Dixon Ticonderoga #2 HB Pencil

I’ll agree with you on everything you said. I use these pencils. Also the ones Lee Valleys sells are nice, and I use the Papermate Mirado Black Warrior #2’s for sketching ideas.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

I know what you mean. I have also found it hard to find a good pencil sharpener these days like the grinders we had in elementary school LOL. For some reason, the scoring pencils at the local golf course are pretty high quality. I use them in the shop. Ha!

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Thank you so much for the info! I use wood pencils all the time and appriciate a quality pencils. Office Depot here I come!

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

I’ll tell you about MY favorite #2 pencil. Honestly, I don’t remember the brand. I was in 6th grade, and I had to sit next to this total KNOB named Richard Canterbury. He’d wait until the teacher wasn’t looking and stab me in the side with a straightened paper clip. This went on for a good 10 minutes. ”....and the underground railroad was used primarily by..” {stick} “OWW!, you jerk.” “Carl, pay attention!!”

so, then he reached onto my desk to grab my notebook. I grabbed his arm, and stabbed him in the arm with my….Yep, my #2 pencil. It broke the skin, and the lead broke. Well, Richard SCREAMED, and then started crying…and screaming. Everyone turned and looked at me like I just…well, like I just stabbed the jerk of the school. He was bawling his head off, screaming that he was going to get Lead Poisoning.

That was my favorite #2 pencil.

Thanks for reminding me of that Brad!

...Maybe when the emotional scarring subsides I’ll review my all-time least favorite garbage can…to get stuffed in to.

:-)

-- When my wife ask's what I have to show for my wood working hobby, I just show her the splinters.

i totally agree. i have been struggling to get good pencils for so long that i only use them for rough work, and use a utility knife for all the really fine work. i am going to home depot tomorrow and i might pick up a pack of these.

Yes. Nothing like sorry pencil to mess up your day in the shop. I was lucky to get my hands on a box of 500 really good pencils (cedar, good soft lead, pink pearl like eraser) that my employer was throwing away because the logo of the company was going to change. Save’em from the landfill. Archaeologist 10,000 years from now will just have to look somewhere else for good ole 20th century writing instruments. Sawdustonmyshoulder sharpened them up and use them. HA!!!

-- Makin' Sawdust!!!

The saddest thing about pencils nowadays is… wait for it… they are made in China! I have been watching this for a while and the sad truth is that most pencils are not made in the USA anymore. Quality sucks! The single biggest problem is not the material; I have genuine wood pencils made in China that simply cannot be sharpened BECAUSE the graphite is not centered correectly in the wooden barrel! Graphite is OK, the wood is OK, but without actually centering the graphite in the wooden barrel, the traditional pencil sharpener simply cannot provide a usable point! The point of the graphite is always obscured by the wood – it doesn’t write – it completely obviates the use of the pencil in the first place!

How in the hell can American companies continue to offer products that don’t even work as the products were intended? My local “big box” store does not offer Ticonderoga pencils. Instead, I am only offered pencils that don’t even function as pencils, all made in China! How can any price, no matter how cheap, override the fact that product doesn’t even function to its original intended purpose? If I could buy Ticonderoga pencils, based on this review, I would. But I am not even offered the choice! Instead, ALL I can buy are pencils that don’t function as pencils.

Every damned CEO of American companies should be forced to use ONLY the products sold by that company!

-- "Find out what you cannot do and then go do it!"

Hey Sawdustonmyshoulders, how about a couple of those good pencils for a buddy?

-- Randy, Tupelo, MS ~ May I become more like the Master Carpenter every day.

Chico…I bought a sharpener the same day i bought the box of pencils. It’s a X-ACTO, classic style with the crank handle just like you were saying. It has a suction base that engages with a little handle that anchors it to any smooth table top. The suction anchors it very well, and it sharpens the pencils to a lethal point! They make the same sharpener in a screw/wall mount version as well….maybe I should review the sharpener too! Just for clarity…I see some of you mentioned “big box” stores to buy these pencils. I got them at OFFICE Depot…not Home Depot, but I’m sure any office supply store should carry them.

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

You bet—the #1388 all the way. My kids (both in grade school) get TONS of pencils. I’ve got to start tossing them there’s so many. I’d still rather spend the three bucks too for the Ticonderoga 1388’s. I was a designer/draftsman for years and really appreciate the way these go onto the paper…actually something quite charming about it to me (like putting on a pair of BRAND new cotton socks; which is way under-rated) Thanks for letting the LJ’s know what a good pencil is. The 1388 should be the standard all other pencils are compared to. Period!

-- God bless! Freddo (Northern - NJ) Our Creator designed us to create - so use WOOD!

Hey, Randy Sharp! Check out eBay for some of these wonderful pencils. Maybe you can out bid some guy in Indontthinkso, Mississippi. HA!!!!!

-- Makin' Sawdust!!!

Never really thought about it, I went through a whole pack of mechanical pencils in about a year – the bic cheapies outlast the first slimline I made, but I now have a plethora of empty bic cheap mechanicals, I could by more lead that keeps breaking…. but you just sold me on the Good Ol #2 – The novelty pencils I have been finding all over the house don’t even stand up to a sharpening just like you said!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Well, I guess you have to have good pencils. Nice review and discussion. Does anyone use the carpenter pencils any more? I received a bunch from Jet. I am looking for a good sharpener for the carpenter style pencils.

-- Tim from Iowa City, IA

What is a pencil? I have never heard of it… How do you cut a board with a pencil?

Actually I use a mechanical pencil most of the time.. and I tend to mark my work with it also.

-- making sawdust....

I usually use mechanical pencils, but I will try some of these. Thanks for the review…

-- Festool4

My financial planner gave me a pencil made from recycled money. It wasn’t a very good pencil, but it had a “cool factor” to it.

I think my daughter would agree. I bought her some of these a couple of year’s ago for school and she makes me taker her back there every year. I thought she was joking the first time around.

-- Jerry L.

Tim, you can get those carpenter sharpeners at the checkout stand at lowes.

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Another good choice Paper Mate American Naturals Made in USA
“Made in Lewisburg, Tennessee, USA; our pencils are created from fine woods and polymers. A trusted name in school supplies, our American Classic wood pencils will never let you down.”
http://www.papermate.com/sanford/consumer/papermate/products-pencils.jhtml
The Dixon Ticonderoga’s that I have were made in Mexico.
My first choice is the Paper Mate Then the Ticonderoga

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

I went and got some Ticonderoga pencils just to see what all the fuss was about. Now I understand. Using slightly worse pencils every year since about the eighth grade, when mechanical pencils started to take over, has slowly but surely eroded my expectations of wooden pencils. I didn’t even realize that I hadn’t written with a decent pencil in so many years. What a simple pleasure. That really brought back the memories.

I’ll tell you something else that sets these pencils apart. The eraser. I wouldn’t even have expected the eraser to work and would’ve been satisfied with just the pencil but I accidentally rubbed it with my finger and noticed something felt different. It wasn’t the pink sandpaper type they usually put on pencils! And, it actually removed the pencil line !! Woooohoooo!!!!! I’m going to go home and write with my pencil for a while before I go out to the shop. Well, maybe not too long.

-- Jim

Although I generally use my mechanical pencils for “detail’ work , sometimes I just need to make a line and as we all know , the mechanicals just aren’t up to the task . My son , Robert , gifted me with a package of Papermate American Naturals and I love them ! The lead is centered , the eraser erases , and best of all , there is NO paint on them so the beauty and figure in the wood is right before your eyes . Made in the USA : ) Thank you , Robert : ) Love , Dad

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

I am afraid to buy any more pensils. I seem to have an ongoing mystery in my shop. I lay a pensil down, turn away for a minute, come back and its gone! I must have lost at least 4 dozen pensils in there. I’m not sure if they run away or some monster comes in and eats them. I have even blamed myself at times for blaming them on my errors, perhaps I hurt the feelings and they ran away. Maybe they just don’t understand english or our standard units of measure.

For just $4 a box, perhaps I can give them a try. Never know, maybe they’ll stay around a while.

-- Greg - Charles Town, WV

Like Tenon(Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars)Tim I use the Papermate Mirado Black Warrior #2’s. I carry them around in my LL Bean “man-bag” (as the wife is fond of calling it) so I have them at the sign shop where I work. Beside working well and not being a pile of broken graphite with a wood wrapper, they smell great. 100% Premium Cedar…mmmmm.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

It seems the little thing count as well. As with most the above I use leadholders. The leadholders I use is a very heavy lead that requires sharping with a special sharper. I also have differnet leads for different woods. Some leads are very hard and some are soft. The hard is not easy to remove and it does mar the wood(Some times good sometimes bad). You can buy the leadholders at. http://www.draftingsteals.com/catalog-pencils--leadholders----lead-leadholders.html
I did drafting and learned AuotCad. So I have all the old drafting gear. I use it today for a holding table.

-- Dominic, Trinity, Florida...Lets be safe out there.

I totaly argee with you!

Thanks for the post

Callum

-- For wood working podcasts with a twist check out http://thetimberkid.com/

The Papermate American Naturals are a good pencil also, but I guess I was brought up seeing my dad with a Ticonderoga over his ear so thats what I like! And besides, the bright yellow color makes them easy to spot on your workbench or on a floor full of sawdust, cutoffs and other non yellow items!

Dominic , I too was a board drafter for many years…I still have my 46” drafting table with a cable straightedge, my electric eraser, and all my lead holders, sharpeners, drafting brushes and powder, not to mention a huge collection of templates and triangles of all sorts and sizes. I just cant bring myself to throw any of it away…the drafting table was bought for me by my dad when I was in high school!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

I failed drafting in school , darn girls .

-- John in Belgrave ,(Slideshow http://cid-69bce320c6d8b119.spaces.live.com/ (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com

Brad Nailor,
Everyone here, including myself, appreciates a good pencil like the ticonderoga. But I didnt see anyone say anything about using the EX-Hard #4 ticonderogas. (No.4/2H on the box, 1388-4 EX-HARD on the pencil)

That’s always been my prefered pencil. It stays sharp a LOT longer than the #2, and will make a much finer line too. Call me lazy, but I rarely have to sharpen the #4s. After making a few longer lines, or a lot of short ones with the #2s, the lines generally get wider and the pencil needs more sharpening. If I dont lose them first, I believe they last about 5 times as long. Give them a try.

In short, I will spend several minutes looking for my number 4, passing up the 2’s.
Am I alone on this thought???

-- Got Wood?