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Thread: 314 Draughting Pencils for drawing

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    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
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    Default 314 Draughting Pencils for drawing

    I hope that the spammers haven't made the regular members give up on this sub forum.

    Perhaps I should not attach this picture, a quick sketch that I did this morning. It's very rough, and I didn't want to put it the regular art forum. But note the pencils, on top a vintage Eagle 314 draughting pencil, which hasn't been made in some years, and below it a General G314, which I believe is still being made. At any rate, it's still being sold.

    I have a supply of the vintage pencils (some sold under the Berol trademark) that should last me for quite a while, particularly since I don't use them for everything. A while ago, I also bought a two pack of the Generals to see if they were an equivalent. I quickly concluded that they were not; they seemed noticeably less smooth. So I put them aside.

    Recently, though, I took one of the G314s out to try it again, and found that I couldn't distinguish it from the classic Eagle when used on the same paper. I wonder if my previous experience had been due to using them on different paper without thinking about what I was doing. The attached sketch was done alternately between these two pencils in a Maruman Mnemoyne notebook, which has a lovely smooth paper. On the other hand, when I try them both on news print paper, which I use for a lot of practice sketches, neither one is at all remarkable.

    I suppose I could do a more exhaustive test across a range of different papers, but that seems like too much trouble just now. But the prices for the vintage pencils are getting out of hand, and if I do burn through all of mine, I'll have to consider stocking up on the Generals. Unless those are also "vintage" by then.
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    Last edited by Kaputnik; July 9th, 2024 at 01:36 PM.
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    Default Re: 314 Draughting Pencils for drawing

    These Eagle pencils were fantastic. Vintage General's usually aren't bad, but not to the same level as Eagle/Berol.
    Don't give up on modern General's, they lack consistency but if you hit a rougher spot just sharpen the lead a bit and carry on!

    You can also look at the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni

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    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
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    Default Re: 314 Draughting Pencils for drawing

    Quote Originally Posted by Lithium466 View Post
    These Eagle pencils were fantastic. Vintage General's usually aren't bad, but not to the same level as Eagle/Berol.
    Don't give up on modern General's, they lack consistency but if you hit a rougher spot just sharpen the lead a bit and carry on!

    You can also look at the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni
    Yes, I have quite a few of those Mitsubishis in different grades, Conté also makes nice graphite pencils, as well as their "crayons" and pastels. But the 314 draughting pencils have their own character. It's interesting that you can say something like that about an object like a wood pencil, which most people just take for granted.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

    https://www.deviantart.com/slivovitz

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/77103607@N00/

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    Lloyd (July 10th, 2024)

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