You know you’re in too deep when you start customizing your pencils...
Yup, I made my own erasers for Palomino Blackwings. I like these pencils, especially the Pearl and the vol. 211, but I don’t like the erasers that come with them. They’re decent. They get the job done. But I prefer softer erasers. So I took some soft (and cheap) erasers and cut little blocks out of them that could fit into the Blackwings. Voilà, custom erasers.
It really was as simple as it sounds. Tools I needed, other than blocks of replacement erasers (I used colorful ones, for fun and variety):
- Cutting board
- Utility knife
- Ruler
- Pencil for marking dimensions (a Blackwing was an obvious choice)
The dimensions for the new eraser that worked for me:
- Width: 8.5 mm
- Length: 18.5 mm
- Thickness: 3.5–4 mm
I had to make the new eraser shorter than the original (which is about 21 mm) because of its softness. I learned that when it's as long as the original, it bends too much when I put pressure on it and is harder to control. In other words, it requires more support from the metal holder.
That was a fun project! I assume any rectangular block of eraser that's big enough should work, as long as it's not too hard to cut (please be careful with the knife!). The color erasers I used in this post were from Daiso and Ichibankan; they were sold in assorted sets, ranging about $1.50 to $2.50. At that price, I didn't feel too bad slicing them up. And I haven’t done any extensive testing but they erase quite nicely, decently enough for casual writing (and crossword puzzles). Maybe a tad too soft, but they're definitely an improvement over the original erasers for me. I have some white and black erasers, too, so I might make more, for times when these pencils need to look more “professional.”
I decided brown still looks the best with Vol. 211, so I looked for a brown eraser and found this silly, Cola-scented eraser. Unlike the other erasers (they're scented, too), this scent lasts, and I like it. :)
You can tell I like the Pearl a lot.
Do you like the Palomino Blackwing erasers? Do you ever switch them out for more colorful options? I’ve only seen the black and white replacement erasers in stores but I see that they are also available in pink, orange, green, blue, and red online.