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When you open the box you are met by the gentle scent of cedar wood or to be precise, in this case, Eastern Red Cedar, from which the box and the pencils are made. The box is smooth but as far as I can tell the wood is unfinished whilst the pencils within have a lacquer finish which helps to bring out the depth of colour in the wood. Buyer's Note: Because of the nature of the wood - the delightfully aromatic Eastern Red Cedar - some cores may be slightly off-center and wood may have modest visible wear. 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….
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. Shelbyville Times-Gazette article on Musgrave Search 17 years of pencil talk: Search for: Search Latest Posts
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American heritage pencil maker Musgrave introduced a very interesting product in 2019: The Tennessee Red pencil. The pencil’s notable feature is the use of Eastern Red Cedar ( Juniperus virginiana), the original American pencil wood. The pencil is very fragrant and visually interesting – each pencil is different, and many contain both cedar sapwood (pale colour) and cedar heartwood (dark colour). The pencil writes very nicely (the lead seems to be a step up from that of the Tennessee Red), with a dark line, nice glide, and minimal crumbling. State of the Art: Filling a Sketchbook | Comfortable Shoes Studio on Review: Handbook Trav-e-logue Series Along with the Tennessee Red, heritage pencil maker Musgrave announced another product just as interesting to pencil aficionados – a pencil made from rediscovered vintage slats. Avoiding a single supplier is just good business sense. And finding a local supplier is additionally beneficial for the environment. Finding a way to make more of a pencil locally is a breakthrough.
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 CollectionThe pencils are reminiscent of the old Musgrave HB in presentation, though the wood and lead are different. I found the Tennessee Red challenging to sharpen in a handheld sharpener like the M+R Pollux, with the lead snapping. Fortunately it is easily handled with the standard Grenade or a desktop sharpener. Still, the wood seems just a bit too tough for a pencil. I suspect this isn’t the fault of the timber – it is more that the slats just haven’t received the conditioning treatments to which we’ve become accustomed. We are late by two years – the Musgrave Pencil Company’s 90th anniversary was in 2006. Yet, it was still a true delight to recently receive a box of Musgrave’s 90th anniversary pencils.
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. 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. There is one physical difference apart from the eraser – the hexagonal shape is much less rounded than the Castell or Mars. You can feel the edges of the pencil quite clearly. I really like this. Vintage pencils had similarly unrounded edges.
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It isn’t a good pencil. Yet, it is unusual and compelling in multiple ways. I hope it will continue, perhaps with gradual improvements. In an unusually transparent act, the manufacturer has noted that the pencil has issues. 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 article cites Musgrave using American, Vietnamese and Singaporean slat suppliers, and doesn’t claim completeness of this list. The central focus of the article is that Musgrave is using a new American supplier – so Musgrave has definitely not been solely using a Chinese wood supply.
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