My father has recently retired and is pretty averse to his creative side. However he showed me some of his old school books recently and he had drawings of cars, boats and trucks in them. I want to sort of stoke the fire in hopes that he on a rainy day when he can't work outside on his cars/DIY he will sit down and maybe mess around with drawing again.

I figure my best approach is to get him something that he will feel is very nice build quality as I know this will entice him. I'm a writer but I do everything on my laptop and have never really ventured into drawing, what is a nice, expensive pencil or mechanical pencil I could get him? Don't worry I've already given him a very nice birthday present but I wanted to add in this as a little bonus next time I see him, price range is anything under $50 USD, I just want something or a set that will feel very high quality so it lures him in to trying his hand at drawing again!

Once a pencil gets to about four inches my sharpener won’t sharpen it any more. I’ll insert the pencil and hear the gears grinding, and sometimes the pencil does get even shorter, but it never gets sharp.

Pencils that are five-six inches or longer don’t seem to have a problem.

What’s the reason for this?

I've been watching Sketchbook on Disney Plus and it's got me wanting to splurge on a box of Blackwings. I'd mainly use them for drawing, I do tend to like leads that are a little softer and darker, but there's a definite flexibility I need. Any advice, pencil pros? Bonus points if they're on Amazon (I have some gift credit)

https://preview.redd.it/5l7tkvc26gyc1.png?width=1768&format=png&auto=webp&s=64868e60fa7f980feccff95c0f47ef6bb0f94a27

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Based on the replies so far (thank you!) I should probably clarify - I have a huge collection of pencils from other manufacturers. I have Mitsubishi Hi-Unis, Tombow Mono 100s, Staedtler Lumographs, Faber Castell 9000s, huge varieties from India, etc. I know there are probably better pencils out there, there's just something sort of curious and "wanty" for me about trying a Blackwing. I've never had one in my collection, and need some advice where to start.

I'm no gigantic collector, but I do have plenty to use Also, I wish to buy any era for drafting and clutch types, and 80s/90s to today's pencils for the ones with the pretty designs

I have bought Tombow and Mitsubishi pencils and am wondering why all the printing on them is in English instead of Japanese? Aren’t they made for a primarily Japanese customer base? Does anyone know?

This may be a dumb question so I’m sorry, but has anyone found a cap eraser that doesn’t suck? Lol It drives me nuts not having an eraser on the end of my pencils, even though I use high quality erasers. I bought like 100 of the “Mr Gear” on Amazon, and they fall off so fast.

I feel like this question is ridiculous but what’s the go to for cap erasers? I’d spend a good amount of money for something with quality haha

Greetings.

I’ve been looking into Blackwings for a while. None of the stores I’ve seen them in have any to test and they don’t sell them singly so I’m hesitant to splurge on a dozen when I’ve never actually tried them.

I’m a writer, not an artist. I love smooth paper and gel pens that glide right over them. It would be fantastic to find a pencil that does the same. Is Blackwing what I’m looking for? And if so, which one? And do I need a Blackwing sharpener or will a standard cheap one do?

Help a newbie, please.

Thanks.

I have a batch of 5.6mm clutch pencils that I want to imprint with my own logo. Specifically, it's a 5.6mm clutch pencil with a plastic or aluminum casing. I've developed a 5.6mm pencil lead made from recycled coffee grounds, and I'm about to launch it on Kickstarter. I'd like to imprint our logo on the casing of the pencil. Can anyone recommend some methods? Preferably something that can be done in the US.

https://preview.redd.it/hdsq6dkvr7yc1.jpg?width=3023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93d31eeeaaf0c98089bf72e0496bc0cd00174bf4

Thanks for the help!

The box smelled amazing.

Writing some work lists for the bowling alley, here’s today’s tools.

Tombow mono 100 (b) Tombow mono plastic eraser Pentel GraphGear 1000 .5 Pentel hi-poly lead (2b)

Just enjoying some quality writing tools and a cup of cold brew! Hope you all have a wonderful day

After using my SumoGrip for awhile, the rubber grip has gotten dirty. Does anyone know what the best way to clean it is?

So I'll list the ones I've tried according to hardness grade:

HB:

• Tombow Mono 100
• Tombow 8900
• Uni-Star
• Uni
• Hi-Uni
• Mitsubishi 9000
• Mitsubishi 9800
• Mitsubishi 9850
• Mitsubishi 9852
• Mitsubishi 9852EW
• Kitaboshi 9500
• Kitaboshi 9606

B:

• Tombow Mono 100
• Tombow 8900
• Uni
• Hi-Uni
• Mitsubishi 9000
• Mitsubishi 9800
• Mitsubishi 9852

2B:

• Tombow Mono 100
• Tombow 8900
• Uni-star
• Uni
• Hi-Uni

Some general conclusions:

• These pencils are much closer in quality than you might expect based on things like price or packaging or presentation. Not a single one would I dare describe as bad or underwhelming. All are decidedly superior to anything from Europe despite being cheaper. This includes the more expensive Hi-Uni and Mono 100 pencils, which were still cheaper than Mars Lumographs or Faber Castell 9000's.
• I really like B hardness more than I was expecting. I didn't have many available locally before I made this order from Japan, and indeed all of those B pencils I listed just arrived today. The one that especially caught my attention was the 9852, especially in B. Punches way above it's price class, can hold its own against any other pencil out there. Buttery smooth. It's the only one with an eraser that I own in B which is another plus. That said, I think every B pencil is amazing to use.
• All the 2B pencils are great, but considering how smooth the B pencils already are, I would personally recommend B for writing. Don't let me stop you though if you really like the feel of 2B (or frequently sharpening your pencil). Worth nothing here is that I can tell almost no difference between the Hi-Uni and the Uni and Uni-Star in 2B. The Mono 100 has a different feel, it's more grainy. Again, these are all so close writing wise. The Mono 100 costs 4 times more than the 8900, but that's practically all in the presentation. I would say the 8900 has more feedback though. If money is no object, I would go Hi-Uni for the smoother feel + aesthetics. Value wise the 8900 is by far the best at like $2.50 per box. I do think it makes sense to splurge for 2B pencils though, because then you're really going for a particularly smooth feel at the cost of anything else.
• I find it the hardest to recommend one from the HB line, because there's much more variation in feel than with B or 2B. If you want a harder lead with more drag/resistance: the Mitsubishi 9850 and 9852EW. These are good if you press hard when writing. The grittiest ones with the most feedback were the Uni-Star HB and the Mitsubishi 9000HB, these two definitely stood out. Also the 9800HB to a lesser extent. The Kitaboshi 9500 is good, but very forgettable. The Kitaboshi 9606 writes smoother and darker than the 9850 that it clearly competes with. The eraser is like 20% shorter than the 9850's though, which is funny. If you must have an eraser it's the 9850, 9852EW, 9852 or 9606. The latter two are softer and darker, so I would decide based on that plus aesthetics.
• In short, if I could only use one from each hardness grade, I'd probably go with the 9850 HB, the 9852 B and the Hi-Uni 2B. I like my erasers for doing math though, I might have gone Hi-Uni all the way otherwise. But you can't go wrong with any of these pencils.
• One more thing: all the Uni/Uni-Star/Hi-Uni pencils smell nice when you sharpen them. In fact most of these pencils do.

Hello!

New here and need some help finding the following No. 2 pencil. I have searched high and low for it online and no one seems to have them! Do they not make them anymore? I found this one at a garage sale by the way.

I love how it writes!

It is a Bonded Lead A. W. Faber BALANCE U.S.A. 210 No. 2

https://preview.redd.it/vnt3t7hhyuxc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7018d7043d6853ab4536f41af08baa41788cde43

I’ll start with that I work at a hard cider brewery/bar/bowling alley, I know it’s an odd combo. I take care of the lanes and pinsetters. One day after a weekly meeting my boss saw my pencil case and asked what I had, I shoed him my small collection that I had with me (a couple of FC9000’s, some Staedtler Mars Lumographs and a pink pearl Blackwing) he asked about the ferrule and if it’s unique to that pencil, I gave him the readers digest version of the BW history and sent him a link to the you tube video. The next day this dude show up and hands me a Palomino 602!!!!! Taking my evening to write out a setlist for a show I have this weekend, which he happily gave me the time off for,

Like I said, BEST BOSS EVER!

.5 Uni OK Gel Switch .3 Uni OK Gel Switch .3 Pentel Orenz Nero .3 Pentel Orenz .5 Bic Stic Mechanical Pencil Dixon TIconderoga #2 pencil

Love em all but I've been leaning heavy on the Orenz Nero from Pentel And the .5 Uni OK gel switch kurutoga pencil.

I plan to make me a 'review' of the Tombow Drawing Pencil replica from 2013 for their 100 anniversary. But here is a comparison of Mono 100s. (Yes the replica uses a Mono 100 core).

The Drawing against the Showa and the more modern (albeit the made in Japan one).

I have a Vietnam made one, but I have to make sure first.

I put pencils, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, erasers, and pens inside my pencil case. It has only 2 sections so I usually put the sharpener and eraser together, and everything else I put in the other pocket.

A few months after this arrangement the pens and highlighters clearly had graphite from the pencils on its sides, and I’m not sure how to stop the pencils from smearing the lead? Btw I tried pen caps which didn’t work since they fell off every time I tried to use them, and I cannot fit the highlighters/ pens into the other pocket as it is significantly smaller than the bigger one.

Although I can ask for a new pencil case, since I had just bought a few months ago I didn’t want to spend another $15 simply because I didn’t have enough insight to buy one with more pockets. Any ideas are appreciated!