Vintage Find: Eagle "Chemi-Sealed" Mirado 174 No. 2.5 and No. 3 pencils spotlight

The last lot of vintage pencil tins also included these two red cardboard boxes with Eagle Mirado 174 pencils.
The No. 2-1/2 pencils were the True Medium or the third hardest in their 6 degrees range. The Art Deco Eagle logo is pretty sleek and reminded me of the Starship Trooper Flag used by the Mobile Infantry.
The No. 3 pencils were Medium Hard or the second hardest in their 6 degrees range.
Both pencils sharpened and worked well enough. Though the pencil tips were a tad weaker than their German counterparts and crumbled a bit under pressure.
Erasers do not generally maintain their functionality after decades of drying in storage, but the eraser in the No. 3 pencils still worked reasonably well.
Sample doodle on Flexi-Sketch book. These vintage pencils were a nice welcomed addition to the collection as examples of American made pencils from factories that vanished in the later part of the XX century. Though I get the sense that they were really the equivalent of the modern yellow No. 2 general use pencil meant for writing, so I probably would not have gone hunting for them specifically.

Vintage find: J.S. Staedtler Mars Lumograph 2886 HB & 4H pencil tins

Just got a couple of vintage tins filled with 2886 J.S. Staedtler Mars Lumograph HB & 4H wooden graphite pencils in an Ebay auction lot.
Curiously the 4H pencils labeled "2886 J.S. Staedtler Mars Lumograph Germany" on one side were also labeled with "2818 Frederick Post Company" on the opposite side of the barrel. Thus looks like Staedtler would do custom imprints for its major distributors back in the 1940s and 1950s, so there might also be some Staedtler pencils to be found with "Keuffel & Esser" or "Dietzgen" imprinted on their barrels.
Sample marks on Flexi-Sketch book.
Paper insert wrapped around the pencils. The pencils came all mixed up in the 3 tins of this auction lot, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I had actually received 12 unsharpened HB pencils, 10 factory-sharpened 4H pencils, and 8 unsharpened K3 pencils for drawing on film along with an Eagle 410 Turquoise Film eraser.
Manufacturers really knew how to properly package and present a dozen of fine drawing pencils in the years following World War II, pity such standards can seldom be found in local stationery and office supplies stores these days. The main modern pencil manufacturers that I know still use similar premium packaging to display their finest graphite pencils would be Tombow and Mitsubishi Uni.
Sample doodles drawn on Flexi-Sketch book with the modern version the Staedtler Mars Lumograph Art. Nr. 100-HB and the vintage 2886 HB pencil. The look and reliability of this drawing pencil might not have changed much for decades, but I definitely prefer the logo and packaging used over half a century ago. The slender golden pencil tins decorated with the head of the Roman god of war, Mars, make for a much more interesting case for a custom compact sketching kit.While the former seemed a tad darker than the original version, both performed well and would make a fine addition to a sketching kit. Recommended.
Update: Just got another 2830 JS Staedtler Mars Lumograph Duralar tin in pristine condition. You would be hard pressed to find a better looking pencil box across time, so I would highly recommend to keep an eye out for them.

The Faber Castell No. 60 Lead Pointer Spotlight

Feel quite lucky to have been able to find a Castell No. 60 Lead Pointer in new condition. It is quite a substantial drafting desk accessory made in West Germany, so it was probably manufactured at least over 20 years ago.
This is the largest lead pointer I have ever come across: with a foot print that doubles that of the traditional rotary lead pointer tub and with a selection of four optional color-coded guides for the best fit with your leadholders (though the black guide seemed to work fine with most of the 2 mm clutch pencils in my collection). All the extra guides and spare cleaning sponges fit nicely in the compartment accessible through the bottom of the dust compartment. The gray guide is wide enough to be used with the Staedtler 925-25-20 silver 2 mm leadholder. Flickr photostream: photo 1 to photo 9.
Produced pretty sharp needle points within five rotations of the sharpening turret. Nice addition to a leadholder collection.

Faber Castell TG1 System Technical Drafting Pen Set Spotlight

Vintage Faber Castell find: the TG1 System Technical Drafting 4-Pen Set. While computers might have pretty much replaced analog drafting tools in this century, artists can still use much of their remaining stock for sketching, drawing , and illustrating tight renderings. Technical pens yield lines of uniform weight and consistency, so they can be quite useful for ruling comicbook panels, drafting technical blueprints, and even doing some lettering. Possible drawbacks include: high maintenance and cleaning requirements prior to long storage coupled with the difficulty in finding spares or replacement parts in case of damage. It can be oddly satisfying to draw with such well constructed precision drafting tools meant to be used for a lifetime, but they also require great care when cleaning and refilling them (not to mention that you do not want to drop any of these pens on the floor ever!).
According to the seller, this new old stock (NOS) drafting pen set dates back to the 1970s. Nowadays you are more likely to find Koh-I-Noor or Staedtler technical pens in US stores or online. Faber Castell drafting pen set sightings tend to be rather rare stateside (only have seen them at a Pearl store once before), and they seem to pop up more frequently in British websites.
Included accessories: adaptor for using drafting pens with templates (left), and threaded drawing cone removal tool (right). The set's sturdy plastic molded tray doubles as a pen stand and accessory organizer. This plastic shell tray is far more rigid and durable than the thin polystyrene trays used in pencil tins these days. The translucent box cover lid can be removed and used to elevate the whole pen stand.
The screw top of the pen cap design includes a hygro element to protect against the accidental drying of ink in the pen nibs. The top of each pen cap is light blue when dry but turns dark blue when moistened with a few drops of water. This moisture control feature should keep a high relative humidity around the double seal of the pen cap.
This set consisted of the following pen nib sizes: 0.25, 0.35, 0.4, and 0.5 mm. Really like the translucent yellow plastic used on the nibs as opposed to the opaque plastic nibs used in other brands. This should make it easier to check for ink residue when flushing the nibs clean.
Illustrated sheet with use and clean up instructions and written instructions on the back in multiple languages. Once I get a fresh ink bottle, I will probably test the 0.5 mm pen first (the ink included in this set was made in the USA and bottled in Germany 3 to 4 decades ago, so I do not think it would be prudent to fill the pens with it). Ink filling and subsequent required cleaning can be a messy process, so it is somewhat understandable that these drafting sets of refillable technical pens were partially replaced by disposable versions before the advent of AutoCAD. The Faber Castell TG1 System Technical Drafting Pen Set makes a nice addition to a drafting tools collection. For their maintenance-free modern day version for artistic exploration, you might want to try a set of Copic Multiliner SP pens.

A.W. Faber Castell Locktite 9400 2H leadholder spotlight

My second A.W. Faber Castell Locktite 9400 leadholder arrived very securely packaged within a PVC pipe, and it is imprinted 2H with impeccable golden lettering since it as a "new old stock" (NOS) find. Judging from its tapered grip, it was probably manufactured between 1960s to early 1970s in the USA (Thanks again to the Leadholder Museum for being such a great visual guide and resource for collectors!). I have really enjoyed using my second hand Locktite 9400 lately, so I was thrilled to find one in pristine condition. The gold coating is intact on its knurled aluminum nose, and the green push-button fits so tightly in the back that I have not been able to remove it yet. Nor am I going to try to force it loose, for the red push button in the older model shown above can slip off a bit too easily already. These green leadholders with golden highlights are quite easy to spot among my many other sketching tools.
Sample doodles drawn on Flexi-Sketch paper. Even without a pocket clip, this pencil is still reasonably resistant to rolling off the drafting board given the hexagonal profile of its barrel. Lightweight and well-balanced, the A.W. Faber Castell Locktite 9400 would make a nice functional addition to your sketching kit.

Alvin 5019G Student Quality Refill Drawing Leads 1-gross boxes

Recent vintage E-bay find: 1 gross (144 leads) boxes of Alvin Constant 5019G Vocational Quality refill drawing leads (2 X 130 mm/ 5" long) in F and 2H grades. Made in Germany.
While drawing these test doodles on a Strathmore Visual Journal with vellum bristol pages, I noticed some "unevenness" or "rough spots" while hatching with these hard leads. Every once in awhile the lead tip would feel slightly scratchy and produced lighter marks. I suspect the graphite and clay particles might not be as finely ground as in professional grade leads resulting in harder bits been scattered through each drawing lead. The effect is subtle and beginners might not be as put off by this quirk as I was (in case you haven't noticed I can be rather picky about the performance of my drawing tools ;)).
Final verdict: Adequate performance yet slightly coarser than modern German and Japanese professional grade drafting leads. Suitable for classroom use and rough sketches (specially the F leads which are darker than your average F lead) , but I would probably still choose smoother Mitsubishi Uni leads over these Alvin 5019 student grade leads as my default sketching lead.

A few more boxes of Eberhard Faber Microtomic Van Dyke Drawing Lead refill boxes

Picked up a few more vintage 1/2 dozen boxes of Eberhard Faber Microtomic Van Dyke Drawing Lead from the 1950s.
Unique feature of this drawing leads packaging is that both sides of the wooden core had a strip of sandpaper glued to it for touching up and pointing lead. Given their age (probably over half a century old) a few of the sandpaper sheets and some wooden slats have come unglued. Could probably fix that with some Elmer's glue, but they also prevent the cardboard sleeves from sliding open unaided.
Sample reference marks drawn on Strathmore vellum bristol. Found all these assorted H leads surprisingly smooth and easy to sharpen despite their age, confirming what graphite drawing leads do not seem to go bad with age and posses excellent shelf lives. Worth trying and adding to to a collection of leadholder refills.

Eberhard Faber Microtomic 3H Drawing Leads Spotlight

Latest vintage drawing lead arrival: Eberhard Faber One Hand Flip-Top Microtomic Lead Insertor No. 6100.
Manufactured in the USA in the 1950s.
These 3H drawing leads retain their sharp point longer, are fairly smudge-resistant, and are still a pretty smooth choice for sketching.
Was pretty excited to try this unique drawing lead packaging with built-in 2 mm lead pointer in its flip-cap.
The built-in lead pointer would work adequately in a pinch, but it would probably be best to still carry a more reliable choice like the KUM Deluxe Lead Pointer 23A.
Sample doodles drawn on Strathmore Visual Journal with vellum bristol pages.
Recommended addition to a leadholder collection for its unique packaging and smooth performance.