Pencil doing the heavy lifting

Due to renovation work and many other things that are happening I didn't find time to share much on the blog lately.

But I want to say that it's not just me with a busy schedule. I am starting to think that my pencils are a little bit workaholics...

To the point that there is no more lead, just wood on wood action :)

We need to take some time for recharging and sharpening up

The hunt for german fountain pens in a german airport

I had a layover in Germany and thought I should make good use of the time there. I started by visiting the terminals, going at every gate, trying the different sits and escalators. After the tour was complete I looked for a a souvenir, something to bring back home.. So naturally I started looking for stationary stuff.

Being in Germany I hoped to find some good deals from the German brands like Faber Castell or Lamy.

First found was the Lamy Safari. It was in a generic shop that also sells magazines, books, pillows for travel and gummy bears.

The price was not bad but it definitely wasn't a deal. Also I am not really a fan of the Lamy grip section so I continued my search.

Not to my surprise I spent quite a time wondering through the airport to find a better supplied store.

By luck I found the Fabriano Boutique

This is a dedicated stationary store, and it had more options but not much more. The windows were very tastefully decorated, Lamy Safari and some notebooks being the stars of the show.

I expected the inside of the store to have much more diversity when it comes to pencils and fountain pens. The majority of the products were Lamy Safari and it's wide range of colors and a few Faber Castell pens and ball points.

In the end I chose to bring as souvenir some chocolate, as I didn't found any deals on the German pens.

Faber Castell 1112 HB pencil

The Faber Castell 1112 HB is a classic looking wooden pencil perfect for taking notes and writing. It is what most people would expect from an affordable wooden pencil. 

It is 18.5 cm in length, the body is hexagonal, painted black and at the end it has a white eraser hold in place by a yellow faded gold trim that gives it some contrast.

On the black body with silver letters it is written the model number followed by the lead hardness which are printed along with the Faber Castell logo and name.

The first thing I noticed when picking this particular pencil in my hand was the warped body, which I don't think is supposed to be a feature. I do not know how common this is, but it makes me feel that the quality of the pencil is not quite top of the market. It does not affect the writing, in any way, though.

 The lead of this model is HB. I would say it is a softer/darker lead than I had expected from it. Being a lower cost model, I expected the lead to be harder, and more scratchy, but it is a decent writer. I would say in comparison with Faber Castell Grip it is not as smooth, and possibly it is a fraction darker. Over all, I would say it writes good enough for most.

The writing doesn't smudge when you drag your hand or fingers over the page. It also erases well from the page, the first test is a light single pass over the hatching. The last test row is testing the residue left on the page after a firmer pass of the eraser. Compared with the Faber Castell Grip it is just as good.

The wood is soft and can be easily sharpened.

Faber Castell Grip 2001 pencil

This Faber Castell Grip 2001 pencil is part of a range of products that Faber Castell has put on the market under the Grip name. The characteristic of the pencil are the doted patches of rubber that offer comport and "grip" to the user. The pencil is on the higher side of pricing, being a step up from the competition's classical pencils. It has a triangular shape that is great for comfort, it has a cool metal gray color and dotted black grip patches as implied by the name. At the top it has a black eraser which gives the entire pencil a very slick and modern look, at least in the one I have, because the pencil can be found without an eraser.

It has a unique look and feel that I enjoy. The pencil is made in Germany and has a very premium feel when you pick it up. I've got the HB version, which corresponds to the US 2 1/2. The pencil comes sharpened and has a very nice pointy tip. It has a total length from tip to eraser of 18.5.

The cost of a pencil without the eraser is about 0.7 - 0.8 Eur while the eraser version comes just above the 1.1 Eur mark (0.76 - 1.2 USD).

The Faber Castell website, states that they produce over 2 billion pencils per year, and are taking great care of the woods used to produce these pencils and the labor workforce involved in their operations, and 82% of the energy used is from renewable sources. So let's take into account information like this when buying a pencil.

How does the Faber Castell Grip 2001 performs?

In the end the most important is how the pencil writes, how does it feel when the lead hits the paper.

The pencil writes well, it has a bit of a harder composition that you can feel while writing with it. It offers a bit of feedback, it is not as smooth as a mechanical pencil lead, for example. Because it is a harder, it saves you from resharpening it very often, in retaining the tip quite well. At the same time, it is not producing the darkest line possible. Compared with a generic pencil it did better, and compared with the mechanical pencil leads from Rotring it produced a similar line.

In the smudge test it performed very well, it was almost smudge free which is great.

The pencil erases just fine, and with a single pass over the writing, the result was satisfactory. Usually the attached eraser is not on par with standard erasers, and this is no exception. The quality makes it ok for when you are in a pickle, but a block eraser will offer much nicer results.

In the end the pencil performed well, it will offer better results compared with a generic brand, but it will not

Faber Castell Poly Matic mechanical pencil

After a long intermission, in which I had a more busy schedule and a lot of procrastination and excuses, I read the book Atomic Habits and I started reading The Power of Habit. Now I am trying to apply the principles from the books to my life. Apparently when setting better daily habits I forgot about adding the blog as a daily or weekly activity :) Now I am back and want to share with you my opinions on the recently acquired Faber Castell Poly Matic, mechanical pencil. 

I saw this pencil available in local stores only recently and at first look I liked it a lot. The design is very nice and modern. This is a general writing mechanical pencil, t is not intended for drafting. The Poly Matic had an automatic lead advancement as well as a traditional push to advance system, and it has a retractable tip. The automatic lead advancement works ok. The push isn't that satisfying, even if it works perfectly, but there is no click to it.

I bought the 0.7 mm version. The Poly Matic pencil comes with 0.5 mm lead, and it can be bought as a ball pen. It has a plastic body that is the star of the show. The body is a very smooth and satin like plastic that is a joy to the fingers. It is quite chunky at the back and slims down to a perfect fit around the grip area. For extra comfort, it has some circular grooves in the grip section for extra comfort. Even though it has a triangular shape, it is very subtle and pleasant in hand. I have the black or better said dark gray color which looks impressive. The finish is mate and gives it a premium look. The pencil of course comes in other colors, some of them quite bold.

The only shiny parts on the pencil are the tip of the pencil, the clip and a small ring that delimits the pencil from the eraser.

The clip of the pencil is curvy, shiny and very strong.

To refill the pencil, you have to pull out the eraser unit, and this is how you get access. The Eraser unit is  quite big, and to extend the eraser you have to rotate it. The erasers protrude one or  two mm even when it is retracted all the way.

Faber Castell Shark mechanical pencil

 Shark week presents Faber Castell mechanical pencil :)

Quite an interesting and fun design for a mechanical pencil, and not as scary as you would think based on the title of the post. The pencil caught my eye and I had to take it home with me.

It is completely made out of plastic, the barrel and the front section are made out of translucent grey plastic, which are contrasted by the over the top rubber grip in a nice light blue color.

The plastic used in the pencil is a bit on the flimsy side. So even though the pencil has a retracting metal sleeve, I would not carry it in a pocket.

The grip feels nice in the hand. The grooves give you a good grip. The front end flares a bit out, and the top end of the grip ends with an original fish eye, mouth, and teeth. In general, these kinds of grips do not cope well with the passing of time. But in this case, I don't know which will outlive which, the body of the pencil or the grip. 

The clip doesn't offer the impression of security or durability.

To refill the pencil you can take out the eraser like you would on most of the mechanical pencils out there or you can remove the plastic endcap entirely and get access to the lead reservoir.

The printing on the pencil is minimal. It is an off-white Faber Castell and the logo and beneath the name "Shark Pencil" and the size.
Overall this is a nice pencil, not necessarily because of the quality of the build but because of the intriguing design. I like the unique style, the balance of the colors, and the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic look.

Inspired I guess by the pencil I have watched a lot of shark movies, from classics like Jaws to newer releases like The Reef, Open Water series, Bait 3d, and a few others.

PVC in erasers, Faber Castell Erasers comparison

Recently I have spent more time reading about Radon, VOC, and products that contain harmful ingredients. If you try to eat more eco-product also take a look at the stuff that surrounds you. Inside our homes many if not all the surfaces release compounds in the air that are not necessarily good for our health. The first step would be to limit the toxic materials or use them as sparingly as possible and if the space allows for a mechanical ventilation system I would suggest you look into it, as it is a very good way of reducing the concentrations of pollutants to low levels.

If what you eat matters this should matter as well. 

Most if not all of the products that are made out of plastic and have a rubbery/soft texture contain harmful chemicals that enter our bodys. The easiest method for these substances to enter our body is licking/chewing (sounds funny but many children chew on erasers/pencil etc), but there are other ways and a lot more products that we use daily.

Moving on to the stationary... I have come across an article, China Testing School Erasers

You can read more in the article. Long story short, they have tested for products meeting the toxic materials present in the erasers and the concentrations.

The brands that were part of the test wee:

The complete report is in Chinese, so I can't understand more than the pictures tell me.

Tombow Mono Plastic Eraser, Muji Plastic Eraser, Uni Plastic, Pilot Foam, Radar, Pentel Hi-Polymer,  Faber Castell Dust Free plus many more use PVC in their composition. Some have really high values, but I will not try to interpret those. The highest numbers are beside UNI, Pilot, Radar, MONO.

The article recommends using PVC free.

So here I am, testing three Faber Castell erasers, not for toxic materials but on their performance in doing their job. Two of them are PVC Free Erasers (the top row erasers from the first picture) and the third is the Faber Castell Dust Free eraser. 

The Dust Free 18 71 21 is a very good eraser, praised by a lot of people and widely used. It erases ok, and leaves very little residue behind. This makes it a favorite. Also, the black color helps to hide the dirt accumulated on it. This will be the control, representing the PVC erasers.

The white PVC Free eraser came with a protective paper cover while the green PVC Free eraser came in a very basic plastic wrap. The white PVC Free has all the writing on the paper cover, while the green has the information printed directly on it. 

I have tested to see how the erasers do, with classic lead and with polymer lead. All of the erasers did very well erasing the pencil marks completely without any effort.

Even though the results are similar, the feel is very different.
The Dust Free is grippy in a nice way, not wrinkles in the paper grippy, and it flexes a lot, leaving little to no residue behind.
The white eraser leaves a little more residue compared with the Dust Free, but still, small quantities compared with other erasers. The residue tends to clump together but there are definitely a lot of small particles.
The Pvc Free green eraser seems to be a bit stiffer than the white Pvc Free. You can feel it in hand and when you use it. It has a plastic feel, sliding over the paper more. It leaves more residue but the residue tends to stick to the eraser (or not break off).

In conclusion, I would say get a PVC Free eraser. It won't be a huge difference in erasing performance. 

I am sure that PVC erasers will not cause that much harm, compared to other pollutants we encounter daily but it is good to limit as much as possible your exposure to them. 

Faber Castell lead grade and a bit of history

I stumbled upon a catalog from Faber Castell which I consider to be very interesting, "Product Knowledge Manual".

The catalog starts with a short history of the company and its line. I like that the history was detailed and well documented.

I encourage you to read it but I will give below a short version presenting the important moments, so be aware, spoilers will come. 

-In 1761 Kasper Faber produces a pencil in Stein and sells it in a market in Nuremberg. 

-Then his son Anton Wilhelm Faber takes over and the workshop becomes A.W. Faber. After the business is taken over by Georg Leonhard Faber, but he doesn't do too well, as the business goes through rough times (political and economic difficult period). 

-The son of Georg, Lothar von Faber takes over and develops the business.

He develops the modern quality pencil, sets the length and different grades of hardness that remain valid today, also it is the first time to produce a hexagonal section

The pencil is labeled A.W. Faber, becoming the world's first brand pencil. Also, he expands and founds a branch in New York, and subsidiaries in London, Paris, Vienna, St Petersburg.

-Wilhelm von Faber, the son of Lothar runs the company for a while. 

-After Wilhelm's death, his daughter Baroness Ottilie von Faber marries Count Alexander zu Castell Rudenhausen. Lothar before his death through his testament assured that future generations will have to keep the Faber name. So after the marriage of Ottilie and Alexander, the family name became Faber - Castell. At this time the company became Faber-Castell.

In 1905 the green Castell pencil range is launched, with a new product logo "Tournament of the jousting Pencil Knights"

-Roland Graf von Faber-Castell, son of Ottilie and Alexander succeeds 

-Followed by his son Anton Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell ran the company until 2016

-After his death, the company was taken over by a board of directors of which Countess Mary von Faber-Castell is part of

Indeed an interesting history. So between 1839–1896, Lothar the 4th generation of Faber's running the pencil business standardized what today is a Faber Castell pencil, the basic shape, and the lead hardness grade. In 1905 Alexander, the 6th generation made the traditional Faber Castell green.

They tell us that "the ideal writing pencil (for example in office) is the medium degree of harness so-called HB, while the school student's pencil has a B hardness degree.

I always thought that a #2 pencil is the equivalent HB, but apparently, it is B.

1     2     2 1/2     3     4

2B  B      HB      H   2H

Faber Castell offers the model 9000 pencil in 16 degrees of hardness, which is awesome. Also, in the manual the diagram of the mixture between clay and graphite for all the hardnes's.

It is interesting as we can approximate the mixing of the two components to get the different hardness. Just at a glance, you can see around the HB is an inflection point where the increase of graphite in the composition is less and less. I mean that between a 2b and 4b the formula seems to be very similar. 

Based on this graphic the composition rounded up to an integer. The b - 8b is increasing the graphite by an increment of 2 percent. 

Also, the HB is not a 50% mix of the two but 66% of graphite and only 34% of clay.

This is true of course for Faber Castell as the hardness of the lead is not standardize, so different manufacturers can produce the HB pencils a bit different.

Faber Castell Loom fountain pen review

My second fountain pen purchase after the hit Platinum Preppy was the Faber Castell Loom metallic gray. It is the first serious fountain pen that I own, and I like it a lot. There are some negative things about it, but nobody is perfect.

It has been some time now that I planned to write about the fountain pen and postponed it every time until now. It is weird to see how perception changes over time. When I purchased the Preppy I was not sure about writing with a fountain pen and thought the Faber Castell Loom is a very expensive writing instrument. Now I find it to be just the right price, if not a bargain.

This review is after using the fountain pen for more than a year, so the initial thoughts that I put down on paper when I purchased the fountain pen do not 100% coincide with my current opinions.

The fountain pen has an all-metal body construction, with a plastic cap. It is on the thick and heavy side of writing instruments, but I have found out I really like the feel if it in hand. Initially, I thought it to be too thick and heavy, but now writing with it is more comfortable than with the Platinum Preppy. I think I rely on the weight of the fountain pen to apply pressure on the paper, and I have a looser grip on it, compared to the Preppy which I grip tighter and apply a lot more pressure. After a longer writing session, I feel less fatigue and cramping in the hand using the heavier Faber Castell Loom.

The fountain pen uses international cartridges (long or short). It does not come with a converter, so if you want to use a converter instead of cartridges, you have to pay extra.

Design & feel in hand:

The barrel is a cylindrical metal tube fitted with a pushed in end, the cap made from plastic and painted in different colors. I have mine a simple gray as the barrel, but you can choose other colors like pink, blue, brown, green, black, red, white, purple. The grip and barrel joint is flush, which makes the pen look great and feel comfortable in the hand, as there is no step up or down. The grip section tappers a bit, and has a series of raised circles that offer a good grip on the fountain pen. I never noticed a tendency for the hand to slip on the barrel, even though it is all metal.

The fountain pen comes in 3 barrel versions, the one that I own which is a mate gray, a second one which is polished metal and the third gunmetal which looks amazing. The polished version looks a bit cheesy and is a finger magnet at the same time.

The nib has a nice cut which makes it look beautiful and elegant at the same time. Even though it is not a big nib proportional to the pen, I think it looks good and feels great. The nib does not have a breather hole just the central cut, ornate with dots and the symbol of Faber Castell, the two knights jousting.

Also on the nib, the size is marked. F in my case.

From what I saw online, all the lower end fountain pens from Faber Castell share the same nib. The only difference being the materials and the finishes on the barrel.

The cap is plastic and snaps very securely on the body. You have to put some elbow grease to open it, but after some time it gets more normal. Or I just got used to the effort and developed hulk arms.
It can be used, posted or unposted. I prefer to use it unposted as it is nib heavy this way.

It has an unusual look compared to other caps. It looks big and fat over the pen. I would not say ugly but definitely, it is a more unique style and I think it is not everyone's cup of tea.

On the side of the cap is embossed: Faber Castell since 1762 and the two knights jousting. On the top of the cap, there is only the two knights logo. It is a very nice touch, which I like a lot.

The clip is plastic covered with chrome-like finish. On the very top, the knights are present as well.

Now the bad part regarding the cap, as you can see from the above image. The clip cracked and I had to glue it. I do not know if I was only the fountain pen's fault, as I may have forced it a bit too much. What I want to say is that it could have been better designed or out of better materials. I read on the internet opinions that the cap is plastic to reduce the weight of the pen. I think at least the clip should have been made out of metal, or maybe it should have a hinge.

I secured it in place with some superglue plus baking soda. Not very pretty, but if you don't know it's there (which I do) it is not very visible. (ok, it is visible, but I do not care anymore :) )

Dimensions:

Diameter: 11.8 mm
Length capped: 129 mm
Length uncapped: 115 mm
Length posted: 153 mm

Weight: 33 grames

Performance:

I chose the fine (F) nib because I use it on cheap paper all the time. It is a daily writing instrument and I usually take notes and make comments on copy paper, agendas and so on.

The nib feels smooth out of the box, and this seems to be the case with almost all Faber Castell nibs.

But I had a bit of trouble with it, partly Faber Castell fault, partly my fault. I wrote about what I went through with it, and you can read it if you are interested. click here.

Making a long story short, I had some troubles with the fit of the nib and feed in the pen plus I was trying to modify it a little to make it write thinner because I thought the problem is with the flow and did not suspect the problem came from how the nib and feed were not sitting properly. In short, I could not use large international cartridges because the pen would burp ink frequently, plus the nib felt wobbly sometimes.

At some point in time, I thought of just scraping the fountain pen and buying a new one. At this point I made some drastic nib corrections because I didn't like the feel of it anymore and distorting the nib was not a concern anymore. The main problem was that the nib was drying when I was making faster movements on the paper, and skips occurred more often than I would have liked.

Be careful as you can make it worse, and believe me I did it at first. 

Now I can say the fountain pen writes very nice again, but it is a hint of luck that I didn't damage it beyond repair in the first attempts.

In conclusion:

Even though I had some problems with the fountain pen, I would say it is well worth buying the fountain pen. For 25 euros or $30 (this is what I paid for it), you get an all-metal barrel, and a great writing experience. Before buying the Loom I have tested in the shop a Pilot Metropolitan (I own one now, coming soon), Lamy Safari and Al-Star, Kaweco Sport. And I think it is the best between all of the above mentioned. Most comparable, I would say it is the Al-Star, but I didn't like the grip and the design as much I like the Loom's.

Faber Castell TK-FINE 9719 1.0 mm

After a long wait, it came the time to write about my Faber Castell TK - Fine 9719 in size 1.0 mm. I own this mechanical pencil for more than 7 or 8 years. It was my first Faber Castell I have purchased. I chose at the time the TK Fine as it seemed a nice alternative to other more plain mechanical pencils.

It is not the cheapest but not that expensive after all, it has a few nice features that you see on more expensive pencils.
It is a technical mechanical pencil, and it comes with a fixed retractable tip, which makes it pocket safe. The tip has a little bit of a wobble to it, but it is present in most mechanical pencils that have this feature. It features a lead hardness indicator, a basic and simple way to keep track of the lead that is inside, you rotate the clip. The indicator has the following writings available -, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H. Although because it is such a simple and basic lead indicator, people who use it a lot might get the letters erased by constantly rotating the clip, which is held in place by friction.

The clip has on the side written Germany.
The cap is a very thin barrel which is closed with at one end with a plastic part with ISO coloring to indicate the lead thickness at a glance.
The body is made out of plastic in the classic Faber green. The grip is octagonal while the rest of the barrel is round.

This pencil never clicked with me, even though I tried to make it happen.. The grip is slippery and a bit uncomfortable for longer writing sessions for me. This might not be the case for everybody so I will not focus on this too much. My other complaint is about the tolerances on the cap. It is way too lose on it, and there is a high chance of losing it. I have seen multiple TK-FINES around the office with missing cap ends. I bent my end cap at both ends to make it stay in place after I found it a couple of times on the bottom of the backpack.
Another thing that shows low quality in the materials used are the shiny surfaces. The tip, clip, and cap. Over time, even though the pencil sat in storage most of the time they have lost the shine and they look aged, weathered.

Faber Castell color bar in local stationery shop

One of the local shops just got a makeover. It has more room for products and right in the center of it, there is a Color Bar from Faber Castell. I have to say it looks really cool.

Faber Castell Apollo and Grip

I have recently spotted a new pencil in shops, the Faber Castell Apollo. An alternative to Faber Castell Grip I (which has a sort of triangular grip section opposed to the circular one available on Grip II)
Apollo is a circular body and a triangular grip. I found the Appolo available in 4 colors
(barely visible in the background on the left). Black, dark blue, purple and washed out pink.

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.