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  • How do they compare with Faber Castell 9000? (I normally write with these, in HB or 2B hardness)
    by wyan
  • The Blackwing Matte is close to a FC 9000 6B.
    by lo5
  • Wait they didn't show how they insert the graphite into the wood. That's the only reason why I was watching this.
    by gfrecvh
  • they did... it's inserted into a groove, and the two pencil halves are glued together, at 4:45 https://youtu.be/fow-LsdaH2E?si=bOIb8Q01_4V04uQ2&t=285
    by evandena
  • This is great. The amount I've learned from threads like this is wonderful. Fountain pens AND chalk. We are so spoiled by the ubiquity of paper and writing tools that we tried to eliminate them with typing on glass.
    by jprd
  • I like how-to videos—restoration videos even more.

    I find something "restorative" (ha, ha) for the soul—watching a thing made (or restored).

    by JKCalhoun
  • I'm always very frustrated about this pencils manufacturer as they avoiding using standard softness marking like everybody else (..H,HB,B,2B..etc).
    by strobe
  • Lead grades vary across the manufacturers. A Faber-Castell or Staedtler 4B is closer to a Japanese 2B. The four Blackwings are closer to Japanese 4B, 2B, B, HB.
    by lo5
  • Maybe 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.
    by zdc1
  • 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.

    by hnmullany
  • I can't help thinking of David Rees. This guy is hilarious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KabOfnbS4TQ&t=139s
    by zcw100
  • It's so fascinating to me that the graphite cores start out as long floppy strings of graphite. Looks kind of like cooked black spaghetti. I wasn't expecting that.
    by TimFogarty
  • I 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?

    by lo5
  • I 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 extremely not child friendly, as the small metal part inside just fells out.

    Tombow Mono - de-facto standard eraser.

    by leonidv
  • I consider them terrible for drawing but excellent for taking handwritten notes that will scan well.
    by xtajv
  • Terrible tool for drawing possibly; but among musicians they are widely considered the standard for marking scores. There’s always a Blackwing on my stand.
    by kashunstva
  • 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
    by ssttoo
  • I don't know, they've always seemed nice to draw with.
    by noahbradley
  • I also enjoy my Blackwings, though my normal pencil of choice is the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni HB, which is cheaper than the Blackwing but is still an awesome pencil. I think my supply of pencils will last at least a decade. I take a lot of handwritten notes when doing research, and I prefer pencil over pen when working in computer science and math.
    by linguae
  • Even the Blackwing sharpeners are not that great. A pencil plane works just fine for almost all pencil sharpening I've ever needed to do and making your own isn't very hard.
    by disce-pati
  • 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).
    by skywal_l
  • They're not really targeted at artists but for writing and taking notes. In my opinion, they have a nice smooth feel and work well for this purpose. But they're on the expensive side, so if you don't care about the looks, there are many other—wallet-friendly—options out there!

    The eraser is infamous for being terrible. But it looks cool.

    by encode
  • Never 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!!!

    by ksd482
  • I also happen to adore the now defunct Autopoint. Turns out there's a guy even more devoted than us - Jonathan Veley. When the factory in Ohio closed he bought all the remaining stock and now sells a modern version (modern plastics/design but the same otherwise) under the name Legendary Pencil Co. Highly recommend his shop, and he has both a blog and a book called Leadheads . Start here https://www.legendaryleadcompany.com/
    by zafiro17
  • A couple of months ago, I went with my daughter and six-year-old grandson to the Kita-Boshi Pencil factory in eastern Tokyo [1]. He is a first-grader at a public elementary school in Yokohama, and he is learning to write using wooden pencils.

    We had watched many times a similar video [2] showing pencils being made at the Kita-Boshi factory. The production line wasn’t operating the day we went, but we still got a full introduction to the history and manufacture of pencils from the company chairman [3], who is very enthusiastic about the pencil business. The other attendees were all elementary school children and their parents or grandparents.

    There used to be dozens of pencil factories in Tokyo, but Kita-Boshi is one of the few remaining. The larger Japanese pencil brands, such as Tombow and Mitsubishi, now source most of their production from places like Vietnam or China.

    We came back home with a bag full of Kita-Boshi pencils that I bought there. I don’t use pencils much myself anymore, but when I tried writing with them they felt smoother and easier to write with than the wooden pencils I used as a child in the U.S. sixty years ago.

    [1] http://www.kitaboshi.co.jp/pencil-lab/

    [2] https://youtu.be/Lk_57TP6RFk

    [3] https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/tokyo23/feature/CO100007/202...

    by tkgally
  • How do you go about scheduling a visit to a factory?
    by gfrecvh