In feature

Black Erasers vs. Black Pencils

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments

Black Erasers

You know you’re a pencil nerd when you think to yourself, “How well do black erasers perform?” And then you think, “I’ll test them with all BLACK pencils!” Yep, that’s how I think.

Black Erasers

So, which erasers did I put into my black eraser head-to-head? The classic Papermate Black Pearl (2-pack for $2.39), the Uni Boxy ($1.40 each) and the Pentel Ain hi-polymer (2-pack for $2). And the pencils? A Palomino Blackwing ($21.95/dozen), General’s Layout Extra Back ($5.40/dozen), and a Mirado Black Warrior ($2.99/dozen).

Black Erasers

Let the scribbling begin!

Black Erasers

And then I started to erase. I left the eraser dust in the photo because it was interesting to see how each eraser dust was different. The Black Pearl is the least crumbly and the Pentel Ain was the most crumbly with lots of small bits. The Uni Boxy was crumbly but the pieces were bigger than the Ain.

Black Erasers

Once the eraser dust is cleared away, the results were quite varied. The Ain worked great with the Mirado Black Warrior but was not as successful with the General’s Layout. The Palomino lays down such dark soft lines that none of the erasers did particularly well with the wide swaths of erasing. And the Black Pearl wasn’t a super performer with all the pencil tested here but its the least messy and easy to find at local US big box stores.

in the end, the black erasers are nice to look at and I love the “worry stone” feel of the Black Pearl but if what you really want is clean, complete erasing you want a Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser. It really is the premium eraser.

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: Planet Comic-Con Edition

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments

FF-planetcon

This weekend is the annual Kansas City Planet Comicon and I’m so excited (yet again). So, this week’s “Fashionable Friday” is geek-centric. Apologies to the liberties I took with the color names. But it did make me think, “Why isn’t anyone doing any geek-themed ink colors?” This is a niche that NEEDS to be filled. I want Death Star black, Dagobah green, Avengers Assemble red, Exploding Blue Box blue… c’mon inky fingers, make this happen for me!

Onward, to nerdom!

  • Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Dancing Groot Bobble Head $9.99 (via ToysRUs)
  • Marvel Headphones $17.99 (via Think Geek)
  • Funko Stormtrooper Lamp $83.10 (via Amazon)
  • De Atramentis “Browncoats” Tobacco Ink $12.95 (via Goulet Pens)
  • Kaweco Student “Yellow Flash” Fountain pen 46,50 € (via Fontoplumo)
  • Sun-Star Pictome Paper Clip “Riddler Edition” – Pack of 8 for $4.75 (via Jet Pens)
  • Limited Edition Deluxe Doctor Who River Song’s TARDIS Journal 79.99 $47.99 (via Think Geekv)
  • Pilot MR Metropolitan Fountain Pen in “Death Star” black $15 (via Pen Chalet)
  • Fisher Space Pen Bullet in “Superman” Blue $23 (via Jet Pens)
  • Create-Your-Own Rickshaw Bags Hawkeye iPad Mini Sleeve $46.95 (other designs and configurations available) (via Marvel)
  • Big Damn Heroes downloadable poster FREE (via Josh Keckley)
  • Quo Vadis Habana in “Iron Man” Red $24 (via Goulet Pens)
  • Diamine Fountain Pen Asa “Cap” Blue Ink in 30ml mini bottle $7 (via Jet Pens)
  • Pentel Sliccies 3-Color Multi-Pen Body in “Nightwing” Blue $3.30 (via Jet Pens)
  • Batman Skills Mug $15 (via Society 6)
In Ink Review

Ink Review: Diamine 150 Years 1864 Blue Black

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

daimine 1864 blue-black ink

The Diamine 150 years inks were on my inky radar as soon as I heard about them. Rare, historical or limited edition inks always set my fingers alight on the keyboard over the “buy it now” button.

There are eight colors in this collection, each bottle is a pie-shaped wedge that holds 40ml of ink and sells for $17.50 per bottle. I find the pie shaped wedge bottle a little odd and they have to be packed into the square boxes with padding so the bottles don’t shift around. When one or more bottles are put next to each other, they fit together. If all eight bottles are together, they form a full circle.

daimine 1864 blue-black ink

I knew immediately that I would want to try the 1864 Blue Black since I love blue black inks.Its a deep, dark blue-black so it doesn’t show a lot of shading even with my Lamy Studio with its 1.1mm stub nib.

Like most Diamine inks,the 1864 Blue Black is well-behaved and pretty quick-drying.

daimine 1864 blue-black ink

In the swab, I notice a bit of a reddish halo in the 1864 Blue Black that reminds me a bit of the Pilot IroshizukuTsuki-Yo though Tsuki-Yo is a bit more teal and the halo is a bit more reddish-purple. But the 1864 Blue Black is almost have the price of a bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku which is a consideration. Compared tot he Kaweco Midnight Blue, the Diamine 1864 Blue Black is a little more indigo, ever-so-slightly to violet. Isn’t it amazing the little differences between ink shades? I love that there are little variations in ink colors.

I’m glad to add this color to my library.

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Jet Pens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Molly Ringwald Writes Letters

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment

rp_link-ana1.jpg

Post of the Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Planning & Organizers:

Other Interesting Things:

News & Reminders:

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Kaweco Royal Blue

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

Kaweco Royal Blue ink

When you live in Kansas City, Royal Blue has a very distinct connotation. Very baseball. But lucky for Kaweco, their Royal Blue ink is really spot-on for the local interpretation for the color. Kaweco Royal Blue, in writing, reminds me of a lot of those vintage “washable blue” inks like the old Sheaffer Skrip ink. If you like blue inks or something that looks like your grandfather might have penned letters to your grandma while stationed overseas, this is a good candidate.

Kaweco Royal Blue ink

There’s some shading and its overall a well-behaved ink. Kaweco Royal Blue is everything you’d want or expect from a classic “true blue” ink. I’m not always inclined to gravitate towards blue-blue inks, this one is not a bad option. Its classic, old-world blue.

Kaweco Royal Blue ink

When compared to a few other true blues, its easy to see the violet undertones in the Kaweco Royal Blue ($17.50) — giving it the “royal treatment”, so to speak. Its brighter than the Parker Quink Blue Black ($8.75) I have and darker than the Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-Kusa ($28). Price wise, Kaweco Royal Blue falls between these two inks as well — not a budget ink but not premium-priced either.

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Kaweco for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Dux Varibel Brass Sharpener with Leather Case

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment

dux-variabel-1

I was very excited to find CW Pencil Enterprises and to see that they stocked the Dux Varibel brass sharpener in the leather case ($22). It can be dialed in to three different sharpnesses depending on the type of lead. The #1 position is for soft pencils and colored pencils, #2 is used for standard graphite pencils (“#2 for #2 pencils!”) and #3 for the sharpest point for harder leads or pencil weaponry.

(Pictured above is Mirado Black Warrior pencils sharpened with #3, #2 and #1 settings from top to bottom)

dux-variabel-3

The sharpener blade is sharp and fits standard round, hex and triangular pencils. The leather carrying sleeve just makes it awesome.

dux-variabel-2

The point is still not as sharp as a Classroom Friendly sharpener or my old  Boston hand crank sharpener but for a portable pocket sharpener, the quality of the points is good and I didn’t have any breaking issues while sharpening.

If you are a pencil enthusiast or know someone who likes a fine tool, you might want to pick one of these up.