Factis Softer S20 eraser review

The eraser that I put today to the test is an older Factis Softer S20. I have been using it for around a year now, and I cannot complain about it. It performs decently in everyday situations.
As it is advertised, it is a very soft eraser. It even broke where the paper wrapper meets the eraser.
Because it is so soft it does not harm the paper, but it leaves a lot of residue behind it. This is my biggest complaint. I do not recommend it for "home" use as you will go through a lot of trouble to keep the carpets eraser shavings free.
And I do not compare it with the so-called dust-free erasers, but with regular ones.
It erases very well the polymer leads HB and 2B. The paper is clean after, with no smudges and no marks of previous writing.
On the softer leads 4B, 6B it left behind a very faint trace of lead, but most likely it is not noticeable if you are not looking for it.
The charcoal and colored pencil were not erased completely.

Just for comparison, I have erased the left side of the paper with the Factis 36R. It is a harder eraser, but not too hard. The erasing qualities are similar. I think in the 4B and 6B it performed a bit worse but overall there is no major difference. What is a plus, is the fact that less residue is left behind.

The price is very good. The S20 is about 30% cheaper than Faber Castell dust free small eraser, and half the price of the full dust-free eraser. But because it is so soft and brittle I think it should be compared with the small one in terms of longevity.

The 36R is even cheaper, about 3 times cheaper than the Faber Castell dust free small eraser.

In conclusion, Factis are not bad products, but definitely, have some issues. If you like to do Sudoku before bad time, definitely do not buy the S20.

Gutberlet manufacturer of mechanical pencils for Rotring and Staedtler?

Fact: In 1995 Gutberlet GmbH acquired the rights to the Kaweco name.
Enter the Gutberlet site and you are welcomed by an outdated, plain looking site of an unknown manufacturer.
If you look at the products you are up for a treat
"Components for pens – technical components – decoration foils / heat-transfer-foils – packaging – OEM-production for pens."

"Push pencil aluminium with 0,3/0,5/0,7 und 0,9mm leads"

rOtring Tikky T (first version)

rOtring Esprit

Staedtler 925 25 03

Staedtler 925 05 and Staedler 925 65

Staedtler and Rotring

All of the images were taken from the Goultberg presentation portfolio link


Related post: kaweco OEM

Faber Castell Grip pen case

I have been looking for a replacement pencil bag for my daily carry. The one that I have is 20 - 30 years old, and it came apart. It was a simple design small and portable that can carry 2 writing instruments and a very small eraser. I loved it for these qualities.

For some time I have looked at options that can replace it. After searching for one (in stores) I came to the conclusion that I will need to adapt to what is available nowadays. What I found was either bigger, smaller or I didn't like the design. I would say I am a "minimalist" at heart, but In reality, I am a bit of a collector (to be read: hoarder). So I was looking for something simple to fulfill this task and something that can accommodate 2 pencils or pen  + pencil and a small eraser. I wanted something not too big that can be easily carried around and would not look too sophisticated or too childish so I can use it everywhere, meetings or just lugging some pens and mechanical pencils around.

So, in the end, I went for the Faber Castell Grip. It is a very simple pen case that can hold about 3 instruments without becoming bulky.

It is made out of textile material that looks to be heavy duty. It has written Faber Castell on the front, the logo, and some dots (which are supposed to be the grippy part of its name).

The cool feature of it is an elastic band with which you can attach it to a notebook. I find it practical and quite a unique feature.

Many times I use the elastic band as a bookmark.

The pouch comes in 2 sizes. The slim one that I chose and a larger one that looks more like a students pen case. It comes in 4 colors gray (the one I have), beige, blue and red. All of the colors are muted and look quite nice.

The model I chose is a small and slim pencil case. You can put 3 writing instruments in it, an eraser, maybe a box of leads, and maybe a sharpener if it is a small one.

I have been using it for almost a year now and I enjoy its looks and practicality. First I had doubts about the fact it is not rigid, and I got worried that some of the writing instruments I have might get damaged in the luggage when I am traveling. But the reality is that always when I have the pencil case with me I also have a small notebook. So the notebook offers mechanical resistance to the pencils and fountain pens that are inside the pencil case, as I always use the elastic band to attach it to the notebook.

I like the elastic band as you just pull out of the bag both case and notebook at the same time without searching around.

The negative part is that the pencils are free to move inside the pouch, which can lead to scratches in some cases. I have experienced this myself, so you have to choose writing instruments that do not get scratched easily or do not have sharp edges that can damage their siblings.

Seen on Escape Room

It has been some time from the last spotting, but the seen on screen is back with what looks like a Bic 4 colors pen, with a white body and gray grip section

It looks like a very cozy workplace for Ben. He is really a minimalist, having only the strict minimum on the work desk.
Phone, paper + Bic 4 colors pen, remote control for watching Mr. Miagy tips and trick, cigarets and let's not forget the drinks. You need to keep hydrated.
I am not going to ruin the movie with other spoilers. Apparently, you can get your ass kicked like this guy

Easter Egg

The Orthodox Easter just passed a few days ago. And I found out that the best Easter Eggs are made of chocolate. True story.

This is what it takes to be a big fan of pencils

An Australian couple chose to saround the house with a fence colored pencils fence. What a colorfull idea.

My watch - fountain pen combo

 

This is my setup, a very nice Faber Castell Loom fountain pen with F nib, all grey metallic version along with a Casio AE 1200 HD (the Bond watch or Casio Royale).
It is a simple setup, that I really enjoy and ware a lot. The Casio is a very nice design, that is standing out from the crowd, with a retro twist to it, and a great world time function. I think this is the cheapest and coolest GMT watch you can get (I mean coolest for low priced watches). The watch has an analog style clock that always shows your local time, the main dial shows local time or a different time zone. You get a very nice feature, a world map where the time zone you are in is highlighted. Also, you get an LED light that is a nice amber color plus features that are common for digital watches, like alarms, chime, timer and a countdown timer. The Casio is 100 meter water resistant.

Not as good when it comes to water resistance is the Faber Castell Loom metallic fountain pen. But I love it the way it is. It is an all metal body that doesn't show fingerprints. It has a grey color. The cap is the make it or break it part of this fountain pen. Many are put off by it, as it is different from almost everything on the market. The rest are put off by the weight of the fountain pen. The rest just love it.
The cap is made out of plastic and can come in many strong colors. I chose the grey one, or better said, it chose me as it was the only option available with an F nib in my local shop at that time, and any other color I had to order it and wait for it.

I am curious to see your set up or ideas of a watch - fountain pen combo that would look nice together.

Pencil highlighter

I saw on the internet that Kaweco has a 5.6 mm highlighter lead, and I think it is just awesome. I like the idea of using a pencil highlighter, you do not get smudges, no bleed, and the pencil will not fade with time. But it is pretty hard to get the 5.6 mm leads, as they don't seem to be very popular. From the searches made almost the only place you can buy them is jetpens.com
They come either mixed, a yellow, a red and a green or a pack of 3 with the same color inside. At the moment of writing this post, the pack of 3 is $ 6.5 and a free shipping in USA for orders above $ 25
They look cool and vibrant but why not use a regular color lead instead of the "highlighter" ones?

I made a short test with the Koh I Noor 2 mm lead 6 color pack. All the colored leads are very good as a highlighter, as they are vibrant enough to be seen but not too intense that they obscure the writing beneath. The downside is the small diameter, and the fact the leads are not extra soft. Because of this, you will need a shading move of the pencil to highlight the row. So maybe a little extra work. I wonder how the 5.6 colored Koh I Noor leads work for this kind of stuff.
Bellow is the Kaweco highlighter (picture from jetpens.com) and to the right is the Koh I Noor regular color lead.

picture from jetpens.com

Stabilo HB and 2B lead review

Today I tested a not very popular lead brand, Stabilo. The brand is best known for its highlighters and I would say not so much for pencils and leads.
The price of the lead was pretty good. 1.63 $ or 1.32 Eur for 3 pack of 12 leads. Two of them HB and one 2B. It is cheaper than big brand names in some cases even by half. The lead comes in a classic barrel, that is clear with a little quirk to it and a nice red cap. I like the simple and clean look.
The first thing you notice is the length of 75 mm instead of the standard 60 mm. So not only you have a better price than bigger names you get more lead for your money, 25% more.

I tested the 0.5 mm HB and the 2B. To have a base point I compared the results produced by the Stabilo to Rotring.
The lead writes well, the HB feels a bit hard and a bit scratchy. I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
The line is a bit light. It feels a bit harder compared to other HB leads. Compared to the Rotring it feels very hard, but the pro is the ease of erasing it.

After doing the writing test for the HB I used about 0.5 mm of lead.
The good thing is the lead will last a long time, and you will not need to click the advance mechanism so often.
If I compare it to the Rotring HB, Stabilo HB is scratchy, hard, light but it will last longer. Rotring HB is smoother and almost as dark as the Stabilo 2B. At smoothness, Rotring gets a 5 out of 5. But the darkness and the smoothness comes at a cost. To do the same writing test the Rotring used a little over 1 mm of lead. That is more than double if you compare it with Stabilo

The Stabilo 2B is very soft and smooth. It leaves behind a black dark line but wears up quite fast. The same writing test used 4.5 mm of lead. A very significant increase. You will have dark lines on the paper but you will be clicking a lot. The erasing of the lead was very good, no residue was left behind.
But the Rotring 2B did better overall. It was a hint darker but nothing significant or worth worrying about. The smoothness was similar in both brands. But Stabilo needed 4.5 mm to do the same test while Rotring needed only 3 mm.
The Stabilo 2B seems too soft, and this does not translate into extra dark lines. So I would not recommend it, as you will have to do a lot of clicking to write.
There is a definitive gap between Stabilo HB and 2B. HB being a bit too hard and the 2B a bit too soft. If you are not put off by the hardness and scratchiness of the HB, Stabilo offers a very good deal. 75 mm of lead, 12 leads/pack at just 0.44 Eur or 0.54 $.

Magic pencil Koh I Noor

This has been my view this last few days, during my ride home from work. To better understand some explanations are due. I live in a city that is surrounded by hills, and close to it, approx 30km there are small mountains. I would say it is a pretty nice place. But during winter it gets very depressing. Mostly because the day is short and it gets dark early. And second, when it is not dark outside everything is gray. The sky is covered by gray mushy clouds, the light is very flat, and the snow in the city gets gray fast. Not to mention the buildings that look like this all year round. It is unusual to see a beautiful clear sky, especially when you are trapped in an office all day long. But spring is coming and the day is growing in length.
Now when I go home from work I get to enjoy this type of scenery (somewhere in the black bottom part of the image is where I live).
And each time my brain connects it with the Koh - I - Noor Jumbo Special Coloured Magic Pencil. If I could paint or draw, this would definitely be my weapon of choice for such stunning scenery.