Tombow meets Muji in London

Just back from a couple of days out in London, where there were a couple of things I found which would interest readers of this blog.  At the British Library, in the gift shop I found a couple of pots of Tombow Mono 100 pencils - fortunately they only had 2H, so I was able to pass.  They were there among a range of goodies connected to the comic art exhibition currently taking place.

Later I popped into the Muji store on Tottenham Court Road and picked up a pocket pencil sharpener and a white eraser for a grand total of GBP2.00.  I have had a quick play with them and they seem to work well, The sharpener is very small indeed and looks good for going in a pocket or bag.

So it seemed appropriate to photograph the new purchases with my Tombow pencils.  I really ought to take up sketching again - I haven't done much drawing since I was at school.  At the time comics were a major influence and I wanted to be the next Brian Bolland (though I modelled my drawing style on Mike McMahon's).  But that was years ago...

Please forgive the awful mobile phone picture.  I hope to post more frequently now that I have had to update my technology, including a newish mobile phone.

First Steps in Rubber Stamping

Things have been a bit quiet on this blog so I really should post about something. Some may remember that I mentioned becoming interested in carving my own rubber stamps; here are a few of my early efforts.

A few months ago, I ordered a block of Speedball Speedy-Carve and carving tools from a US-based seller on eBay, but whilst waiting for the goodies to arrive, I made a couple of attempts using what I had to hand, my old Stabilo Legacy eraser and a Swann Morton number 11 scalpel. The first effort was this, an aircraft stamp based on the UK road-sign to warn motorists of low flying aircraft:


You can see from the stamp that my carving left a bit to be desired, but I thought this was OK considering the lack of proper materials. The Legacy had a bit left over, so I then created another stamp, this time based on another UK road-sign, a direction arrow:


I had very little eraser left for this stamp, so the arrow is somewhat truncated compared to the original. This is a simpler shape to carve than the aircraft, as it has no curved edges; I was able to cut the lines cleanly with the scalpel and a steel rule.

By now my parcel had arrived from the States and I was able to start carving with the Speedy-Carve. I decided to keep things simple so I carved another version of the arrow, this time in the correct proportions:


The rubber compound in Speedy-Carve is different to that in the eraser material. For one thing, it's nowhere near as porous as the eraser. You can see it above with the slight marbling effect in the stamped image, when the Tombow Brush Pens are used for the ink. On a larger area, the effect is even more pronounced. (It is much less pronounced when a stamp pad is used.)

My next project was a hexagon, one of the symbols used by a favourite band of mine, Boards of Canada.


As one of their best-known pieces is called Turquoise Hexagon Sun, the hexagon had to be turquoise, obviously. Actually, I like the effect this has on the stamped image.

Having had some practice on this, I felt a bit more confident and carved a favourite symbol of mine. Growing up near Heathrow, I saw many old airliners and airlines. Among them was BOAC, one of the two airlines merged to form British Airways, whose symbol was the beautiful and iconic Speedbird. (The rubber on the stamp is blue because I tried stamping it using a Sharpie permanent marker. I am sure that will wear off in time.)



Speedy-Carve is very easy to carve, and has the consistency of a firm cheese like a Cheddar or Jarlsberg. I still have a fair bit left over, and have a few ideas of what to carve next. Actually I have already carved another stamp, but have not mounted it on a block of wood yet. I also have one failure, an attempt to carve this stamp from a Texas Instruments scientific calculator operator's manual which Gunther at Lexikaliker had made into a professionally-made stamp, and which he very kindly sent to me. The design is too intricate for my ham-fisted efforts; I have learned to keep things simple, and go with bold designs. Corporate logos and road signs offer much potential for this medium of expression, but I am sure I'll branch out into other areas such as portraiture.

The stamps shown above are glued to a wood block, with a layer of rubber from an old mouse-mat in the middle to absorb pressure, as the Speedy-Carve does not compress much.

It's been a lot of fun doing this - I hope you don't mind this minor diversion from the core mission of this blog: pencils and pens.

2B or Not 2B?

Apologies for the terrible pun in the title; it was to be the name of this blog fortunately, someone else had beaten me to it. Anyway...

I suppose that everyone has their favourite grade of pencil lead. For most, it's probably the plain old HB or No. 2 because that's all they can get - and probably all they need. Others may appreciate the silvery line of a harder grade like a 4H, not to mention the durability of the point. Still others may go the other way and opt for a soft, dark lead like a 6B.

For me, it's simple: 2B. It's not so soft that it needs sharpening every two minutes, and not too dark, but just dark enough for my tastes. Since returning to pencils, I've tried a few brands, some of which I've reviewed here. Of all the pencils I've tried so far, there are some which I keep returning to, for various reasons. Staedtler traditions are cheap, easily available and highly reliable with excellent lead. Tombow Mono 100s are beautiful, have super lead but I can only use them for short periods because of their razor-sharp edges. My favourite pencils of all are almost certainly Faber-Castell 9000s (and thanks to Matthias at Bleistift who kindly sent me some 9008 Stenos). But I ration my use of them because I can only get them by mail order, especially the wonderful Steno which I save for occasional use. I've never seen the F-C 9k range on sale in a bricks-and-mortar shop.

I bought another Staedtler tradition 2B the other day for everyday use (I've got several knocking around here). I began writing with it, and it just felt right. I should add that one of my hobbies is music; I play the tenor saxophone in the local community band. I have a Staedtler Noris 2B in my saxophone case, ready for marking band parts. It's darker than a HB, which makes it easier to read my jottings between the dots, especially where the lights may be low.

Other grades have their uses, and I'm not criticising them, but for some reason I keep returning to 2B. Incidentally, at junior school in the late 1970s I had a friend who liked telling the following joke:

Have you heard about the Hamlet pencil? (You can guess what the answer is.)

Tombow Mono 100 HB and Faber-Castell 9008 Steno 2B

I was asked in the comments to the Faber-Castell Grip 2001 to write a review of these two in tandem, because, although they are made for different jobs, they both leave a similar mark on paper. Before I start, though, I must express my thanks to Matthias Meckel who sent me the pencils in this review.

These two need little introduction to those who enjoy fine pencils, but just in case you don’t know about them, here’s a bit of background information. The Tombow Mono 100 is a top-quality drafting pencil (it even says so, on the side). It is reputed to be a favourite of animators and manga artists. The Faber-Castell 9008, in contrast, has a much more quotidian purpose: it is a stenographer’s pencil, designed for writing shorthand. It is one of the few high-quality round-section pencils made today, but for how much longer is anyone’s guess as shorthand writing has fewer practitioners now. I lamented the lack of round-section pencils recently in this post but I’ll repeat myself here. There must be many users who find the conventional hexagonal or triangular section pencil uncomfortable to use for long spells, so why the major manufacturers do not market round pencils more, is a mystery to me.

Before discussing the performance of these pencils I want to mention their physical characteristics. The Mono is supplied unsharpened, and is painted in a gorgeous, glossy black lacquer. It is topped off with a black endcap with a white line in the centre. All the lettering is gold-blocked, and is a riot of typography with various fonts shouting Engrish statements in addition to the essential information. It also has an outline picture of a dragonfly, after which the company is named. The dreaded barcode is printed on this one though I have another Mono 100 on which the barcode was applied as a sticker. The 9008 is painted in Faber-Castell’s trademark dark green lacquer with a silver band at the end. Gold block lettering with the country of origin, model number, manufacturer, the word “STENO” and the name “CASTELL” are printed. 180° away is printed the grade of the lead and, presumably to reinforce Faber-Castell’s environmentally-friendly credentials, the German word “Wasserlack” (water-based paint). I should note that I was so impressed with the 9008s Matthias sent me that I bought some more , in B grade. Clearly, the two versions of the 9008 I have were made in different batches as the 2Bs have all gold lettering, whilst the Bs have the reverse lettering printed in primrose yellow. There is also a slight difference in the green paint: the 2B is darker than the B.

In use, the pencils are remarkably similar. Both leave lovely, dark lines on the page. The 9008 is perhaps slightly darker: not surprising, considering this pencil is two grades softer than the Mono. The Mono 100 is slightly smoother on paper, but really not by much; it glides along as though lubricated by a coat of oil, and though the 9008 has a bit more tooth, it could never be described as scratchy. When writing, I found that neither pencil required much pressure to write darkly.

Given that the lines left are dark enough for anyone’s purposes, any differences really come down to how the pencils feel in the hand. For me, there is no contest: the 9008 is the hands-down winner. Why? The circular section is simply far more comfortable in my hand than the hexagonal Mono 100. Indeed, I found the edges of the Mono to be sharper than other hexagonal pencils I own, such as the Staedtler Mars Lumograph. I suppose this is due to the lacquer Tombow use; on the Mars, the edges are softer, probably a product of the number of layers of paint used. A close examination of the Mono 100 does not show any sign of woodgrain, so the lacquer must be fairly thick. I can only surmise that it is the way in which Tombow applies the lacquer on the pencil: fewer layers, but denser paint (and most definitely not “Wasserlack”). Whatever the paint used, I found that the Mono 100 dug into my fingers after a short period of time. The 9008, by contrast, was a joy to use because, with no corners or edges, my fingers would mould themselves around the pencil’s barrel.

Both pencils are excellent, either for writing or for drawing. I have found my favourite pencil so far in the 9008, but the Mono 100 is not far behind, and I’ll use the Mono for astronomical sketches.