Search Results for: noris

A Noris at the Cricket

John the Monkey told me about a Noris that can be seen on ECB.tv and their Instagram feed.

Image © ECB
Image © ECB

He wrote:

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s “ECB.tv” interviews fast bowler Mark Wood after the team’s match against Pakistan A.  The reporter has tucked an end dipped Noris HB (by the looks of the dip’s colour) behind his ear.

I couldn’t resist and have added this to the Noris in the wild page.


The screen grab in this blog post has been taken from ECB’s Instagram feed. I believe that the use of the screen grab shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

A Noris at the Cricket Read More »

Wopex vs Noris

Facebook

After a bit more than three years and many posts later the Bleistift Facebook page reached 100 likes this week. Well, I have to confess that I cheated and invited some of my friends to like the page, anyway: next aim: 200 likes by 2018, but that will be more difficult, as I have already invited some friends plus some people will probably unlike the page over the next three years. We will see…

Wopex vs Noris

Anyway, onto the real blog post:

You might remember the blog post about the Staedtler 501 180 sharpener. Staedtler’s rotary sharpeners start with 501 and their Wopex pencils are associated with the number 180. Despite this sharpener being officially available in the UK I didn’t come across it yet, so I keep using my Deli to make a great Wopex point. Here’s a comparison of a Wopex, sharpened in a Deli 0635 and a Noris, sharpened in the same Deli.

A Wopex sharpened in the Deli 0635
A Wopex sharpened in the Deli 0635

 

 

A Noris sharpened in the Deli 0635
A Noris sharpened in the Deli 0635

If you like this you might also like Sharpening a Wopex.

More Wopex posts can be found at

East…West…Everywhere

Lexikaliker

Pencils and other things

Pencil Revolution

 

Wopex vs Noris Read More »

Different kinds of Noris

A Chinese Noris

The Noris got another good spot on the BBC’s programme. Again on the Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School programme. This time in the final episode, where it was used to write Chinese characters.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School (Image © BBC)
Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School (Image © BBC)

A Work Noris

Then something else happened: after more than ten years I got the first Noris from my employer! We usually get Lyreco pencils in the stationery cupboard at work, but last week and this week I did another task in another part of my employer’s organisation [1]In case you are familiar with the UK Higher Education sector: I was doing clearing. – and there was a box of Noris pencils in the stationery basket. Maybe the good stuff (the Noris pencils) is usually reserved for management and special occasions? We did get all the good stuff on the day: they did provide tea, coffee, biscuits, even Snickers etc [2]and there must have been a serious Snickers thief. Every day at least three shoe box sized baskets of Snickers, Mars and KitKat disappeared. I guess everyone would have had to eat at least five bars … Continue reading, so if they give us expensive food, why not expensive pencils, too? I wish we had Noris pencils all year round at work…

 

A School Noris

…and finally – more Back to School offers. This time in Sainsbury’s. Five Noris pencils for £1.12. Not as good as the Staples offer I mentioned recently, but at Sainsbury’s you don’t have to take five HBs, you can also take the ‘graded’ pack.


The screenshots in this blog post has been taken from Episode Three of Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School, a documentary on the BBC. I believe that the use of the screenshot shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

References

References
1 In case you are familiar with the UK Higher Education sector: I was doing clearing.
2 and there must have been a serious Snickers thief. Every day at least three shoe box sized baskets of Snickers, Mars and KitKat disappeared. I guess everyone would have had to eat at least five bars to make so much food disappear.

Different kinds of Noris Read More »

A French Noris…

..wallpaper, that is: A French Noris wallpaper – a new Noris related post after the blog post about the Franconia Noris and the Franken Noris.

noris1100-box

You might remember Lexikaliker’s blog post from 2013 featuring the Noris 1100 pencil. Back then he told Sean and me where he got them from: they were from someone in France. I couldn’t resist and bought some, too. The seller was kind enough to include the packaging for one gross, probably because I bought the last ones he had.

moris1100

I like the packaging so much that I use it as a wallpaper / desktop background on my computer. I asked Staedtler whether I could put scans of the packaging on my blog for download. I wasn’t sure whether they’d agree, because we are talking about a scan of their material, not just a photo pf a product, but Staedtler was kind enough to allow me to post Noris wallpapers for people to download and use.

moris1100-graphite

Many modern monitors have an aspect ratio of 16:9, so I made two 16:9 wallpapers. I used the highest resolution I have heard of (Retina 5K) thinking that you can always scale down. I also made one wallpaper with an aspect ration of 5:4, which is the aspect ratio older monitors use. I know that they are other aspect ratios around, but I thought this should cover most – and, too be honest, I don’t expect anyone (except myself) to actually use these anyway.

Right click New tab or Download Linked File
Wallpaper: Right click New tab or Download Linked File
Wallpaper: Right click New tab or Download Linked File
Wallpaper: Right click New tab or Download Linked File
Wallpaper: Right click New tab or Download Linked File
Wallpaper: Right click New tab or Download Linked File

 

After I scanned them I started to remove the stains in a graphics editor but then stopped and thought “Why am I removing these when many logos etc have artificial marks added afterwards? [1]For example to look as if they were stamped or written on a manual typewriter or printed on paper.” – so I just left the stains. They do look nice I guess, and hey: the packaging nearly sixty years old. If the packaging was a British citizen it would get a free bus pass and heating allowance soon.

In case you are wondering: that’s Nuremberg on the packaging, where Staedtler is based. Here’s a photo so that you can compare the towers visible on the packaging to the photo (photo by DALIBRI licensed under the Creative Commons license).

Burgraviate of Nuremberg
Nuremberg Imperial Castle – photo by DALIBRI (CC license)

The image download instructions (Right click New tab or Download Linked File) are browser dependent. Depending on your browser and language settings the menus might have different names. Also right click in this context is just your secondary click. If you are left handed it might be the left mouse button.

For some amazing close-up photos and more information about the Noris 1100 please visit Lexikaliker.

I’d like to thank Staedtler for allowing me to make the wallpapers available for download.

References

References
1 For example to look as if they were stamped or written on a manual typewriter or printed on paper.

A French Noris… Read More »

A Franken Noris

See what I did there? I used the title of the previous blog post, but changed ‘Franconia’ to the German word for Franconia: Franken.

blackperfectpencil-1

The association is now with Frankenstein’s Monster instead of Franconia. Just a reminder, Franconia is the area in Bavaria the size of Massachusetts where most German stationery manufacturers are from [1]as well as some other famous companies like Adidas or Puma.

blackperfectpencil-2

…and what a monster I have created. Muah hua hua. An unholy mix of parts from Staedtler and Faber-Castell.

blackperfectpencil-3

You might remember my recent blog post about me losing my Perfect Pencil. Well, now I do have a new one – a very special one. It’s the black version of the ‘Castell 9000 Perfect Pencil’. I first read about it in a blog post from Pencil Talk in 2010. As far as I can tell this version was for sale in Japan, from 2009 onwards.

blackperfectpencil-4

I just hope I won’t lose it again, like I lost my green one after six years. The black version is much more expensive and more difficult to get. Including shipping the pencil cost nearly £30 (¥4644 for the pencil plus¥890 shipping) (~$45; €40), I wouldn’t have spend so much, as mentioned before I stopped buying expensive stationery, but I was in the lucky position to pick a gift I wanted.

blackperfectpencil-5

The black of this Perfect Pencil goes very well with the black of my favourite pencil, the Noris. I think I will try out the pencils that came with the Perfect Pencil before changing to Noris refills.

blackperfectpencil-6

I still have short eraser-tipped Castell 9000 pencils as well as official Castell 9000 Perfect Pencil refills, so next time I go to Germany, probably next year, I might also get a dark green Perfect Pencil again (which is only £5 over there).

 

Please click (or right click new tab) to admire the Perfect Pencil’s beauty in higher resolution.


Price: June 2015, Exchange rates:  July 2015.

I’d like to thank Sola for her advice that helped me get a black Perfect Pencil.

References

References
1 as well as some other famous companies like Adidas or Puma

A Franken Noris Read More »

A Franconian Noris

Franconia Day

This weekend is Franconia Day (Tag der Franken) again, so I thought this blog post should feature some Franconia pencils – in the wild.

Juge Robin's pencil
Juge Roban’s pencil (Image © Son et Lumière)
Engrenages

According to Wikipedia “only two European regions continue to be associated with the Franks” [1]I’m not sure whether this claim is true, but nevertheless I’ll just repeat it here:

  • Franconia – to link this blog post to Franconia: it’s where the pencils in the following pictures were probably made (unless they were old stock)
  • and Île-de-France where the pencils in the following pictures were being filmed.
Juge Roban's pencil
Juge Roban’s pencil (Image © Son et Lumière)

These screenshots have been taken from Engrenages, where they used to use the BIC Matic last season.

While the magistrate is using Staedtler’s Noris the police is using the Tradition:

Staedtler tradition
Staedtler tradition (view in full resolution to see the pencil) (Image © Son et Lumière)
The Game and Clifton

Meanwhile, on the other side of the channel. Actually, not meanwhile, but kind of 40 years earlier: MI5’s Alan Montag is using a Staedtler Noris. There are a lot of pencils in the series, but usually they are unidentifiable yellow/orange pencils. For a few minutes I thought Joe Lambe’s accent is Irish until I realised it’s one of the different types of Scouse [2]I should have recognised it earlier …a few years ago I had a student with a very similar accent.

Alan Montag listening in with a Noris
Alan Montag listening in with a Noris (Image © BBC Cymru)

The previous screenshot is from the great TV series “The Game” – from 2014, but set in the 1970s. In contrast here’s an MI5 pencil from the real 1970s – from the story Atout…coeur! / Hartkloppingen! from Franco-Belgian comic series Clifton. Burton and Taylor seems to be a reference to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, the design of the pencil seems to be based on the Staedtler Lumograph.

Clifton's pencil
Clifton’s pencil (Image © Turk & De Groot)
Make me Welsh

After the BBC’s Make me a German this time: Make me Welsh. Funnily enough the TV series The Game I just mentioned was produced by BBC Cymru Wales, too. Sean told me about this programme and sent me a screenshot showing pupils using Staedtler’s Noris (very common in British schools).

Pensiliau Cymraeg
Pensiliau Cymraeg (Image © BBC Cymru)

 

Episodes

If that’t not enough Franconian pencils yet – there are plenty more in the latest season of Episodes. Episodes does again feature an extremely high density of Noris pencils per episode. I’ll skip the screenshot though as it would be virtually indistinguishable from the last one I posted.

 

Noris in the wild

To celebrate what is probably my favourite pencil, the Noris, I have put together a page from the different Noris in the wild blog posts, which can be found here.

Franken Bleistift


I would like thank Sean for the Make me Welsh screenshot.

I believe that the use of the screen shots, taken from Engrenages, The Game, Clifton and Make me Welsh falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

References

References
1 I’m not sure whether this claim is true, but nevertheless I’ll just repeat it here
2 I should have recognised it earlier …a few years ago I had a student with a very similar accent

A Franconian Noris Read More »

Noris in the wild

Here’s my (incomplete) collection of Noris spottings in the wild.

In computers

Okular

An icon I used to see on a daily basis, it looks like the Noris. Found in Okular, the document viewer in KDE 4.

In advertising

Staedtler’s pencils’ image as typical pencils means that you can see them often when an association with school is needed or in related advertising, as in the example seen on the right. The advertising, probably created specifically for the UK and Ireland, was on a phone booth. A Staedtler Noris can be seen, even though the film is from the USA, where the Noris is not officially distributed and not available.

In the next example Harvey Nichols, a posh department store, used Noris look-alikes in their shop window to advertise perfume – I am not sure what the link between the perfume and the pencils is.

On packaging

A photo of an Alessi sharpener in the shape of a beaver, with a Noris on the packaging.

Notice the Staedtler Noris on the packaging.

Used by celebrities

Neil Gaiman posted this picture of his new pack of Noris pencils in 2016. 

Neil Gaiman's Noris

On TV

UK, 1975

Fawlty Towers (British TV series)
Fawlty Towers - Episode 2
Fawlty Towers - Episode 4

In episode 1 they are mainly using Staedtler’s Tradition. In later episodes the Noris is more common. In the second screenshot you can see Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) sharpening his Noris with a knife.

Germany, 1977

Der Alte (German TV series)
Der Alte - Episode 2

UK, 1990

House of Cards (British TV series)
House of Cards - Episode 2

They also had some really nice pen trays in House of Cards.

Italy, 2008

Commissario Montalbano (Italian TV series)

Commissario Montalbano, the famous detective from Sicily, is a keen user of the Staedtler Noris1. Even though he’s driving around in an old Fiat Tipo his home is fantastic and is furnished and and decorated with classic and vintage bits and bobs, just like the grand homes of the criminals he is visiting. The Noris is a suitable pencil for him to use as it is the archetypal European pencil – even though it is a surprising choice as it is clearly a branded item.

Inspector Montalbano is not only a friend of the Noris pencil. He also likes to get his hand on the Noris stick ballpoint pen.

Episode: The Safety Net (Image © RAI)

Germany, 2008

Tatort (German / Austrian / Swiss TV series)

The next screenshot is from episode 705 “Liebeswirren” of German/Austrian/Swiss crime TV series Tatort. One of the actors in this episode from Munich was Christoph Waltz of Inglourious Basterds fame.

Iceland, 2009

Fangavaktin (Icelandic TV series)

Daníel Sævarsson (actor: Jörundur Ragnarsson), one of the main characters from the …vaktin series and from the film Bjarnfreðarson, this time with a Noris in episode two of Fangavaktin.

Denmark, 2010

Borgen (Danish TV series)
Borgen (image cropped) - Season 1 Episode 1

The Danish Prime Minister and his advisor on a trip to England. Each of them has a Staedtler Noris in front of them on the table.

UK, 2010

The Armstrong and Miller Show (British TV series)

You can see Staedtler Tradition and Noris pencils in several school sketches in The Armstrong and Miller Show. Staedtler pencil’s use in The Armstrong and Miller Show is not really surprising. They are common and also to some extent the archetype of a pencil used in British schools.

The Story of England (British TV series)

More exciting Noris spotting from Sean:
The 6-part series from the BBC called The Story of England by Michael Wood features Staedtler pencils in several shots. Here’s a photo from this series, featuring a Welsh-made Noris.

Image © Maya Vision / BBC

 

Germany, 2012

To celebrate 350 years of Bleiweißsteftmacherhandwerk the Franconian and Bavarian regional news reported live from Staedtler’s factory on 25 September 2012. The reports were only a few minutes long.

UK, 2011

Outnumbered (British TV series)

There is a very small chance that this is a Fox Essentials copy, but I think it’s a Noris – The Fox Essentials has a white eraser.

UK, 2012

Quartet (British film)
Quartet (2012 film directed by Dustin Hoffman)

I haven’t watched this film, but Sean was kind enough to tell me about it and to send me this screenshot.

The Bletchley Circle (British TV series)
The Bletchley Circle (Image © ITV)

Comrade John from the Pencil Revolution sent this screenshot from The Bletchley Circle, a murder mystery set in the famous1 Bletchley Park in 1952. I’m not sure though they would have used a Noris in H there2 – Staedtler took the Royal Sovereign Group over in the 1970s, so the code breakers would have been more likely to use Wolff’s Royal Sovereign.

UK/USA, 2012

Episodes (British TV series)
Episodes (cropped) - Season 2 Episode 2

In Episodes Sean Lincoln (played by Stephen Mangan2 ) is using a Stadtler Noris in the USA, even though it isn’t officially on sale in the USA. The character must have brought it from the UK, the desk is full of Noris pencils ..or, in the real world, this scene might have been filmed in the UK.

 UK 2012

Shaun the Sheep is using a Noris. Who would have thought. Yes, it is a cartoon version of a Noris, but it is unmistakably a Noris. Nice!

Shaun's Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)
Shaun’s Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)
Shaun's Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)
Shaun’s Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)

UK, 2013

Bach: A Passionate Life (British TV documentary) 
Bach: A Passionate Life (image cropped) (Image © Leopard Films)

I haven’t watched this documentary either, but Sean was kind enough to tell me about it and to send me this screenshot.

France, 2014

Engrenages (French TV series)

A Noris in the first episode of the fifth season, used by juge Roban.

Juge Roban's pencil
Juge Roban’s pencil

UK, 2014

Uncle (British TV series)

Noris in Episode 3 of Uncle. This episode gives you the opportunity to admire the Noris in Nick Helm’s right and left hand and in his mouth.

Uncle (Image © Baby Cow Productions / BBC)
The Game (British TV series)

MI5’s Alan Montag is using a Staedtler Noris. There are a lot of pencils in the series, but usually they are unidentifiable yellow/orange pencils.

Alan Montag listening in with a Noris
Alan Montag listening in with a Noris

UK, 2015

Make me Welsh (British TV documentary)

A documentary about schools in Wales, featuring the Noris (formerly made in Wales).

Pensiliau Cymraeg (Image © BBC Cymru)
Pensiliau Cymraeg (Image © BBC Cymru)

…and another documentary, this time about using Chinese teaching methods in a British school.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School (Image © BBC)
Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School (Image © BBC)
Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School (Image © BBC)
Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School (Image © BBC)

A Noris at the cricket

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s “ECB.tv” interviews fast bowler Mark Wood after the team’s match against Pakistan A.  The reporter has tucked an end dipped Noris HB (by the looks of the dip’s colour) behind his ear.

Image © ECB
Image © ECB

UK, 2015

Upcycling with a Noris

Another Noris in the wild. This time: during Saturday evening prime time on Channel 4 ..on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.

Upcycling expert Max McMurdo is using a Noris to design a floating home, built from a shipping container.

Max McMurdo using a Staedtler Noris pencil
Max McMurdo using a Staedtler Noris (Image © Channel 4)

Belgium, 2015

Professor T’s Noris

A Noris in several episodes of the Belgian TV series Professor T. The Staedtler Noris belongs to inspecteur Daan De Winter, played by Bart Hollanders.

UK, 2018

Catastrophe

10 Noris in 9 seconds in the second episode of the fourth season of the Channel 4 TV series Catastrophe.

France, 2019

French police procedural and legal drama series doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the Staedtler Noris.

Denmark/UK, 2021

A Noris being used in Copenhagen, seen in the UK on BBC News.

Germany, 2021

The Noris on the cover of a single by Von Wegen Lisbeth.

USA/Spain, 2022

A Noris in Skydance’s movie “Luck”.


I believe that the use of the screen shots of the Noris pencils falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

Noris in the wild Read More »

Noris shavings

I like the Noris shavings from KUM’s Masterpiece [1]I guess officially it should be ‘KUM’s The Masterpiece’ so much, I took them out of the waste bin to take a photo. noris-shavings

References

References
1 I guess officially it should be ‘KUM’s The Masterpiece’

Noris shavings Read More »

Noris colour wear and tear

Introduction

Here’s my first follow up post about the Noris colour, the coloured pencil made using Wopex material, which has been mentioned in a previous blog post. I bought my set of six Noris colour for £2.49 (~$3.76; €3.46) on eBay. There are also sets with 12 and with 24 pencils available.

As explained earlier I have been looking for a coloured pencil, one that is suitable for writing, for quite a while now. The Noris colour is one of the best pencils for this purpose I have seen so far.

The Noris colour pencils have arrived
The Noris colour pencils have arrived

 The test

Now this is not a scientific exploration of how fast the lead will wear down, I have neither equipment nor experience, but just to give you some rough idea what I did:

  • The average normal pen force used to write the sample lines was approximately 1 Newton. I don’t know the average axial pen force. There was obviously a lot of variation as I wrote by hand – with more force being used for downward strokes. As you can see the point broke a few times. It would be great to have a pencil hardness tester, like the Elcometer, to make these tests more objective [1]They’re actually supposed to the the surface you scratch with the pencils, not the pencils themselves. I guess I should either start a Kickstarter (think potato salad) to try to get my hand on … Continue reading.
  • All pencils were sharpened using the Deli 0668, i.e. with an angle of approximately 20°. The Deli was dialled back one full rotation (360°) do avoid creating a point that will break too easily.
  • The paper used was from a Brunnen – Der grüne Block (previously seen in this post)

Old and new Noris coloured pencils. The old ones didn't take part in the comparison.
Old and new Noris coloured pencils. The old ones didn’t take part in the comparison.

Before

All pencils, the Noris colour, the Eberhard Faber 1410 and the Noris club 144, had an initial line thickness of 0.1 mm – 0.3 mm (vertical / horizontal variation).

 

After

The point of the Noris colour wore down the least. After one line of writing the line variation was 0.3 mm – 0.5 mm.

The point of the Eberhard Faber 1410 wore down the most. After one line of writing the line variation was 0.5 mm – 0.6 mm.

The point wear of the Noris club 144 was in the middle. After one line of writing the line variation was 0.3 mm – 0.6 mm.

noriscolour-comparison

 

Conclusion

The Noris colour performed best. Subjectively the point felt better than what the numbers suggest, but then the Noris is also the pencil that left the lightest mark. The Eberhard Faber 1410which wore down fastest left the strongest marks on paper.

Despite the light marks the Noris colour is in my opinion the best pencil for writing or marking. It is also easy to erase.


Price Noris colour: February 2015.

I bought the Brunnen notepad in August 2011 in McPaper, Schweinfurt (Germany) for €1.19 (~$1.29; £0.86).

I bought the Noris Club pencil in 2008 from Woolworths went they into administration. I don’t remember the price.

I bought the Eberhard Faber pencils in 2010. More information about them can be found in this blog post.

Exchange rates: March 2015.

References

References
1 They’re actually supposed to the the surface you scratch with the pencils, not the pencils themselves. I guess I should either start a Kickstarter (think potato salad) to try to get my hand on a pencil hardness tester or try to build my own one.

Noris colour wear and tear Read More »