Mick, grade assignments for pencils vary drastically from one mfr. to another, and often from one line to another within the same mfr. I designed and built equipment back in 2014-2015 to test actual darkness (as laid down on paper by the automated equipment I built and analyzed by densitometer), which I designated 'D', Softness (S), Smoothness (L), and Pressure Insensitivity (P). All follow a 20-point scale, so D1 is the least dark, D20 is darkest, S1 is hardest, and S20 is softest, and so on. The D (darkness) values for the modern Blackwing line are Natural = D10, S6, L12 and 602 = D11, S6, L12, P5 and Pearl = D13, S7, L12, P10 and finally Matte = D15, S9, L12, P9. The *magic sauce* for Blackwing, I believe, is the very high smoothness value of L12, which is consistent across all Blackwings. Palomino Blackwings are consistently smooth and smoother than almost all other pencils at the darkness and softness levels they've chosen for their Blackwing line. So, for instance, the closest Faber-Castell Castell 9000 pencil to the Blackwing 602 is the Castell 9000 2B with D9, S5, L10, P11. The 602 is engineered for writing, not drawing, as seen in the P value (pressure insensitivity). The 602 has P5, meaning it is highly sensitive to the pressure imparted to paper by the pencil/writer. High sensitivity to pressure is good for writing, not good at all for drawing. Artists will want a pencil that maintains the same darkness unless they choose to apply more or less pressure, so the best pencil for artists will have a medium-range P value between P8 and P11 (again on the 20-point scale). Notice the Castell 9000 2B, while it is not as smooth as the closest Blackwing, has a near perfect P11, which is excellent for drawing. I would love to test the 'Extra Dark' Blackwing if you could loan it to me. Dark pencils don't usually conform well to artistic needs, in that P values tend to go high as D value increases. The only exception I've found to this tendency is the Musgrave 600 News, which has D21, P9, making it the perfect extra-dark pencil for artists, even better than the F-C 9000 (which only goes up to D16 anyway; you have to supplement with a different mfr. if you want to reach D17 or higher. My go-to used to be Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 6B, which is D20, P13, but ever since I discovered the Musgrave 600 News, I use that pencil in preference to all other extra-dark pencils). You can find all these data in 'Pearson's Graphite 2015', available at online book dealers. PM 2024
Hi, as pencil enthusiast and data nerd I love that you did this and just purchased a copy of your book. If by chance you have not tested an original Eberhard Faber 602, I have a 5th generation one (the most representative generation) that is my prized possession that I reserve exlusively for tests. If you were willing I would not mind lending it to you to add IMO a highly relevant data point to one of the most significant pencils of history.
@@Wyrdrock Thank you for responding, and thank you for your kind offer of loaning me your pencil. If you provide an email address I will contact you. I tested an Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 in 2018, so the results have not yet been published. Unfortunately, the EF 602 I received for testing had lead breaks in multiple locations and I could not get accurate D, P, or R values until the shaft had been sharpened down to about 2.5 inches. For that reason, the numbers I report to you now must be considered tentative until I receive an undamaged EF Blackwing 602 for testing. I do trust the L and S values obtained. For the damaged EF Blackwing 602 I found D13*, S13, L14, P4*, R34*. The L ("lissance" or smoothness) value of L14 was one of the highest recorded for a darkness D13 pencil, which is consistent with the old claims for the Eberhard Faber Blackwing. I would imagine the actual D on the pencil was not less than 11, not more than 14, so it is in the range of the current Palomino Blackwings (Natural, 602, Pearl, and Matte or Dark) which span D values from D10 to D15, S values from S6 to S9, and a very consistent L12 across all Palomino Blackwings so far tested, including limited-edition pencils. If you compare your EF Blackwing to the Palomino 602 you should experience a difference in smoothness, with the EF pencil being noticeably smoother. It must be said that the very high S13 for the EF Blackwing is the most unusual and most distinguishing factor for this pencil. It's the only D13 pencil I've ever tested that had such a high S value. This is absolute proof that Eberhard Faber used a unique formula or process in making the Blackwing--a formula not reproduced even in modern pencils, regardless of application. My guess is that the process was convoluted or difficult, making the formulation/process uneconomical in the present competitive environment. I don't know if the EF Blackwing was unusually prone to lead breakage or if I received a pencil that had not been handled properly, but tendency to break is consistent with high S value, which is typical of formulations high in graphite and low in both clay and wax. That is, a reasonable hypothesis is that EF formulated the 602 with higher than average graphite and somehow moderated both D and L values using an atypical wax or some other material specifically aimed at decreasing D while maximizing L smoothness, sacrificing toughness for smoothness. But that's just one hypothesis, and a weak one at that, since the D, P, and R values cannot be trusted as accurate for the pencil I tested. The low P value of P4 is very close to the Palomino 602 value of P5 and is consistent with a pencil designed for writing, not for art. I have many more data on the EF Blackwing 602, but I will not attempt to report them here. Thanks again for your interest! PM 2024
KUM Masterpiece is the best of the best. Follows KUM automatic longpoint. I'd suggest the 2nd,if you use pencils mostly for writing. If you draw/sketch,get both! Masterpiece might.look similar,but it provides a much longer and more robust tip. The Automatic long point,is more versatile though,because it can also sharpen 2mm and 3.2mm leads,that common clutch pencils ualsoMasterpiece,no matter the cost,is a must by for any artist. PS Electric ones provide a bit more speed,but come with a ton of disadvantages,so I don't use them at all. PS 2 If budget is very low,KUM makes a plastic sharpener named "Longpoint". It comes with 2 extra blades and costs less than a $. It costs 0.80 cents! Any longpoint model they sell,is an unheard value,in the art supplies!!
Love this man. If I’m not using fountain pens I’m using pencils and or my Bic cristals. Blackwings are of course one of my favorites. When I’m on the go I mainly use pencils. And only fountain pens for my journaling and at work. Good vid man. Loved it. I love md paper for pencils also. I’m looking for other paper brands that have a lot of pocket notebooks to try out. I know rhodia is good also and moleskins.
Thank you for this review. I've been increasingly curious about these (relatively) expensive Blackwing pencils and ordered a some samples of them yesterday to try them out. Thank you for the comparison vs. the standard HB/B/2B/etc. grades; that gave me a sense of what they will look like on paper. This also makes me wish I had some Midori paper lying around. :-) Thank you.
Yep, I’d agree with that. But probably not noticeably more than most other graphite pencils. The best I have seen for a reduced shine is the Faber-Castell Matte graphite pencils.
Not in my experience. Almost all the common graphite pencils, have the same or very similar graphite shine. The only one that has the least, is the Pitt graphite matt. A set of TK 9071 leads, loaded on TK 4600 or TK 9400 and a 12B Pitt matt for the darkest tones, make the best drawing set you can have. You can sbstitute the 2mm leads/lead holders, with Faber Castell 9000 pencils, but even though they provide more tione values, they do not look as smooth on paper, as the TK 9071 leads do! The graphite from 9000 pencils, just looks more grainy (not as much as Japanese pencils, but noticably more than the Faber Castell TK 9071 leads. My personal set is: TK4600 (H),TK4600 (HB),TK4600 (2B),TK9400 (4B), TK9400 (6B) and for the deepest dark tones, I use either the 12B Pitt matt, or the Faber Castell Aquarelle 9B. This one, fits like ea glove to the rest of the set, but has shine, that the 12B Pitt matt doesn't! @@snowoutside
Mick, grade assignments for pencils vary drastically from one mfr. to another, and often from one line to another within the same mfr. I designed and built equipment back in 2014-2015 to test actual darkness (as laid down on paper by the automated equipment I built and analyzed by densitometer), which I designated 'D', Softness (S), Smoothness (L), and Pressure Insensitivity (P). All follow a 20-point scale, so D1 is the least dark, D20 is darkest, S1 is hardest, and S20 is softest, and so on. The D (darkness) values for the modern Blackwing line are Natural = D10, S6, L12 and 602 = D11, S6, L12, P5 and Pearl = D13, S7, L12, P10 and finally Matte = D15, S9, L12, P9. The *magic sauce* for Blackwing, I believe, is the very high smoothness value of L12, which is consistent across all Blackwings. Palomino Blackwings are consistently smooth and smoother than almost all other pencils at the darkness and softness levels they've chosen for their Blackwing line. So, for instance, the closest Faber-Castell Castell 9000 pencil to the Blackwing 602 is the Castell 9000 2B with D9, S5, L10, P11. The 602 is engineered for writing, not drawing, as seen in the P value (pressure insensitivity). The 602 has P5, meaning it is highly sensitive to the pressure imparted to paper by the pencil/writer. High sensitivity to pressure is good for writing, not good at all for drawing. Artists will want a pencil that maintains the same darkness unless they choose to apply more or less pressure, so the best pencil for artists will have a medium-range P value between P8 and P11 (again on the 20-point scale). Notice the Castell 9000 2B, while it is not as smooth as the closest Blackwing, has a near perfect P11, which is excellent for drawing. I would love to test the 'Extra Dark' Blackwing if you could loan it to me. Dark pencils don't usually conform well to artistic needs, in that P values tend to go high as D value increases. The only exception I've found to this tendency is the Musgrave 600 News, which has D21, P9, making it the perfect extra-dark pencil for artists, even better than the F-C 9000 (which only goes up to D16 anyway; you have to supplement with a different mfr. if you want to reach D17 or higher. My go-to used to be Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 6B, which is D20, P13, but ever since I discovered the Musgrave 600 News, I use that pencil in preference to all other extra-dark pencils). You can find all these data in 'Pearson's Graphite 2015', available at online book dealers. PM 2024
Hi, as pencil enthusiast and data nerd I love that you did this and just purchased a copy of your book. If by chance you have not tested an original Eberhard Faber 602, I have a 5th generation one (the most representative generation) that is my prized possession that I reserve exlusively for tests. If you were willing I would not mind lending it to you to add IMO a highly relevant data point to one of the most significant pencils of history.
@@Wyrdrock Thank you for responding, and thank you for your kind offer of loaning me your pencil. If you provide an email address I will contact you. I tested an Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 in 2018, so the results have not yet been published. Unfortunately, the EF 602 I received for testing had lead breaks in multiple locations and I could not get accurate D, P, or R values until the shaft had been sharpened down to about 2.5 inches. For that reason, the numbers I report to you now must be considered tentative until I receive an undamaged EF Blackwing 602 for testing. I do trust the L and S values obtained. For the damaged EF Blackwing 602 I found D13*, S13, L14, P4*, R34*. The L ("lissance" or smoothness) value of L14 was one of the highest recorded for a darkness D13 pencil, which is consistent with the old claims for the Eberhard Faber Blackwing. I would imagine the actual D on the pencil was not less than 11, not more than 14, so it is in the range of the current Palomino Blackwings (Natural, 602, Pearl, and Matte or Dark) which span D values from D10 to D15, S values from S6 to S9, and a very consistent L12 across all Palomino Blackwings so far tested, including limited-edition pencils. If you compare your EF Blackwing to the Palomino 602 you should experience a difference in smoothness, with the EF pencil being noticeably smoother. It must be said that the very high S13 for the EF Blackwing is the most unusual and most distinguishing factor for this pencil. It's the only D13 pencil I've ever tested that had such a high S value. This is absolute proof that Eberhard Faber used a unique formula or process in making the Blackwing--a formula not reproduced even in modern pencils, regardless of application. My guess is that the process was convoluted or difficult, making the formulation/process uneconomical in the present competitive environment. I don't know if the EF Blackwing was unusually prone to lead breakage or if I received a pencil that had not been handled properly, but tendency to break is consistent with high S value, which is typical of formulations high in graphite and low in both clay and wax. That is, a reasonable hypothesis is that EF formulated the 602 with higher than average graphite and somehow moderated both D and L values using an atypical wax or some other material specifically aimed at decreasing D while maximizing L smoothness, sacrificing toughness for smoothness. But that's just one hypothesis, and a weak one at that, since the D, P, and R values cannot be trusted as accurate for the pencil I tested. The low P value of P4 is very close to the Palomino 602 value of P5 and is consistent with a pencil designed for writing, not for art. I have many more data on the EF Blackwing 602, but I will not attempt to report them here. Thanks again for your interest! PM 2024
Based on my testing, the extra firm is closer to a B while the 602 is closer to a 2B and so on getting softer from there.
i'm currently drawing with the natural and i agree that the extra firm is closer to a B because of how soft it is.
Very useful information -- thank you! I'd love to see a video on which pencil sharpeners you prefer and why.
KUM Masterpiece is the best of the best. Follows KUM automatic longpoint. I'd suggest the 2nd,if you use pencils mostly for writing. If you draw/sketch,get both! Masterpiece might.look similar,but it provides a much longer and more robust tip. The Automatic long point,is more versatile though,because it can also sharpen 2mm and 3.2mm leads,that common clutch pencils ualsoMasterpiece,no matter the cost,is a must by for any artist.
PS Electric ones provide a bit more speed,but come with a ton of disadvantages,so I don't use them at all.
PS 2 If budget is very low,KUM makes a plastic sharpener named "Longpoint". It comes with 2 extra blades and costs less than a $. It costs 0.80 cents! Any longpoint model they sell,is an unheard value,in the art supplies!!
Love this man. If I’m not using fountain pens I’m using pencils and or my Bic cristals. Blackwings are of course one of my favorites. When I’m on the go I mainly use pencils. And only fountain pens for my journaling and at work. Good vid man. Loved it. I love md paper for pencils also. I’m looking for other paper brands that have a lot of pocket notebooks to try out. I know rhodia is good also and moleskins.
Hi! Thanks for this review. I was getting confused with all of the names and not knowing what they were. :)
Thank you for this review. I've been increasingly curious about these (relatively) expensive Blackwing pencils and ordered a some samples of them yesterday to try them out. Thank you for the comparison vs. the standard HB/B/2B/etc. grades; that gave me a sense of what they will look like on paper. This also makes me wish I had some Midori paper lying around. :-) Thank you.
Have you got your pencils, and if you have, what do you think?
Mitsubishi Uni are still my favs, but out of Palomino the Pearl is my go to.
@@juststuff5216 I did just recently get my hands on a couple of the Blackwing Pearl pencils and I do like them!
Blackwing 725 is My favorite
The 725 was a beautiful volume… and had the balanced graphite. Lovely edition
@@theoffstageme yes I wish they had this as pearl edition standard lol for permanent use
hmm - looks like quite a bit of sheen - my pet hate - your reaction to that point please :)
Yep, I’d agree with that. But probably not noticeably more than most other graphite pencils. The best I have seen for a reduced shine is the Faber-Castell Matte graphite pencils.
@@theoffstageme Yes, I'd agree with that :) the Staedtler Mars Lumograph seem pretty good for reduced graphite shine too
Not in my experience. Almost all the common graphite pencils, have the same or very similar graphite shine. The only one that has the least, is the Pitt graphite matt. A set of TK 9071 leads, loaded on TK 4600 or TK 9400 and a 12B Pitt matt for the darkest tones, make the best drawing set you can have. You can sbstitute the 2mm leads/lead holders, with Faber Castell 9000 pencils, but even though they provide more tione values, they do not look as smooth on paper, as the TK 9071 leads do! The graphite from 9000 pencils, just looks more grainy (not as much as Japanese pencils, but noticably more than the Faber Castell TK 9071 leads. My personal set is: TK4600 (H),TK4600 (HB),TK4600 (2B),TK9400 (4B), TK9400 (6B) and for the deepest dark tones, I use either the 12B Pitt matt, or the Faber Castell Aquarelle 9B. This one, fits like ea glove to the rest of the set, but has shine, that the 12B Pitt matt doesn't! @@snowoutside