pencil

Recycled money pencil 4

 in Pencils / Sharpeners  tagged DUX / pencil / recycled / recycled money pencil / sharpener by

Welcome to the 251st post.

Money pencil

 

This time: a pencil made from recycled money. My colleague Dr. Mitchell Larson saw this pencil while visiting another university and brought one back.

made from recycled money

 

Recycled money

A quick search on the Internet shows that many British suppliers of promotional pencils stock this green, recycled pencil. I am not sure whether it’s made from recycled Pound notes (less likely) or whether the colour is supposed to indicate that it is made from recycled Dollar bills (more likely). This is probably the same pencil as the one seen on Pencil Revolution in 2006. In any case, the pencil doesn’t feel as if it’s made from pure, recycled cotton paper. It’s much too hard and dense for that. I’d speculate that it’s made from plastic banknotes if I wouldn’t think it’s made from Dollar bills. Another explanation for the plasticy consistency, one which seems more likely, might be that the consistency of the recycled notes is just not right to be made into a pencil – so the recycled material might have had to be mixed with another material. Maybe there’s an even more exciting explanation: maybe the recycled notes had to be mixed with another material to make it impossible to use this pencil to forge money. Lots of speculation, but in the end it doesn’t matter why: this pencil is much more similar to a Staedtler Wopex or to a BIC ecolutions evolution than to a pencil made from rolled paper, like the ones shown in the battle of the eco pencils.

The pencil itself is round. I mention this because there is an older, hexagonal version – the one made from $7.33 of recycled Dollars.

Factory sharpened

Factory sharpened

The lead

The lead behaves and feels similar to the BIC ecolutions evolution, it’s just a bit less waxy. It’s definitely worse than a Staedtler Wopex, it’s not as dark and more plasticy, but much better than the catastrophic pencils made from recycled CD cases, which are widely used as promotional pencils. I’m not even looking for the CD case pencils on purpose, but have already come across four different ones. Two of them were left by students in different rooms in our university. I can’t blame them for not wanting to write with these pencils.

Sharpened using a Dux 9207-N

Sharpened using a DUX 9207-N

Sharpening

The Dux 9207-N

The Dux 9207-N

In a good sharpener, in this case the DUX 9207-N, sharpening the recycled money pencil is effortless. Despite being made from a material that seems quite a bit harder than wood the sharpener didn’t struggle at all. When sharpening the recycled money pencil in a ‘not so good’ sharpener or one where use has resulted in a blunt blade sharpening needs more effort than your average wood cased pencil.

Since we’re just talking about the sharpener anyway, the DUX 9207-N is a very nice sharpener, made from black Bakelite. As far as I know this sharpener has been first produced in the 1940s. You can sometimes see people on eBay trying to sell new versions of this sharpener as antiques. The DUX sharpens with an angle of ~20°. Please take the time to click on the picture of the sharpener to see the delicate, sophisticated pattern on the lid of the sharpener in higher resolution.

 

Overall

Some pencils made from recycled materials are truly awful. This pencil isn’t one of them. The fact that it’s made from recycled money makes it an interesting novelty. The lead is usable, even though it’S not as good as the best pencils made from recycled materials.

 

Tested on Banditapple 3G paper

Tested on Banditapple 3G paper

 

I’d like to thank Lexikaliker for getting me the Dux 9207-N sharpener. I couldn’t find it in any local shops.

I’d like to thank Dr. Mitchell Larson for the recycled money pencil.

A recycled money pencil has been recently mentioned in the Erasable podcast, probably in Episode 5.

The Lyra Temagraph and the Eisen 480 9

 in Eisen / Fila / Lyra / Pencils / Sharpeners  tagged Alain Bertreau / Atoma / Eisen / Eisen 480 / Fila / Lyra / Made in Belgium / Made in China / Made in Germany / pencil / sharpener / Temagraph by

I guess I should stick to pencils, the clam clips blog post really wasn’t popular, so here’s a new blog posts about a pencil and a sharpener/eraser combo. The pencil side of today’s post is, to some extent, linked to an earlier blog post about the Amos Dixon Ticonderoga and to pencil talk’s blog post about Fila’s global pencils. I’ll be writing about Lyra’s Temagraph. The sharpener side of the post is linked to an earlier post about the Eisen 402.

A Temagraph next to a Ticonderoga

A Temagraph next to a Ticonderoga

 

The Lyra Temagraph

Temagraph

Assumed origin: from Greek thema + -graph: An instrument for writing about a topic, theme or proposition

The Temagraph has been available for some time now, but in the past it was only available under the Fila brand name. You can see pictures of the old Fila Temagraph at Lápis and Pencils and at pencil talk. After Fila (Italy) bought Dixon (USA) and Lyra (Germany) they started ‘adjusting’ their products, including the Temagraph. The Temagraph suddenly started to look pretty much like the Dixon Ticonderoga (metallic green font on a yellow pencil) and is now marketed [1]It’s advertising includes promises such as “The best designers choose the excellent lines of Temagraph pencils.” and “The best illustrators choose the clean line left by … Continue reading as a Lyra pencil, rather than as a Fila pencil.

Look

Two sides of the pencil are a labelled. The Temagraph side is labelled in metallic green. Opposite is the barcode side, labelled in black. The Temagraph has a end cap similar to the Noris, indicating lead hardness, but with a straight line around the corners.

Material

The FSC code on the packaging doesn’t leave any doubt about the Temagraph being linked to the Ticonderoga. The certificate is linked to the Beijing Fila Dixon Stationery Co., Ltd [2]Timberlines has further information about the Chinese manufacturer of these pencils. and shows that the pencil is made using Tilia spp., which includes many species of linden trees (also called lime trees or basswood).

The barcode side of the Temagraph and the Eisen 480

The barcode side of the Temagraph and the Eisen 480

Availability

Even though it is officially a Lyra pencil (and Lyra is/was a German brand) I have never seen this pencil in any shop in Germany. It dos however seem to be more popular in Fila’s home country Italy. When looking for the Temagraph on Amazon UK I could only find Italian sellers offering this pencil. Mine are from a local shop in Germany. They didn’t stock any, but a few years ago I asked them to order a few for me.

Performance

The Temagraph feels fairly smooth and puts down a very dark line. As you might have guessed from the fact that it’s a dark line – the lead rather soft, which means that point retention is not as good as it is with a normal pencil. In my case that means that I’m happy to use the Temagraph for writing the occaional sentence (think calendar entries), but I wouldn’t want to use it write a lot as it would need sharpening too often.

The Eisen 480 taken apart

The Eisen 480 taken apart

The Eisen 480

I sharpened the Temagraph with Eisen’s model 480. The Eisen 480 sharpens with an angle of approx. 21°. It’s a container sharpener that comes with an eraser, to some extent similar to the Faber-Castell Sharpener-eraser pen 18 44 01. The container for the shavings can be rotated and will lock in one of two positions: sharpener accessible and sharpener closed, to prevent shavings from falling out.

What an excellent point

What an excellent point

The eraser comes with a lid and fits exactly under the lid. Eraser performance is good. It’s a TPR (thermoplastic rubber) eraser that produces strands that roll together, to some extent similar to a dust-free eraser, but not as extreme, but eraser performance overall is no match for the excellent performance of the sharpener, which produces a nice, continuous strand of shavings with a thickness of about 0.2 mm. The blade is made in Baiersdorf, the container is made in Taicang, where assembly takes place, and the eraser is bought in.

 

You can find out more about the Temagraph at Lexikaliker.

The grey background in the photos (except the last photo) is from Atoma’s Alain Bertreau notebook. I placed the items in the A4 version of this notebook.

I bought the Temagraph in Germany, but can’t remember how much I paid for them.

I have received the Eisen 480 as a free sample from Eisen. Mr. Leistner provided further information. I don’t believe that, when I received the sample, Eisen was aware that I have a blog. I also don’t believe that not having paid for this sharpener has influenced my opinion of the sharpener in any way.

References

References
↑1It’s advertising includes promises such as “The best designers choose the excellent lines of Temagraph pencils.” and “The best illustrators choose the clean line left by Temagraph pencils! Superior quality, gold series, fine graphite for clean-cut lines, Temagraph pencils come with an extra-resistant and easy to sharpen and original green metal band indicating the grade.” Despite this promise the green band isn’t made from metal. I’m also not sure though what the green band is resistant to, why you would want to sharpen it. The green band doesn’t indicate the grade either. I’m not sure whether the best illustrators really choose the Temagraph, so like with a lot of advertising I choose not to believe this until I see proof supporting this statement.
↑2Timberlines has further information about the Chinese manufacturer of these pencils.

Pencil Paraphernalia and a Pretty Pencil Pin Pendant 3

 in Derwent / Handicraft  tagged Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell / Derwent / Made in Great Britain / Northern England / paraphernalia / pencil / Tony Castello / Zincwhite by

Today: pencil paraphernalia and a pretty pencil pin pendant.

My wife bought them for me last year in the Cumberland Pencil Museum shop.

Derwent Zincwhite

Pencil keyring and fridge magnet

Derwent Zincwhite surface

A closer look at the surface


If you have seen this year’s first Faber-Castell newsletter [1]If you haven’t seen it yet: You’ll also find an article about our pencil community’s own Sean, who is the man behind Contrapuntalism and The Blackwing Pages, in the newsletter. these two items might remind you of the fountain pen our favourite count [2]Usual disclaimer as mentioned previously: He is not really a count. According to Part 2, Section 1, Article 109(2) of the Weimar Constitution privileges based on birth or social status and titles of … Continue reading received for his 70th birthday: the pen’s barrel looks rather similar [3]…but is probably made from Castell 9000 pencils. Just like the Derwent pencils these two items are made in the North of England. The company behind the fridge magnet and the keyring is Zincwhite from Huddersfield [4]I certainly won’t be able to mention Huddersfield without mentioning that Professor Sir Patrick Stewart is Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield..

Nice!

 

References

References
↑1If you haven’t seen it yet: You’ll also find an article about our pencil community’s own Sean, who is the man behind Contrapuntalism and The Blackwing Pages, in the newsletter.
↑2Usual disclaimer as mentioned previously: He is not really a count. According to Part 2, Section 1, Article 109(2) of the Weimar Constitution privileges based on birth or social status and titles of nobility were abolished in the Weimar Republic in 1919. Graf (Count) is just part of his surname. In reality no one seems to care about this rule though. I assume this rule hasn’t been broken in the latest book about Faber-Castell, when his wife is referred to as Gräfin (Countess), because adapting the “surname” to the gender of a person seems to be permissible. As you can see, the whole issue is rather complicated.
↑3…but is probably made from Castell 9000 pencils
↑4I certainly won’t be able to mention Huddersfield without mentioning that Professor Sir Patrick Stewart is Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield.

Three Horse Pencils 6

 in Pencils  tagged "Three Horse Pencils" / Made in Japan / pencil by

Today: new old stock pencils from Japan.

Three Horse Pencils

 

Introduction

My original guess was that these Three Horse Pencils are from the 1970s, but I found an American web site that indicates that these pencils might be from the 1960s.

I do like pencils with a theme (the Bonanza, the Alligator, …), so even though I’m not too keen on the strong colours and the light stripes (which are similar to the modern Marco 9001 and the Bauhaus 6004) the three horse heads printed on the pencils [1]You’ll probably have to click on the picture to enlarge or you won’t get a good view of the logo. make good for that…

Three Horse Pencils

 

Appearance

Unfortunately, the erasers are unusable by now. The wood smells a bit like frankincense, but less pleasant and also a bit wet. I guess the pencils weren’t stored in a very dry environment.

Three Horse Pencils

 

Sharpening

I managed to produce a nice point using the rotary blade sharpener Deli 0668, my first choice these days when it comes to sharpening the Wopex, too [2]…because of the less acute angle, compared to the Deli 0635, it manages to sharpen the Wopex without major issues while still producing a fantastic point..

Sharpening in different prism sharpeners was less successful. The lead did break most of the time and the surface of the exposed wood looked very frazzled, unless I used a sharpener with a blade in near perfect condition.

Three Horse Pencils

 

Now and then

Compared to modern Japanese pencils the HB lead of the Three Horse Pencil is harder, very similar to a Western/European HB. It takes a bit more effort to erase the graphite, but not really a lot more. The line it puts on paper has a similar darkness as modern pencils. Using a good rubber, in my case the Staedtler Mars Plastic stick, the graphite from this pencil can be removed as well as that of a modern pencil: you’ll just see the dent the pencil left in the paper.

Three Horse Pencils

The package sleeve has the letters H.T.P. printed on it. This might be the name of the pencils’ manufacturer, but I was not able to find more information about H.T.P..

References

References
↑1You’ll probably have to click on the picture to enlarge or you won’t get a good view of the logo.
↑2…because of the less acute angle, compared to the Deli 0635, it manages to sharpen the Wopex without major issues while still producing a fantastic point.