Author name: memm

Make your own pencil (for $593.75)

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Is there a market for people trying to make their own pencil?

Muji’s make your own pencil set sold out many years ago, but I guess that was down to insufficient supply rather than to overwhelming demand.

Well, if you missed out back then, fear not!

For the monetarily less disadvantaged there’s a solution. Bleistift.blog reader Andy from Leeds told me about this solution recently. Bridge City, an American store selling woodworking tools, has a pencil making kit (with extras) for $593.75. For the less well off there’s even a finance option available. You can also get blanks, ferrules and leads from them.

Pencil Precision (Image © Bridge City)

Here’s a video from them where they make a pencil that has a cunning resemblance to the Graf von Faber-Castell pencils. A Pencil Precision Perfect Pencil Copy.

Combine this with a spent shell casing as shown in the Fake News and you’re pretty close to owning a Graf von Faber-Castell Eine Cassette * hochfeiner Taschenbleistifte * Nr. II, versilbert.

With such a blog post I can’t resist showing this video:

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Welcome, PyeongChang

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You might agree that celebrating the start of the Olympic Games with pencils from the host nation is a fitting tribute [1]I got the pencils from Kent of Pencilog fame and the keychain from KBS World Radio..

 

References

References
↑1 I got the pencils from Kent of Pencilog fame and the keychain from KBS World Radio.

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Mail Ordering Pencils in the 1930s – from a Specialist Pencil Shop

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We’ve all been in this situation: It’s a Saturday afternoon, at around tea time [1]Copyright: Monty Python – Life of Brian, in 1933. Your pen pal just told you about those exciting new pencil and you want to get your hands on them.

Who ya gonna call?

Pencil mail order!

Specialist pencil shops and even mail orders have been around for a long time. Here’s a photo of a little package from “Bleistift-Versand” (=Pencil Mail Order) S. Steinhauser from the time of the Weimar Republic [2]The stamps are from 1933, I am not sure for how many years they were valid..

The photos were sent to me by Bleistift.blog reader and stamp collector Roman who got his hands on this early pencil parcel. If you are interested in buying these pencils from him please leave him a comment under this blog post.


You can read more about Glocken pencils at Lexikaliker.

References

References
↑1 Copyright: Monty Python – Life of Brian
↑2 The stamps are from 1933, I am not sure for how many years they were valid.

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All Things Brass

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The All Things Brass blog has launched recently, but I have the feeling that despite the owner’s fame in the knife community his blog is still undiscovered by many here in the stationery community, so I thought I point you towards this new blog that features great photography of all things brass, not only stationery.

It is run by Stefan Schmalhaus whose YouTube channel on pocket knives I have been following for a few years. If you have noticed the occasional knife in this blog or on my YouTube channel my interest in his channel might not come as a surprise.

I love the topic of his blog and hope that brass stationery is here to stay. As mentioned in the past some manufacturers, even those using lead-free brass, have stopped making some items of stationery that contain brass, because new rules in some markets mean expensive paperwork (which makes these fairly low-cost items unviable).

 

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Dave’s Kaweco

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Is it just me or does there seem to be a mysterious link between Kaweco and Red Dwarf, a British Sci-Fi comedy?

In my Kaweco Prototype blog post from two years ago I had a “This blog post has been brought to you by Kryten and the Jupiter Mining Corporation” message (for fun), but when the latest Red Dwarf series aired last autumn the intro video from Red Dwarf current home, TV station Dave (part of UKTV), featured the newly released Kaweco Perkeo.

Mysterious, especially since Kaweco isn’t exactly a high street brand in the UK. Maybe in the future Kaweco will become part of the Jupiter Mining Corporation.

One of the images from the old blog post

I guess the conclusion to draw here is that creatives, like the ones making UKTV’s intro videos, like a good pen, in this case a Kaweco.

..and now for something completely different (in case you haven’t heard yet): WHSmith bought CultPens.

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