Yesterday Blackwing published a video on their youtube channel showing how Blackwings are made: https://youtu.be/fow-LsdaH2E?si=yW-LsZYSzqm7_zJM .

By cross-referencing the images with the following videos:

- Tokai Carbon co LTD: https://youtu.be/HaykRsjWI68?si=zrjBhI-asiK_NGk1

- Kitaboshi (Hokusei): https://youtu.be/sgRTNfFyO6I?si=J539xH0uLsejNrXS https://youtu.be/Lk_57TP6RFk?si=8pYq7AooDbadRWkQ

We can confirm that the leads are made by Tokai Carbon co LTD https://www.tokaicarbon.co.jp/en/ , the pencils assembled by Kitaboshi http://www.kitaboshi.co.jp/ and ferrule assembled in house in California.

Hi,

I have been using Mars Lumograph and FC 9000 for drawing and I loved them. However, I would like to treat myself to other brands to experiment and well, I never treat myself so it is about time I get something nice for myself. So price is not a factor (within reason of course!) and I have a connection in Japan that brings me stationary when I ask for it.

I only draw with pencils. I don't really write with them.

I heard very good things about Hi-Uni and Mono 100 pencils. I also heard very good things about Blackwing pencils but mostly for writing, are they good for drawing?

I know choosing a pencil is very personal. I am quite new to drawing and pencils too so why not ask for advice. I am particularly curious about BW for drawing. I know the eraser is supposed to be one of the highlights but to be honest, I have a great collection of Tombo (and other brands) erasers that are already very nice.

Please be kind if you choose to answer to my post. Any advice is very welcome. Any judgement or criticism is not. Thank you!

Thieve pencils are amazing. Can do everything from shading to fine work with a nice point. They past forever too. I just bought a box of the 8bs after nys small son snapped all my 6bs in half.

Im down to my last 2315 and want moreeeee! Does anybody have anymore or know of where i could find any?

Mine is the conic line version. It is also available in a sharp line version. Both feature the continuous adjustment knob.

It is made in Japan. Its spiral blade is made in-house by Carl (vs contractor on the Royal).

Only available in red and blue. The blue is shimmery.

Here's a new video from blackwing, which might answer some burning questions on the forum lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fow-LsdaH2E

Almost every time I try to sharp my pencils the point cames out too thick or crooked, so I have to sharpen and sharpen, and my pencils always get too tiny to draw in a few days. I had this problem for almost a year now, with every pencil and with every sharpener I had. Line art and small details became almost impossible for me, I have sketchbooks filled with drawings without any line art because of this. This is genuinly sucking the fun out of drawing for me and I don't know what to do.

I usually use 2b or something b for drawing, also for line art, and I used various sharpeners from various stationary stores. I'm not an expert about pencils that much btw.

Please give me some advices...

Sorry for the really bad english, I'm not a native speaker and I'm really tired right now...

Why do some people prefer a short point sharpener? What is the advantage, and which brands do you like?

So it looks like the "Mail by Quail" and "Hincks Observatory" pencils are from game packs by Bluefish Games. It's possible some of the other unknown ones are too. I'm going to write to them and ask.

I got maybe 160 of the Outlander pencils. My wife, who is of Scottish descent and was glued to the screen for the entire Outlander series, immediately claimed the entire lot and plans to make gift sets for friends.

I put the Ted Lasso pencils in with the school donations, except the ones that say Wanker. Wife claimed those too.

Finally, I saw no harm in putting the D&D "Do the voices" pencils in with the school donations. That was most of them, and I'll find another home for the ones that say "Not everything is trying to kill you."

I bought another load of Musgrave seconds as the beginning of the school year approaches. Let's see what we have.

• 40 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 4 black hex Dungeons and Dragons, "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG."
• 12 hex Ted Lasso pencils (2 blue "Be a Goldfish," 4 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 4 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 2 red "Wanker").
• 43 hex clear lacquer Outlander (8 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 7 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 12 "Je Suis Prest," 10 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 5 "Bolt the Door," 1 "To Bed or to Sleep").
• 32 round black LA Metro. I still love this design.
• 3 hex yellow "Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth / as it is in heaven." Gold imprint, and fairly tasteful as Christian pencils go. Hilarious that they came in the same box with "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ."
• 1 hex black "SHHHH." Must be from a library.
• 9 hex various solid blue with finish flaws.

That's it for box 1. My wife will be super excited about the Outlander ones. On to box 2 shortly.

Rather disappointing end. Pretty much the same as the others, plus too many D&D pencils.

• 35 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 41 hex black Dungeons and Dragons ( 27 "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG," 2 "The DM isn't actually out to get you," 12 "Not everything is trying to kill you").
• 7 hex Ted Lasso pencils (3 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 3 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 1 red "Wanker").
• 21 hex clear lacquer Outlander (7 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 2 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 2 "Je Suis Prest," 5 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 5 "Bolt the Door").
• 1 hex mint green with a single tiny heart in gold.
• 1 hex yellow "Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth / as it is in heaven."
• 37 round black LA Metro. 
• 1 hex blue plain.

That's it, everybody!

Much like the first two boxes. A couple of small surprises though.

• 31 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 9 hex black Dungeons and Dragons (8 "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG," 1 "Not everything is trying to kill you / But definitely check for traps").
• 11 hex Ted Lasso pencils (8 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 2 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 1 red "Pigeon Sweat").
• 34 hex clear lacquer Outlander (2 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 5 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 13 "Je Suis Prest," 9 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 3 "Bolt the Door," 3 "To Bed or to Sleep").
• 40 round black LA Metro. 
• 1 hex yellow "It's a Wonderful Bostick Life." (I have no idea.)
• 1 hex white "You're the Bee's Knees."
• 1 hex yellow "Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth / as it is in heaven." 
• 1 hex mint green with a single tiny heart in gold. I'll post another picture in the comments.
• 8 hex blue plain that mostly look ok.
• 2 hex red plain.
• 1 hex clear lacquer natural plain.
• 1 hex dark blue plain.

Onward to box 5.

This box is quite different from the first two.

• 35 round teachers' pencils, mostly "Say No to Drugs" and "Attendance."
• 4 round Happy Halloween.
• 6 hex gray Gleneagles Country Club, cut for double capping.
• 2 hex dark green Whisper Lake Country Club, cut for double capping.
• 4 hex dark green Jericho National, cut for double capping.
• 33 round white Royal Point Janus 929, with various wood and finish flaws.
• 7 hex mustard "What will you create? / St. Joost School of Art & Design." If this is the color combination they picked, I wouldn't pay to attend.
• 21 hex dark green plain with various wood and finish flaws.
• 3 hex purple plain.
• 2 hex dark purple plain.
• 8 hex black plain.
• 12 hex fuschia plain with various wood and finish flaws.
• 1 hex white plain with wood flaw (cut for double capping).
• 6 hex dark blue plain.

Box 4 coming up.

Also a lot in common with the first couple of boxes.

• 33 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 5 hex black Dungeons and Dragons ( 4 "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG," 1 "Not everything is trying to kill you").
• 12 hex Ted Lasso pencils (2 blue "Be a Goldfish," 24 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 4 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 2 red "Pigeon Sweat," 5 red "Wanker").
• 43 hex clear lacquer Outlander (3 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 3 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 8 "Je Suis Prest," 7 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 2 "Bolt the Door").
• 2 hex white "Hincks Observatory / Clear then square then circle."
• 1 hex teal "Slow? Horribly. Messy? Inordinately. Cool? Exceedingly. Mails by Quails. Hincksville Graphite | Hincksville, U.S.A." (I have no clue. Google doesn't know anything.)
• 3 hex yellow "Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth / as it is in heaven."
• 39 round black LA Metro. 
• 2 hex blue plain.
• 1 hex dark blue plain.

This is the first time I've done this that the sets are going to have to be broken up because some are suitable for schools and some are not. I can send all the Ted Lasso pencils to schools except "Wanker." "Smells like Potential" and "Be Curious, not Judgemental" are pretty close to what would actually appear on a teachers' pencil. (Although it's easy to misread that last one as "Bi Curious, not Judgemental.") And of the Outlander ones, I'm pretty sure they will accept everything except "To Bed or to Sleep" and "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ."

Box 6 coming up.

Again, almost nothing that wasn't in earlier boxes.

• 33 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 36 hex Ted Lasso pencils (1 blue "Be a Goldfish," 17 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 12 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 3 red "Pigeon Sweat," 3 red "Wanker").
• 24 hex clear lacquer Outlander (1 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 12 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 2 "Je Suis Prest," 4 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 3 "To Bed or to Sleep," 2 "Bolt the Door").
• 4 hex white "Hincks Observatory / Clear then square then circle."
• 1 hex orange "Camp Longhorn - Inks Lake / #1 Camp Longhorn Rd. Burnet, Texas 78611."
• 38 round black LA Metro.
• 4 hex blue plain.
• 2 hex red plain.
• 1 hex clear lacquer plain.
• 2 hex dark blue plain.

Getting a backache. :) On to box 7.

Much like box 1.

• 40 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 7 hex black Dungeons and Dragons (6 "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG," 1 "Not Everything is Trying to Kill You / But Definitely Check for Traps").
• 17 hex Ted Lasso pencils (3 blue "Be a Goldfish," 9 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 2 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 2 red "Wanker," 1 red "Pigeon Sweat").
• 35 hex clear lacquer Outlander (3 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 6 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 5 "Je Suis Prest," 10 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 10 "Bolt the Door," 1 "To Bed or to Sleep").
• 36 round black LA Metro. 
• 2 hex white "Hincks Observatory / Clear then square then circle." Gonna have to look that up.
• 1 hex yellow "GobbleGobble.COM."
• 1 hex yellow "Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth / as it is in heaven." 
• 3 hex various solid blue with finish flaws.
• 2 hex solid red with finish flaws.

On to box 3.

Getting into the home stretch now.

• 31 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 1 hex black Dungeons and Dragons "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG."
• 44 hex Ted Lasso pencils (1 dark blue "Believe," 34 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 3 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 2 red "Pigeon Sweat," 4 red "Wanker").
• 12 hex clear lacquer Outlander (2 "To Bed or to Sleep," 5 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 1 "Je Suis Prest," 3 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 1 "Bolt the Door").
• 6 hex white "Hincks Observatory / Clear then square then circle." A couple of pretty serious wood flaws.
• 1 hex teal "Slow? Horribly. Messy? Inordinately. Cool? Exceedingly. Mails by Quails. Hincksville Graphite | Hincksville, U.S.A."
• 41 round black LA Metro. 
• 3 hex blue plain.
• 1 hex white plain.
• 1 hex pink plain.
• 2 hex red plain.

Last box coming up. I hope it has some different varieties.

Hey guys. I’m looking for what could be the “darkest” H core wooden pencil for writing purposes only. My top 2 favs are the 9850 and BW602. But I’m looking for an H, heck maybe even 2H but “darker” than any other H or 2H out there? Well, any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks

hi, for some reason really no online stationary store in finland sells the mitsubishi hi-uni pencils in 2b (that i can find) and import/customs + shipping from japan/usa/uk is pretty expensive.

i found one swedish online store but they seem to be out of stock always.. anyone know any others?

Here's a guy using a Blackwing as a workshop pencil.

I love drawing, with graphite, coal, I believe that I do it quite professionally. Here is the thing, until now I have only used normal HB school pencils and pens and I want to start using better supplies with better quality and options, matte graphite pencils and coal.. everything is so expensive, I am a student in student debt, I cannot afford the pricey ones.

What do you recommend?

Thank you in advance.