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Inside Faber-Castell’s Pencil Factory

4 Comments / Faber-Castell, Pencils / / , ,

If you’re in the UK you might want to tune into BBC Two next Tuesday (19th March 2019).

The Inside The Factory series will visit Faber-Castell’s pencil factory. If you cannot wait you can watch a little preview on the BBC’s website.

The BBC seems to be rather keen on Faber-Castell. They also had some of ‘their guys’ working in the Faber-Castell factory for a previous BBC Two show and had a look at Faber-Castell and Staedtler for a previous Radio 4 programme.

I believe that showing the preview clip from BBC Two’s Inside The Factory in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

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The Kaweco Student 70’s Soul and its amazing EF nib

5 Comments / Fountain pens, Kaweco / / , , , ,

Since last Autumn I have used one fountain pen as my daily companion: The Kaweco Student 70’s Soul. A fountain pen with an amazing EF nib.

By coincidence it also fits quite well with my 2018 Hobonichi ‘hazelnut’ cover.

The Kaweco Student 70s Soul on a 2018 Hobonichi 'hazelnut' cover
The Kaweco Student 70s Soul on a 2018 Hobonichi ‘hazelnut’ cover

Below is a quick look at this fantastic fountain pen in the form of a video. I published it last November, so if you follow my YouTube channel you might have spotted this video before.

 

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Pencil Calligraphy: a look at the Manuscript Lettering Pencil Set

3 Comments / Manuscript, Mechanical pencils / / , ,


Thanks to Scribble and the United Inkdom crew I recently had the chance to try out the Manuscript Lettering Pencil Set.

It comes with a glass file for shaping your own leads as well as preshaped leads in assorted colours.

Have a look at my video to find out more about this pencil set.

You can find further information on Her Nibs’ Blog and on Scribble’s Blog.

 

 

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Zebra’s Tiny TS-3

4 Comments / Mechanical pencils, Zebra / / , , ,

Ten years ago I bought Zebra’s tiny TS-3 mechanical pencil. Back then it cost £2.50. These days it’s a bit more expensive, but is still quite affordable.

You’d think that a pencil with such a small size, it’s only 10 cm long and has a diameter of just over 5 mm, it can only be used if no better pencil is available..

..but the truth is that it’s much more comfortable to use than many other emergency pencil, i.e. the kind of pencil that comes with some of the Swiss Army Knives.

In May I put a video review online that provides some more information about this pencil.

Compared to a selection of other mechanical pencils the Zebra TS-3 is tiny

It might not be your best choice for a daily writer, but it’s certainly a good choice for a pencil you can store in a pocket or bag so that you have a mechanical pencil when you need it. The comfort to size ratio is certainly better than what you might expect.

 

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The Kaweco Special 0.5 Push Pencil Black

1 Comment / Kaweco, Mechanical pencils / / , , ,

The video for the Kaweco Special 0.5 Push Pencil Black has been added to my YouTube channel in April, so it’s high time to follow with the blog post for this nice mechanical pencil.

All the useful bits of information about this pencil can be found in the video itself, where I had a look at the 0.5mm version. There is also a 0.7 mm, a 0.9 mm and a 2 mm version.

I only cover the black aluminium version, but there is also a brass version.

While the body is made from aluminium, the front section seems tobe made from plastic. It does look pretty sturdy, though.

The pencil doesn’t come with the clip. If you like the clip you have to order it separately.
Compared to other mechanical pencils I reviewed recently the Kaweco Special has a larger diameter (so is furthest right in the chart below).

Compared to a selection of other mechanical pencils the Kaweco Special has the largest body diameter

There is no ‘dedicated grip section’, it’s just the front of the body, so this pencil is again leading the pack in terms of diameter.

Compared to a selection of other mechanical pencils the Kaweco Special has the largest grip diameter

The actual mechanism in the Special is from Japan and does contain plastic parts, but seems quite sturdy and should last many decades.

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