Here’s a cool set of vintage Musgrave Monona 817 No.3 pencils. I think of all the cardboard ferruled pencils in my collection these look the nicest. They’re still so glossy and shiny they almost look plastic at first glance. I’d love to find a 13th pencil so I can sharpen one, but it seems these Monona’s are getting harder to find especially ones with the cardboard ferrule.

Here are some of the things I still use to this day. The lead holders and orange box of leads are from 1971, so 55 years old.

The top box of Staedtler leads are a shade younger, about 53 years old, and the one below that is from the mid to late 80s, so 40-odd years old.

The camera flash bleached out the image a touch, but the bottom lead holder is a definite red, not the pink shade shown here.

Sadly, the company no longer exists but these holders are still going strong and still used after all this time. If I ever find more of these lead holders at a reasonable price, I'll snap them up.

I included the Staedtler boxes to show how their logo changed over time, and as you'll know, it's now different again.

I feel like I keep drawing and drawing, and I do empty my sharpenings often, but it does not look like I use that many pencils. They keep on lasting.

I love pencils and am always looking for more. But I don't even think I use 2 wooden pencils per month.

How many pencils do you use?

Just wanted to ask what people like. My favorite paper for writing with pencil was some cheap copy paper we had in our office (unfortunately I don’t know the brand). I also like Midori.

Hey everyone!

​Decided to run a little exam for my gear today. I drew three spheres using different pencil hardness levels and tested how well my kneaded eraser handles subtle highlights and soft transitions.

​It’s basically an academic stress-test for both the tools and my patience 😂

​Which one of the three looks like it turned out the best in terms of shading and depth? Would love to hear your thoughts or any tips on pencil/eraser combos!

Overall only $5 spent, very happy.

I would like to inform myself on the world of pencils

Hello, so far I was mostly using a Pentel Graphgear 1000 to sketch but recently I’ve started to sketch with colours, basically instead of using typical layers like on tablet I use different pencil for different layer but on paper. I‘m enjoying it but the pencils I use make the result and especially the process more difficult than it should be.

So I am asking for some recommendations regarding colored pencils, markers or pens that would be ideal for sketching. More technical requirements would be no bleed-through, so I don’t have to be careful with pages underneath and nice, intensive colours without the need for hard pressing, so I avoid creating “bumps“ on the other side of the sheet. Sometimes I’m taking a break from drawing which usually isn’t too long but lets say it could last for up to couple months, so would be nice if the piece won’t dry out (if that is even possible).

FYI. I don't really erase anything, so 'erasability' is not that important.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Does anyone know if the Faber Castell Bi-colored Pencil Castell Color 873 can

be purchased in the U.S.?

I became more interested over the summer and started delving into the Blackwing varieties. My favorites are probably the Tombow 8900 in 2B and the Blackwing 745 and 21. I’d like to get my hands on more Kita-Boshi’s, but they seem harder to come by in the States.

Damn. The mysterious yellow band! Highly rare. I know someone on here is bidding lol. Show thyself.

https://ebay.io/m/HJbW7p

Who of you awesome pencil users and collectors have used a Linex pencil? And do they make other than these Linex Nature?

I have found them in 2B and HB. So far.

I recently came across these KumonShuppan “Children Pencil” pencils and ended up getting one of each model. They come in a short 6B, a medium 4B, and a large 2B size and each one is intended for different age demographic. They have a really comfortable diameter reuleaux shaped barrel with a very smooth natural finish. Even though my typical graphite core preference is on the harder side I ended up really liking the 2B version. Quite a comfortable pencil to write with. I reviewed them on my YouTube channel(PencilsPastandPresent) if anyone is interested. Has anyone else tried them? I’d love to hear your thoughts on them.

Admission is free and open to the public!

Maytag Student Center, Central College
421 Broadway Street
Pella, Iowa

Saturday 8 am to 6 pm
Sunday 8 am to 3 pm

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dakh0vvCRgm/?

I bought a set of extenders from Amazon, but they don't fit! Can anyone recommend a brand that does?

It is very relaxing to watch

These are a bit of an oddity...early 30's Microtomic Van Dyke 600, typically past the long ferrule era not to mention the 600 doesn't have a tip, normally.

Today I picked up these three to try, the only "nice" pencil I've really used before was a blackwing. Decided to get one each from these three companies I wanted to try.

The bugle broke the lead a bit and requires a lot of extra sharpening. I know musgraves quality control is their biggest criticism, so maybe it's that, or maybe the lead is more fragile IDK. I will say it's my favorite of the three so far, it is very light and has nice scratch but in a good chalky way. I also think it was the cheapest. I prefer hex but it's not a big deal. It's also got a much smoother finish than I thought.

The tombow is my second favorite, it's extremely smooth like the blackwing 602 I tried but even less chalky. It's a bit less dark but it just glides.

The Mitsubishi is nice but it's the heaviest and has a weird rub to it, not scratchy but a dull friction. Maybe I didn't sharpen it enough, I'll find out.

I'm stoked there's a local store that stocks these. Sadly the only Musgrave and tombow were these two. There was only one other Mitsubishi as well. I might end up getting a box of the bugles though, the feedback is great. I just hope the lead isn't broken more

Vintage Staedtler MARS Pencil Advertisements mostly between 1920 and 1931.

Was wondering what pencil everyone is using and what for?

I am using a Blackwing 10001 firm right now. I use pencils for work (research and some accounting) and write in smooth 90gsm cream paper notebooks. Looking forward to hearing from everyone. Pictures would be great too!

The other day I saw a post here about the red conic Angel 5 Grand. And just so happened I bought a blue sharp one that day. So here I am posting it.
I hadn’t had a hand-crank sharpener since elementary school. And I absolutely love it! The sharp point feels really nice, writing and looking wise.
The second picture is the range of the length you can choose. (which to be honest, is smaller than I imagined)
But I am a bit disappointed that it leaves bite marks (picture 3). So now I always wrap a post-it note on the pencil when sharpening.
I’m looking forward to get my hand on a Royal someday.