More Staedtler at Insights X 2016

As mentioned in the previous blog post about the updated Mars technico 780C I want to show a few of the other new Staedtler products. This is the second of two blog posts about Staedtler at Insights X 2016.

Metal sharpeners

The well-known metal sharpeners 510 10 and 510 20 (double hole) are now also available in a range of metallic colours. You can read about the golden anniversary edition in this blog post and about the change to the Wopex friendly version in this blog post.

Some of the new metallic colours
Some of the new metallic colours

I think these sharpeners should be available any day now. I am not sure about the price but assume it won’t be very different to the existing 510 sharpeners.

 

Mess free pencil case sharpeners

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Zipped pencil cases, like the leather one shown here or the very affordable one shown here, are very common in continental Europe. The problem though is that the sharpeners that fit in these cases tend to make a mess as they don’t have a container.

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You obviously don’t sharpen over your pencil case, but a bit of graphite will still stick to the sharpener and ‘pollute’ the pencil case over time.

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The new plastic sharpeners aim at solving this problem by also closing the holes of the sharpeners while trying to keep the size to a minimum so that it still fits into these pencil cases.

...in my Eberhard Faber pencil case
…in my Eberhard Faber pencil case

This new sharpener, 512 60C, should be available from January 2017 for €1.80 (~$1.95; £1.60).

 

‘Geometric compasses’

I previously mentioned there is also new set of compasses that

  • convey the idea of geometry through basic geometric forms and that
  • convey the idea of colour through a special paint.

Well, unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of these compasses when I was at the Staedtler stand. Sorry.

 

Rulers and set squares for right and left handed use

I was only able to take a photo of the 30cm rulers for right and left handed use, article number 562 300 PB, but there is also a set of two 15cm rulers and a geometry set (set square, ..) for right and left handed use. The rulers will sell for €1 (~$1.10; 90p), the geometry set for €2 (~$2.20; £1.80).

Ruler 562 300 PB
Ruler 562 300 PB

The Noris eco in 2H, H, HB, B and 2B

Well, of course, I saved the best till last. We’re finally getting some pencils made from Wopex material in different grades!

You might remember that, despite being a fan of the Wopex, for example, because it doesn’t exhibit graphite transfer issues like other pencils, I was quite disappointed with the previous 2B and 2H Wopex – just because there was virtually no difference between the different grades.

The Noris eco in five grades
The Noris eco in five grades

The good news is that the new version of the Noris eco, available in five grades, seems to have solved this issue. I believe that they are still working on improving the ‘lead recipe’ even further, but the new grades will be available early next year.

9 thoughts on “More Staedtler at Insights X 2016”

  1. im so excited about that sharpener that doesnt make any mess. finally i can throw a sharpener in my pencil case and dont need to worry about it…. or i dont need any additonal casing. yay

  2. Thank you very much for your comments.

    Marvin, there’s not a lot of space in the container for pencil shavings, i.e. it wouldn’t last days, but it should get you through many pages of writing, long enough for meetings, classes, so that if needed you can empty it in between.

    Stephen, thank you for putting your web site online again!
    The two big questions now are:
    Is your site still selfhosted on a Sun?
    Will you write new content in the future?

  3. Hi Matthias,

    The site has not been self-hosted for some while, and I gave away the Sun in 2013. I miss having an old but useful computer!

    The content was inside an ancient database, sitting on a long end-of-lifed operating system – and I realized that if any of the content was ever to be viewed again, it had to soon be “rescued”. As well, I noticed that the web hosting costs were not tremendously diminished with the web server off! Odd, I think, but the hosting company meters and charges for everything – and the bandwidth consumed was not the main charge. So, back online it is.

    As to new content – Bleistift and others are doing a great job covering the pencil scene – so I’ll have to carefully consider if there is anything worthwhile that I’d be able to contribute.

    Stephen

  4. It’s exciting to find these things out. Thank you.

    I’m sure you know, but just in case: you might like the Raspberry Pi, but as far as I know it can’t run Solaris.

    Is there a ‘flat rate’ tariff? In Europe unlimited data volume is quite common.

    Your contents was always great and there was always much more then ‘this pencil is smooth’, ‘this one is scratch’. I’m sure everyone would be excited to see new content from you and even if there was some overlap with other sites it would still be from a different angle.

  5. Thank you for the kind praise.

    One minor note: I used a Debian (or Debian based) SPARC version of Linux, not Solaris, back when the blog was on Sun hardware.

  6. Thank you for this very interesting story on Insights X. I am curious about the compasses by Staedtler. A pity there is no photograph of them. No problem: You had so much on offer :). Can you please tell whether they resemble the design of the Helmut Hufnagel-patent or are they less exotic? The compasses of the patent have been on the market (sold under the Galileo-name) and they work very well but they were discontinued. Staedtler now produces more traditional models. I wonder if they might innovate technically (so not only styling) in this field.

  7. Thank you very much for your comments.

    Stephen, oh, I shouldn’t have have assumed it’s Solaris, just because it’s a Sun.

    Wowter, I think the compasses I mentioned are like Staedtler’s better ones, but the main difference is the look. I really regret not having taken photos.

  8. Dear Matthias, Thank you for the additional information. I very much appreciate your help. Best regards from The Netherlands, Wouter

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