumulated probably more pencils than I’ll be able to use in my lifetime. These are the pencils in my “active” pencil box, but I have another backup box with 4x the number of pencils shown here.

 

I am still working on perfecting my draftsmanship as a pencil wielder and practice circles and ellipses with my morning coffee, and go to bed with a Pentel Sharp Kerry .7 mechanical pencil and small pad, practicing more basic 3D shapes much to my wife’s chagrin. I’m still working full time so can’t yet spend all day drawing and using watercolors, but that day will come in about a year or so.

 

I was really excited to discover Musgrave pencils and I like their large size “Tot” pencils, but I was disappointed to learn that they get their graphite from China which they do forthrightly declare on their website.

 

I like General’s Pencils for the same reason as Musgrave, long history, made in USA, quality product. But I am now curious if General’s also gets their graphite from China and just don’t say anything about it.

 

From top to bottom in the first photo:

Tombow Mono J HB - Japan

General’s Cedar Pointe #1 - USA

General’s Cedar Pointe #2 HB - USA

Derwent Graphic HB - Great Britain

General’s Layout Extra Black #555 - USA (about a 6B grade)

Design Drawing 3800 3H - origin unknown to me - a great pencil which producer I think is no longer in business - knowledgeable pencil heads please weigh in here

General’s Kimberly 6B - USA

Derwent Graphic 2B - Great Britain

Faber Castell 9000 B - Germany

General’s Kimberly HB - USA

Faber Castell 9000 2H - Germany

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 4H - Germany

Lowe’s carpenter pencil - Indonesia

Musgrave Pencil “Tot” pencil - USA

Bazic HB - made in Phillipines - box of 6 from HB - 8B $1.25 at the “dollar store”

Bazic 6B - Phillipines

PrismaColor VeryThin Peacock Blue colored pencil - Mexico

[Maurizio]

On 7/11/2022 at 10:29 AM, Zookie said:

I promised a pencil test, and have a little time this moning, so here it is. This is, I believe, my first test of any kind so I hope I did a good job.

 

 

And here my thoughts

 

 

I really like the Musgrave the best of the three, but I'm spoiled. They make great pencils, and they're made in the USA as well.

I'll try harder with the next pencil comparison. Thanks

 

Hi Zookie - would you be willing to trade one or two of those bare wood pencils for one or two Musgraves or General’s?

 

If so, please PM me.

 

Thanks

 

 

[Zookie]

As far as I know, at this time, the USA does not mine for graphite. Canada and Mexico, together produce ca. 2% of the world's supply. The biggest producer is China. 

Just a little tidbit I picked up online.

A lot of the U.S. Graphite came from Alabama.