Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 15: The Goldilocks pencil
Unusually, the subject of today's post is a range of pencils still in production. More specifically, it is about one particular pencil from this range, for reasons that shall become…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 14: Compass inserts
As mentioned in day twelve's survey of lead refills, A.W. Faber's polygrade leads revolutionised the compass pencil insert, with 2 mm quickly becoming the standard size of fitting. Mostly these…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 13: Staedtler REG
Unlucky for some, the Staedtler 925 85 REG is one of those pencils that elicits mixed opinions. Released by Staedtler's Japanese division in 2004, its short name comes from the…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 12: Twelve leads a-leaping
For the twelfth day of Christmas Mechanical Pencil Month, I present a whistlestop tour of twelve lead refills from my collection of [insert large number here]. They have been arranged…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 8: The Interlock Pencil
Today's post asks the question: What makes a mechanical pencil? Day three's Nestler with its complex double-push action definitely qualifies; the simple cedar pencils of day two, clearly not. Going…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 4: The Eversharp 4 Square
Day the fourth be with you! On that note, it's hard to think of a more quadratic pencil than the Eversharp 4 Square. This was a mechanical pencil of square…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 2: The life cycle of the pencil
Today's post follows our plucky lump of graphite as it embarks upon the long journey of metamorphosis into a fully-fledged pencil. Issued by the Cumberland Pencil Co. Ltd. of Keswick,…
Mechanical Pencil Month – Day 1: Borrowdale Plumbago
Object number one is not actually a pencil at all, mechanical or otherwise, yet without it the history of drawing would have turned out very differently. Said to have been…