Blackwing Pearl Coming Next Month!

It is not very often that a new pencil is put on the market, especially one that gets anybody but a few select pencileers excited. This pencil has my attention.

The Blackwing Pearl

I don't have any information yet as to whether this is a new paint scheme or what but the marketing blast I got a couple of days ago says that it is "balanced and smooth" and that it is graphite.

I already see the existing 602 pencils as balanced and smooth and quite frankly it is now my favorite pencil on the market today. I cannot imagine an improvement. But anything is possible.

I emailed pencils.com asking if I could get my hands on an early release. We will see....

Two Little Dimples: Palomino Blackwing 602 Changes

So I really like my Palomino Blackwing 602s. I actually got to the last one in the package which is saying alot because although I use pencils alot I love to have many different kinds of pencils laying around. Well I ordered my second box of them and they just arrived in the mail today. I ordered the pink replacement erasers of course and as I went through the box replacing the black erasers with pink erasers I noticed a minor change to the design of the Palomino Blackwing 602.

The only annoyance I had with the Palomino Blackwing 602s that came out last year (as well as with the Palomino Blackwing) is something that I did not really stumble into until I had used several of the pencils down to the nubs, and used the erasers more than usual. The little clip that holds the eraser in did not have any sort of grip the way the Original Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 did. When you tried to extend the eraser so that more of it was usable it would just slide back into the ferrule. This in my opinion is the reason for the unique ferrule in the first place so it was an annoyance but only if you actually used the eraser down that far. I of course had several extra erasers and was able to avoid being frustrated by simply replacing the worn out eraser.

Pencils.com has come through by tweaking this issue and saying nothing about it. I love it when a company makes improvements to their products!

• You can see in the photo that the pencil on the top is the last of my Palomino Blackwing 602s from the box I purchased last year. It has a smooth surface on the eraser clip.
• Next to it is an Original Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602, it has two little dimples pressed into each side of the eraser clip.
• In the box you can see that the Palomino Blackwing 602 now sports two similar dimples in each side of the eraser clip.

The dimples make it much easier to adjust the eraser so that it sticks out at any length you need. This post is just a heartfelt thank you to the makers of Palomino pencils for making an improvement to the product.

Mitsubishi - Vermilion/Prussian Blue

Today I am reviewing a pencil that has made its way to the head of the line. It is a specialty pencil. I have been doing so much editing work lately at my job that I have found these things to be a wonderful desk companion. It is a pencil that is meant to be sharpened at both ends.

Normally the idea of sharpening both ends of a pencil just seems plain wrong to me. I have had one too many pencils break my skin when I put my hand in my pocket for that to be practical. A couple of pencil caps from General pencil solve that issue for me.

This pencil writes smooth without the waxy feel of the typical colored pencil. The lead is surprisingly strong and long lasting. I do find myself using the red more than the blue but it is nice being able to write feedback and correct grammar all with the same pencil. Highly recommended. Cost about a buck a piece and they are available online and at local art stores.

Graphite is key to green technology

I was reading some financial news and discovered something I was not aware of regarding the good stuff at the heart of my beloved pencils. Did you know that a key component of lithium ion batteries as well as fuel cell technology is graphite? The demand for graphite globally is expected to grow at at alarming rate. Amazing stuff.

Pencil Thanksgiving

Sitting here working from home on my todo list with a pile of freshly sharpened pencils beside me got me thinking about a major todo that I simply haven't todone. Writing for this blog.



So in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday that is upon us, thought I'd post a list of pencil related things I am thankful for:

A - A. W. Faber
B - Bloggers (like Andy Welfle)
C - California Republic
D - Dixon Ticonderoga's
E - Eberhard Faber - Blackwing 602 (because they are doing better than my 401k)
F - Faber Castell 9000
G - Graphite
H - Holding a freshly sharpened pencil
I - Incense Cedar
J - J. S. Staedtler
K - Kid's Pencils (like the Spangle in front of me)
L - Lyra Pencil Company
M - Mephisto Writing by KOH-I-NOOR
N - New Pencil Shavings, love em
O - O'Bon Pencils - cause the planet matters
P - Palomino HB (Blue paint)
Q - Quality
R - Rubber, cause we all make mistakes that we wish we could erase
S - Steve Jobs - lets face it, love him or hate him he changed the world, I am writing this post on an Apple product, Steve the world misses you already! (I know kind of a stretch pencil wise.)
T - Tombow - a great Japanese pencil company - my favorite is the MONO HB and 2B
U - United States Pencil Manufacturers
V - Vintage pencils on eBay
W - World Wide Internet, cause where else can the pencil obsessed gather?
X- Xerox, what is this, Scrabble?
Y - You, if you are reading this post it means I am not alone in my pencil obsession.
Z - Zebra Mechanical pencils