Monday 31 January 2011

School Supplies - dixon, pencils


I am very happy with these Ticonderoga Cedar Yellow Wood Pencils as they are very useful in doing puzzles where I need to erase a lot. The lead is just the right softness and when the tip is sharpened I am able to right with much accuracy. I recommend these pencils highly and if you are in need of a good puzzle pencil then the Ticonderoga Cedar Yellow Wood Pencils #2/HB Soft Lead DIX13882 are the pencils you are looking for. Thanks! Dixon Ticonderoga Wood Cased Black Core #2 Pencils, Soft, 12 Count, Yellow (13882)

I am not sure who the people are that are giving this pencil a five star rating but they must not use pencils as often as I do! I am a first grade teacher and these pencils are terrible. I know since I sharpen more than 20 of them a day! They are not made in the USA. They are made in China and Mexico and the ones from Mexico are worse than the ones from China however, they are both poor. I actually have complained to the company and was sent over 24 dozen to compensate me for the poor quality that I have been experiencing. I used to request this brand specifically because they were good at one point...but that is no longer the case. The replacements they sent me are just as bad as the ones I had in my classroom originally. For next year I have changed the brand of pencils that all of our first grade will be using from Ticonderoga to Papermate....we shall see how they work--the pencil wars are on in my classroom. Does anyone take pride in their products anymore????

These pencils are absolute garbage. You can't even sharpen then without the wood splitting down the middle. If you are lucky enough to get past that, the lead is very weak and breaks off everytime you try and write with it. This is the WORST PENCIL EVER!

This review is of Dixon Ticonderoga yellow pencils, model 13882 (dozen). Generations of American schoolkids grew up writing with them, and I still use them for their durability, solid quality and chipper yellow, easy-to-locate color -- and despite the hexagonal shape of the barrel. (They're my second favorite wood pencil after the round black Mirado Warriors.) Just recently, I started to run out of the last dozen Ticon's that I bought a few years ago and ordered more. Is there anything that hasn't changed?



I am a little disappointed with the new ones. Same six-sided barrel, same-looking ferrule and eraser, yet the finish is not shiny, but matte, and just a little bit off the optimistic yellow of the recent past. Mine have sharpened OK; I even used a small hand-held sharpener on some and they sharpened well too. The wood does appear to be cedar, but it does not have the intense "cedary" smell I remember. These pencils are made in China. Quality of manufacture appears to be up to the old standard, but can they possibly last so long? We'll see.

The Dixon Ticonderoga Wood Cased Black Core #2 HB pencil is the one I look for when I buy pencils for myself and for my kids. I do a lot of note-writing and sketching in conjunction with my job, and this pencil feels good to write with, has exactly the softness of graphite that I prefer, and it even smells good. My son mentioned the smell. I had gotten him the Economy Dixon pencils for school, and he says those ones smell like paint.



One reason why I chose to write this review, was to compare the Ticonderoga with the Economy line. Aside from the smell, the Ticonderoga graphite is a little bit softer than the Economy, and the eraser is about 3mm longer. The pencil shafts of the two are nearly identical in length.



I recently purchased the Charles Leonard Multi-Hole Pencil Sharpener (#89508) and set about testing it with these two lines of pencils. Both sharpened effortlessly, but I noticed that, while the diameter of the Ticonderoga pencil corresponds exactly to the size of the "Standard" setting on the sharpener, I had trouble inserting the Economy pencil with that setting. Adjusting the setting up to the next size was necessary. Having the opening of the pencil sharpener closely match the diameter of the pencil barrel is key to easily keeping the pencil in the right position for sharpening.



I have read complaints about both the Ticonderoga and the Economy pencils being difficult to sharpen. A "one-size fits all" pencil sharpener may actually be the problem. Also, sometimes a particular lot of pencils may get through quality control that has the graphite core off-center. That is a pencil that may make you swear. Many of those novelty pencils that your kids get in birthday party goodie bags may make you swear when you try to sharpen them. I have had perhaps one or two Dixon pencils of both lines that had this problem. But never a whole box. If you buy a box of Dixon pencils and it was a bad lot, I recommend that you contact Prang to see if they would give you a coupon for a free box.

These are the best pencils we have ever bought. The wood is real and you can even get the smell when opening the box. The eraser works the way it should, much better than the cheap quality erasers that tear the paper. - Pencils - School Supplies - Dixon - Lead Pencils'


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