Cool video, great marketing. I just bought a gift set for someone who's into stationery.
How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
31–40 of 51 posts
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#32I have a box of 120 Blackwing pencils of all types. They look nice, expensive, but a bad tool. (review -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CrD5KRnuLnh/?img_index=2&igsh=cD... ) They are not suitable for fine drawing (too waxy and soft) - those are either STAEDTLER, FaberCastell, or Tombow (Japanese brand). The fancy tip eraser is also not very useful. The metal around it is so soft, it can't hold any pressure. Also extrem…
What does a pencil have over a mechanical pencil? Mechanical pencils never need sharpening, infinite supply of lead of various type and and they seem more environmentally friendly (assuming you keep using the same for many years).
If you draw then woodcase pencils are far easier to configure into different strokes, widths, tip lengths etc
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#33Maybe it's unique to Japan or to this brand but I'm surprised by how manual the process is. I wonder how much of this is done due to nostalgia/inertia vs economics or the desire for humans in the loop.
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#34I have a box of 120 Blackwing pencils of all types. They look nice, expensive, but a bad tool. (review -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CrD5KRnuLnh/?img_index=2&igsh=cD... ) They are not suitable for fine drawing (too waxy and soft) - those are either STAEDTLER, FaberCastell, or Tombow (Japanese brand). The fancy tip eraser is also not very useful. The metal around it is so soft, it can't hold any pressure. Also extrem…
These pencils are sort of an “industry standard” for folks who write (or annotate) music because you can be fast with low effort due to their softness. And also easy to erase since you didn’t damage the paper, there’s no need to press hard to leave the mark
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#35Maybe it's unique to Japan or to this brand but I'm surprised by how manual the process is. I wonder how much of this is done due to nostalgia/inertia vs economics or the desire for humans in the loop.
I was a private equity analyst in the 90's and we owned Berol - one of the classic American pencil companies. Their classic wood pencils were made the exact same way - batch oriented and quite labor intensive.
Their next gen process was a fully automated continuous process co-extruder that extruded a core of hot graphite surrounded by a cellulose/wood mixture. That continuous string of graphite/wood composite was pulled down a two hundred foot line where it was cooled, sealed, painted twice, varnished, cut, capped with erasers and boxed. The whole line could be operated with two people.
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my experience, mechanical pencil tips broke too easily. I've had cheap wooden pencils where it felt that the let was shattered inside which meant the sharpened tip kept falling out. That's how I felt about pretty much every mechanical pencil.
About a decade ago I bought a metal mechanical pencil (rotring 800, 0.5mm). Best pencil I’ve ever owned. It will last so long I’ll leave it to my children.
Was it actually $60?
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#37Never tried Blackwing pencils, so can't speak about them.
I am going to be very very pedantic here so read on for entertain purposes....
I don't like the unusual shape of blackwing pencils' erasers. They break the symmetry of the entire pencil.
However, I like dixon ticonderoga the most since they are a good balance of quality and price.
But, I usually use mechanical pencils. And I am very particular about which kinds to use.
My favorite overall is "Autopoint". This company has been out of business for many years, perhaps decades so I only have a "vintage" collection of those which I use regularly.
This is what they look like: https://www.newegg.com/autopoint-inc-all-american-ink-lead-r...
Here is my criteria for a perfect (to me) mechanical pencil: - retractable tip/nib - always exposed eraser (there should be no cap etc.) - replaceable eraser (should be as thick as eraser at back of wooden pencils) - no fancy buttons - pocket clip
The best mechanical pencil I have tried that feels just right and is balanced, is P209. However, it doesn't have a retractable tip and the eraser is not exposed. If it did have retractable tip. I wish it did.
The one that really comes close is Faber-Castell grip matic 0.7mm. It is almost perfect! It has retractable nib, and an always exposed eraser which also retracts! And a great grip!
Alas, it has two problems: the eraser is twist up type which is fine, but when you erase with it, it twists and retracts back inside. Also the eraser encasing is a flimsy plastic that gets loose over time. Ugh! You were so close!!!
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#38I use pencil/paper extensively for notes/planning while I'm in front of the computer. I prefer softer grades because of speed and low effort. I avoided buying the Blackwing for a long time because of the hype surrounding it, but eventually caved in. Their Blackwing Matte is an excellent pencil, similar to the others I like - Musgrave News 600, General's Layout 555, Golden Sword, Eyeball Cedar Calligraphy, Mitsubishi Kohitsu Shosha, and those Triangle pencils sold at Daiso.
I'm not sure where the Blackwings are made. Definitely not the Kitaboshi factory. Probably Eyeball in Tokyo?
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#39I have a box of 120 Blackwing pencils of all types. They look nice, expensive, but a bad tool. (review -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CrD5KRnuLnh/?img_index=2&igsh=cD... ) They are not suitable for fine drawing (too waxy and soft) - those are either STAEDTLER, FaberCastell, or Tombow (Japanese brand). The fancy tip eraser is also not very useful. The metal around it is so soft, it can't hold any pressure. Also extrem…
What does a pencil have over a mechanical pencil? Mechanical pencils never need sharpening, infinite supply of lead of various type and and they seem more environmentally friendly (assuming you keep using the same for many years).
Wooden pencils are available in softer cores that have a very different feel from mechanical pencil leads. A 0.7mm 2B or 4B lead will break easily, so they're polymer-infused, and will feel very different (slippery?) compared a regular 4B graphite + clay core.
2mm mechanical pencils are more versatile that way, but also generally heavier, unless it's something like a Faber-Castell TK9400 or Kitaboshi Otona no Enpitsu.
Re: How Blackwing Pencils are Made [video]
#40pssh everyone knows "no single person knows how to make a pencil"