Best Woodcase Lead Pencils
More than a writing and art products company, Dixon Ticonderoga empowers people to take conscious and subliminal thoughts, facts, ideas and dreams, and preserve them using tools that are simply extensions of themselves. With a satin-smooth finish for enhanced comfort, the Dixon Ticonderoga Woodcase Yellow Barrel #2 Pencil features an exclusive graphite core formula for smooth writing performance. Exclusive #2 HB graphite core formula provides extra smooth performance.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"To complicate things somewhat, I've seen incense-cedar wood used in both China and Mexico versions of the same pencil, as well as lesser quality non-aromatic basswood or other lower grade wood material that is not readily identifiable. You will see it on their colored erasable/checking pencils, Tri-Conderogas, and their standard issue Ticonderogas in the 12-pack cardboard box, 24-pack hang tab clear plastic boxes, 48-pack hang tab green cardboard boxes, and the 96-pack cello wrapped variety which is in actuality 8 of the 12-pack boxes packaged as a single 96 count unit. I've bought 96-pack Ticonderogas at the large wholesale membership stores before (Costco) that are of the Mexican origin, in the same cello wrapped individually boxed units per dozen, HOWEVER, they are "not marked for individual sale", meaning the bar codes and product code (i.e. 13882) are not imprinted on the individual boxes. - The Costco variety is NOT imprinted as 100% AMERICAN cedar wood, the Amazon variety has the imprint. - The Costco variety is obviously not cedar wood, wood is a pasty white without visible woodgrain patterns. - The Costco variety had very poor paint jobs and the classic green foil lettering and logos are noticeably poorer quality. - There were more curved pencil "bananas" and off-centered leads in the Costco variety. - The Amazon variety had largely well centered leads with mostly straight barrels, and the ferrule yellow paint stripes were clean. This all means that if you are lucky and score a box of the cedar wood variety, you will have a great writing experience. The Mexican Ticonderogas were generally thought to be superior to the Chinese versions, because the Ticonderogas made in China largely used basswood/non-cedar wood, had a smallish eraser head, and the leads were poorly centered, and the ferrules were poorly painted as well."
"I'm not going to deny that there is a chance you may receive a defective product like the hundreds of unfortunate people who did, but I'd say you have a better chance of getting the good ones."
"I've always hated those pencils with hard erasers and preferred the soft erasers of Ticonderoga pencils."
"He says that the lead is made centered in the wood, which makes for a better and stronger pencil."
"I'm a teacher, and so I know first hand the important quality difference between good pencils (like Ticonderoga) and cheap knock-offs. Although this page clearly says that if you order 144 Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils you will get 6 24-count boxes, and the graphic shows actual Ticonderoga pencils, THAT IS NOT WHAT THEY SENT."
"The feel of the wood is remeniscant of cheap freebie pencils from a county fair."
Their cult following included John Steinbeck and Chuck Jones, who proudly used Blackwings to create Bugs Bunny and many other Looney Tunes characters. In 2010, we drew from nearly a century of experience to access the best materials in the world and bring Blackwing back for a new generation of writers, musicians, and others seeking a more natural existence. PERFECT FOR ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS – With our soft and smooth Japanese graphite core, Blackwing pencils are perfect for writers, musicians, and everyday users. The softest of our three core Blackwing models.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Get a nice gross of Dixon Ticonderogas and never worry about having to decide on what pencil to use again in your life. You're probably the kind of person who takes tremendous care in your writing instruments for the return of that awesome "feel" of ultra-smooth graphite going on paper. I'm not sure how they do it, but they are significantly darker than a typical HB pencil but maintain tip sharpness as long as a Ticonderoga. The finish on the pencil is a fantastic matte black."
"Nice pencils for drawing."
"These pencils are the best of the best."
"I love these pencils They had been suggested by an online art class I took."
"These are fantastic - the Rolls Royce of pencils."
"I later switched to technical pencils (with leads by Berol or Staedtler), which I used in my art career for many years. I immediately bought a dozen Blackwings and a dozen Blackwing 602s, along with the Blackwing sharpener (which I've found invaluable for its ability to leave more lead exposed than other wood-pencil sharpeners)."
"Cool pencils but do they wear fast."
"The lead is very noticeably more silky smooth, strong, less brittle, and a deeper, denser black than ordinary pencils."
Praised in the New Yorker, The Boston Globe, and Boing Boing among others, the Palomino Blackwing 602 features a firm and smooth graphite core that helps it deliver on its promise of “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed.” Blackwing 602 pencils feature a gunmetal grey finish and iconic square Blackwing ferrule with a black eraser. PENCILS WITH HERITAGE – First created in the 1930’s, Blackwing built a cult following that included John Steinbeck and Chuck Jones, who proudly used Blackwings to create Bugs Bunny and many other Looney Tunes characters. PERFECT FOR WRITERS AND EVERYDAY USE – With our firm and smooth Japanese graphite core, Blackwing 602 pencils are perfect for writers, musicians, and everyday users.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Well, that was true of the Eberhard Blackwing 602, but the Palomino Blackwing 602 is a different pencil. The Palomino Blackwing 602 comes with a sleek black eraser, where its forebear had a pink eraser. Blackwing pencils have always been ungraded, but the Palomino Blackwing 602 is comparable to a #1 or a B grade. The "soft" Palomino Blackwing, with black barrel and white eraser, seems to be more like a 4B and is perhaps more suited to sketching. I think a lot of the controversy surrounding Palomino's Blackwings could have been avoided if CalCedar had simply given their Blackwings different numbers than Eberhard's. You can remove them from a Blackwing stub and swap them for the conventional ferrules on other pencils or even on pencils that have no eraser. The only thing I might improve on the Palomino Blackwing is, in fact, the eraser. If you're new to premium pencils, some other very popular contenders for Best Pencil are the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni, available in 20 grades, the Tombow Mono 100, available in 17 grades, the Faber Castell 9000, available in 16 grades, and CalCedar's own California Republic Palomino Graphite, which I believe is available in 7 grades. The graphites in the Palomino Blackwing 602, the Palomino Blackwing soft, and in Palomino Graphite pencils are made in Japan, by the way."
"The lead is dark, easily readable and doesn't smudge--very important for crosswords!. The lead is probably softer than what you're used to (I think it's #1 vs. the standard #2), but I wound up liking that once I got used to it. And since they don't break as often as my old pencils, they last longer, so you get some good value for your money that way. It's rectangular, so you can easily erase fine points or wide swaths--you can even fidget with it like a clicky pen. I honestly didn't think this pencil was all that great until I tried to go back to my Tri-Writes when I couldn't find the Palomino. My one minor quibble is, although it says it's made of incense cedar, I don't notice any aroma (I love the smell of a freshly-sharpened pencil)."
"My review is more geared to those people interested in using these for drawing. (I only recently became aware of the Palomino Mixed grade pencils, which I would like to try some time) If I must use only one pencil for a sketch or drawing then I would likely choose the 602. When I received my shipment, there were 2 pencils where the eraser ferrell was glued to the eraser bracket making the removal of the eraser nearly impossible."
Best Wooden Colored Pencils
Thick, robust leads resist cracking and chipping making them perfect for adult coloring books.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this 150 set of Prismacolor pencils before about 2 weeks now and did some drawings ."
"This is a great set."
"When I first opens the box, the pencils looked so ordinary that I was a little sad. Here, I added a picture of a black kitty I drew on an A4 size sketch book. It cost me a little more than half an inch of the black color pencil. I will definetly buy a delux of 150 colors later when I have more pocket money."
"Here is what the 72 count set of colors looks like... I only wish that I would have bought one of the larger count sets since I am always looking for additional colors. If you are having challenges with sharpening them there is a you tube video about it and how you should always turn the pencil, not the sharpener, in the same continuous direction. There were even explanations on how many you should put into an electric sharpener and then manually sharpen one because they overheat and break the leads!"
"Having recently purchased a large set for my older daughter on Amazon, I can say with 100% confidence that this brand has declined STEEPLY in quality. Her new set came with SERIOUSLY off-centered leads, wooden shafts that are either cracked or completely different colors from one half to the other, and most concerning, the cores in many of the pencils seems to be waxier and clumps/flakes no matter what we do. I believe that many of the higher reviews for this product are from before the company began cutting corners...a search online will quickly reveal that cracked wood, broken leads, off-centered cores, and other issues have been present for several years now."
Best Mechanical Pencils
The Pentel graph gear 1000 mechanical Pencil is a superior drafting Pencil for architects, draftsmen, artists and enthusiasts. Dual-action retractor advances and retracts Pencil tip to protect lead from breaking.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"These pads are different colors depending on the lead size you choose (brown for .3 mm, grey for .5 mm, blue for .7 mm, and yellow for .9 mm), making it easy to identify which size of lead you're using. Between this and the color-coding for the lead type, it makes it incredibly easy to keep on creating rather than having to take breaks to remember where you put a certain lead size or hardness or softness of lead. I regularly carry the following Pentel Graph Gear 1000s in my mobile sketch kit: - A .5 mm with 2H lead. - A .5 mm with HB lead. - A .5 mm with 2B lead. - A .3 mm with 2H lead. That said, these are by far my favorite mechanical pencils, and they are something I regularly use at home and while on the go."
"Pentel GraphGear 500 Automatic Drafting Pencil Black (PG525A). 2. Zebra M-301 Stainless Steel Mechanical Pencil, 0.5mm, Black Barrel, 2-Pack (54012). Somehow, I find GraphGear 500 is more comfortable to hold than GraphGear 1000, maybe because GraphGear 500 is lighter. The Pentel GraphGear 500's price is right, only half of the Pentel GraphGear 1000, it but feels better in my hand, this maybe different for others."
"They're everything you could want from a pencil. I think it's reasonable to say that dropping a pencil is part of normal wear-and-tear; and a $10 pencil ought to hold up better in everyday use."
"I may have spent more for these pencils, but I'm still probably spending the same amount of money on pencils, because I protect these more!"
Best Mechanical Pencil Refills
Super Hi-Polymer Lead Refill (0.7mm) Medium, HB, 30 pcs/Tube 3-Pk Pentel Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese company which produces stationery products. Triple Threat: #1 selling lead, Industry Standard, Stronger than competitors.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This lead is great for drawing or writing, HB is a firmer lead so it won't break as much but it's still dark enough to resist smudging (all lead is going to potentially smudge a little bit, but a softer lead will be darker and smudge more)."
"However it is very hard it doesn't break easily and I am kind of getting used to the shade."
"The lead was very light in the store-bought pencils."
"I needed some lead refills for my mechanical pencils and this was more than enough."
"I don't know if you can go wrong with lead refills."
"I know these are 'guaranteed to scan' in Scantron tests, but I still have a lucky wooden pencil for that job, so I can't attest to this lead's ability to do that."
"This lead is smooth and clean for writing, but still dark enough to show up and read easily without putting a lot of pressure on."
"You would't want your mechanical pencil to run out of lead - thank god for refils!"