Ask Mr. Pencil

Ask Mr. Pencil to answer your specific questions.

Every day we get many specific questions about pencils, sharpeners, leads and other pencil things. It's time to share our research and answers with all who may be interested.

Here's the place for you to ask a specific question whose answer may be of broad interest. Many questions do require research, so expect an answer several days after you post your query.

Please send your questions to support@pencilthings.com. Please use as your subject line "Ask Mr. Pencil".

Comments

[Niki B.]

I am looking for a thin pencil...its diameter is smaller than regular pencils. It still has an eraser and you sharpen it, but it's a bit thinner in diameter. My teacher over 15 years ago had a bunch of them and I have not been able to find them since. They were multi colored, though that doesn't matter to me at all. I just want to find a thinner pencil. Help me please!

----- Mr. Pencil: You are referring to what are called “bridge pencils”, after the card game. People sometimes call them “notebook pencils” and, when they are sharpened at both ends, stenographer pencils. They are considerably thinner than the usual pencil, have erasers, and the barrels come in several different color lacquers. The leads are #2 HB (medium soft). They sharpen with a normal hand-held sharpener. We stock them at PencilThings.com.

[Elena Mischa]

I once had this really fantastic eraser. It worked really well until someone stole it!!! I looked at a ton of places, but couldn't find it anywhere! I want to buy a replacement. Think you can help? It was a white round eraser completely inside a round plastic casing that had a sliding cover to protect the eraser from getting dirty. It was made by the Mapped company. If you find anyplace that sells it, could you tell me the place name or website? Thank you so much, I'm desperate!!!!

----- Mr. Pencil: The eraser you are referring to is the Maped "Zenoa". We have them in stock at Pencil Things, but haven't yet added them to our Web store at PencilThings.com. I'll ask the Webmaster to add them on Thursday, October 24th. Webmasters are an independent lot, but do like to get paid, so I may succeed! The packaging says "New Formula".