Sharpener Review: T’Gaal Multisharpener

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Getting a nice, long point on a pencil without having to use an elaborate or bulky sharpener is kind of a rare joy for writers. On the one hand, there are lots of desktop sharpeners that give a long point, but that would be kinda dumb trying to carry one of those around in your pencil case. On the other hand, there are tons of high-quality compact wedge, bullet, and canister-type sharpeners, but most of those make pretty short points. Among those that leave long points, many of them involve some sort of multi-step process. Of course, if you happen to be an artist with different types of pencil requiring different shapes of point, then things get even more complicated.

Kutsuwa’s STAD T’Gaal Multisharpener takes a crack at solving these problems by combining the flexibility of adjustable point length and the compactness of a bladed canister sharpener in one small package. With the turn of a dial, the position of the blade adjusts to allow for point angles ranging from “fancy long” to “mascara pencil small”.

I picked up one of those nifty-looking sharpeners to test out and see how effectively it manages to pull all of that off!

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Happy Stub Completion Day to me!

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It’s Stub Completion Day for me! Yay! What’s Stub Completion Day? That’s the day when I finish up all of my unfinished stubs.

It probably sounds neurotic that I have an entire day devoted to finishing pencil stubs. But it serves a purpose that I find practical. Generally, I am choosy about which pencil I’m using; it’s typically one that I’m the process of writing a review for. My intention when I write a review is that I use an entire pencil to 100% completion (defined as the point where I can’t comfortably hold it for writing) so that I am making an informed opinion.

I still manage to create a lot of almost-but-not-quite-used up stubs, though.

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Pencil Review: Mitsubishi 4563 (2B)

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Japanese pencils: most pencil snobs think they’re awesome. I mean, even the Blackwing pencils (everyone’s favorite) are made in Japan. And among the various Japanese pencil-makers, Mitsubishi — maker of the 9800 and the very fancy, highly-fawned-over Hi-Uni — has a reputation for making a very, very nice pencil.

Mitsubishi Pencils aren’t just for pretentious Americans, though. In Japan, their product lines reach all the way down to the everyday pencil-pusher (like me!) and even the elementary school desk, where kids grapple with writing for the first time. That’s where you’ll find pencils like the 4563. Does Mitsubishi’s quality trickle down with it? I got my hands on a box of the 2B grade pencils to find out.

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It’s OK to just write

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Journal writing can be intimidating these days.

I check out Reddit’s r/Journaling from time to time, and it’s pretty intense. It seems like what constitutes “journaling” these days might, before the internet took everything-porn to a whole new level, be called sketching, scrapbooking, planning, etc. It’s enough to give the impression that you have to be a super-talented artist, have an idea for a big visual spread, and have the time to crank out an elaborate piece of creativity on the daily, or you might as well not even bother.

But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with just writing.

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Notebook Review: Paper-Oh Cahier Circulo (A4)

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Every day at work, I keep detailed notes on my day and the progress of my projects. It keeps me motivated, focused, helps me process through technical details, and helps make up for my extremely spotty long-term memory. It’s a pretty important part of my workflow, and for some time now I’ve been thinking of upgrading from the budget Office Depot bleach-white notebooks to something better. When I had a chance to break out of the office for a work conference, and needed a slimmer notebook to take with me, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give the Paper-Oh Cahier Circulo on A4 format a test-run.

For my second notebook review (after the recent look at the Kikkerland Writersblok New Wave) I’ve decided to approach things in a more organized, systematic way. I hope you enjoy this one! Check out more “below the fold”…

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Pencil Review: Casemate and Pen+Gear No. 2 Pencil(s)

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Today’s review is going to get a little weird, because it’s going to involve two pencils. But, actually, maybe just one. Clear as mud? I’m talking about the “No. 2/HB” store brand pencil(s) from Walmart. One is a “throwback” thrift-store find from the Casemate brand; the other is current-production material of the Pen+Gear make.

Why review them both simultaneously? In order to answer that, a little backstory is necessary. A few years back, Walmart’s Casemate brand started putting out cheap “no-name” yellow pencils that were made in India. Rumor on the internet was that these pencils were actually made by Hindustan Pencil Co., maker of the Nataraj Bold pencil (which I really like). At some point Walmart dropped the “Casemate” label in favor of “Pen+Gear”, and — rumor also has it — started to source their store-brand pencils from another manufacturer. Rumor also has it that they kinda went to hell at this point. Well, I happened to come upon both old and new models of their pencils and noticed that they are almost identical with only minor changes. So, what’s going on here? Are they the same pencil with different branding? Are they different pencils? And, most importantly…are they any good?

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More stuff comin’ atcha

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I continue to amass to-review items faster than I can review them (which is exactly how I intend it). Check out the latest additions to the inbox:

You’re looking at several products from Asia, and one from Europe. The Yoobi pencils are an American brand, found in Target, made in Vietnam. Marco and Aishangbi are Chinese brands — Marco relatively well-known, Aishangbi not so much. The Toyo pencil sharpener is made in Japan, and the Bruynzeel pencils are from the Netherlands.

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Blogrollin’ with the homies

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I noticed that some people are actually reading this blog now. This is mostly thanks to some rad bloggers who have been sending some traffic my way. So I just wanted to give a friendly head-nod to The Pen Addict, The Well-Appointed Desk, Pencil Revolution, Lexikaliker, and Bleistift. Y’all are the bomb dot com.

I don’t do this often, but I figure since those stalwarts of the writing blogosphere have helped a little guy out, the least I can do is pay it back/forward. So here’s a few links that I’ve enjoyed reading lately (“lately” defined very loosely):

From Comfortable Shoes Studio: Baron Fig Gather
From Fueled by Clouds and Coffee: Graphite Pencil Review: Kitaboshi Art Set
From The Looped Square: How Do You Use Your: Nock Sinclair?
From Pencil Revolution: Write Notepads The Deep
From Pencilism: The Point of a Pencil – 5 Reasons I Sharpen with a Knife (almost has me convinced…)
From The Weekly Pencil: Ticonderoga Neon

Notebook Review: Kikkerland WritersBlok New Wave (small)

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All these pencil reviews, but what should a person write on? Well, I’m here with the inaugural Polar Pencil Pusher notebook review, featuring a product I picked up during my most recent vacation. Today we’re going to have a little peek at the Kikkerland WritersBlok New Wave small (A6 pocket-sized) notebook.

As far as airport gift shops goes, Anchorage actually has a couple pretty good ones, and it was in one such shop — Moostique — that I discovered the New Wave pocket notebook. The throwback cover art and the low sticker price had me sold! Over the next few days, I put this Kikkerland product through its paces.

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THROWBACK Pencil Review: Paper Mate American Classic

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In the last Throwback pencil review, the subject of which was the Faber Castell Velvet, we discussed the convoluted series of mergers by which the lion’s share of American pencilmakers became concentrated in the hands of Newell Rubbermaid (by way of Sanford) who then proceeded to kill off their product lines, one by one. It was basically like the Hunger Games for pencils.

Actually, it was more like the formation of a black hole. Numerous pencil brands collapsed gravitationally inward creating one super-massive object from which none could escape. Sandford gave that black hole the name Paper Mate, which prior to the mega-merger was a pen manufacturer. Today, only the few Mirado lines of pencil are made under the Paper Mate banner, but that was not always the case.

[Actually, since writing my initial draft of this post, I have found another current-production Papermate pencil. Foreshadowing!]

Today we’re going to look at the American Classic, a Made-in-USA product of the early 2000s. I found a package of these, still in the wrapper, tucked away in a desk drawer, so you bet bottom dollar I swiped them and gave them a try.

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