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63 About this deal
On the scale, a couple of dozen pencils ranged from 5.3g to 6.3g, with a mean weight of 5.8g. Compare this with the Castell 9000 (3.9g) or the reference Mars Lumograph (3.8g). This pencil weighs 50% more than the European competitors! The distance between the sides is the same as a Lumograph (maybe a hair larger) – about 7.47mm. So where is the weight? Some must be in the ferrule and eraser. I’m also comparing unsharpened to sharpened pencils. I suppose a review of these can’t be made without mentioning the centered-ness of the cores. There are a few off center cores, only one or two of mine were badly off center. The rest were fine and in what I would think of as well within usability limits. More on this point in a minute. Let’s talk about that delicious core. It’s dark. It’s smooth. With my long point sharpeners it’s perfect. It’s also great for sketching. I’d say this is a good multi use pencil, you can get some decent gradation out of it and as such wouldn’t need to carry a full pencil case for writing or sketching. Uni Mitsubishi 9850 HB “Smooth Writing Pencil for Office Use”. Similar to the Tombow 2558 and Palomino HB, this Japanese office pencil writes a smooth, dark line, and the cedar wood sharpens well. The glossy dark burgundy barrel MAY have been the tipping point for me here….
The Mitsubishi 9800 is an everyday writing pencil, similar to the 9852 but without an eraser. The 9800 is a really good looking pencil that sells in a great green paint color with high quality HB or B lead. Other hardnesses are sold but they aren’t as readily available in the US. I really like the printing on these pencils as well as the thought that they use “Matured” wood, which is noted on the side. I note that just like Mrs. Strong, Musgrave has found a way to sell a pencil at the price point of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. I’m not a professional marketer, but I salute Musgrave for this breakthrough.
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The HB pencils have a beautiful natural finish, and have a white eraser attached with a gold and maroon ferrule. They are sold unsharpened. Using these almost century-old slats, we worked closely with the company chairman, Henry, and their manufacturing team to give these slats life as the pencils they were milled to be. This vintage wood now has a top-of-the-line graphite core and distinctly modern imprint and end cap. They are a piece of American pencil manufacturing history and a joy to write with. And once this limited run sells out, they are gone. The cores are hard and write nicely. They sharpen well and aren’t prone to breaking. When they do break, there is little dust or smearing. Musgrave doesn’t specify who makes them, but they seem to be a very high quality.
The graphite on these pencils is just right in terms of hardness and color, and the eraser works well enough too. They don’t erase that well and the eraser isn’t particularly good, but it’s a great all-round pencil. I’m truly torn on these pencils, but I still use them fairly often so I’ll include them on this list. The wood of the pencil looks great, really natural and with a lot of variation from one pencil body to the next.So how were these slats made? Perhaps pioneer fellow Tennessee manufacturer Wagner Pencil, who process American timber into pencil slats, gave assistance. Or perhaps Musgrave engaged with a wood processor not part of the pencil industry to create these slats. In any case, it is very interesting. Their pencils aren’t generally available in Canada – at least the ones they make in their own name. Home Depot carpenter’s pencils and other private label products they manufacture seem to be more common. I’ve written previously about some Unigraphs that I once found. I really love these pencils. They’re a treat, and were particularly welcome companions on dark days this winter. I’m going to buy more when I can, so that I can share the joy. Musgrave Single Barrel 106 Musgrave Single Barrel 106
It was recently mentioned by legendary pencil collector Bob Truby in Country Living Magazine as one of his top six “must-have favorite” pencils in his 8,000+ collection — the world’s largest collection of rare and vintage brand-name pencils. Very clearly, this small town Tennessee company is highly engaged in the international economy. As the company notes, “… today Musgrave is able to work with a handful of different varieties of wood from all over the world.” Managing this complex supply chain must be almost as challenging as manufacturing the pencils.If you like pencils, you may want to support Musgrave and the other small pencil companies because they are few in number, and offer a different type of product than their global competitors. The Musgrave Pencil Company, like the General Pencil Company, is one of the last independent American pencil makers. Headquartered in Shelbyville, Tennessee, the famous “Pencil City”, Musgrave has been in business since 1916. The lead is dark and rapidly crumbles. It certainly isn’t the quality of the old HB. It is perfectly usable, and I find this lead preferable to the anemic grainy lead of many no name pencils. To summarize, there are some challenges, but I really like the story of this pencil. Telling me that the slat is 90 years old grants a lot of forgiveness. Musgrave Pencil is a family-owned and operated pencil maker in Shelbyville, Tennessee that’s been making pencils since 1916. The Musgraves began by selling Tennessee Red Cedar slats to European pencil makers; remember that, it’ll be important later. Musgrave’s Heritage Collection
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