The Erasable Podcast

The Pencil Primer returns with part two: the case of yonder pencil. We trace the wood itself — from Conté's badass eyepatch to eastern red cedar, California incense cedar, and the creeping basswood era — plus why pencils are yellow (blame a Siberian graphite strike and some questionable 19th-century marketing) and why triangular pencils are weird. But first, the summer releases: Blackwing's birding-themed Volume 458 and Field Notes' melty, paleta-inspired Paletas edition get the full review. Next time: ferrules and erasers. Patreon subscribers at any level can watch the video version.
For this episode, we recorded video, available to Patreon subscribers! If you’re a patron, head over to see our faces and visual examples of many of the things we discuss. And if you’re not a patron, join us at any level and you can see this and other supplemental content at any time!
Show Notes & Links
Blackwing Volume 458 — a tribute to birding: Clark's Grebe, Mallard, Green Jay, and Black Rail gradients (Behind the Design)
How Blackwing Pencils Are Made — the making-of video we kept mentioning (also on YouTube)
Field Notes Paletas — nine popsicle notebooks inspired by Paletería Los Magos in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood
Field Notes: The Founding Documents
Outshine popsicles — the official popsicle-flavor icebreaker
Nahvalur Original Plus — new sparkly colors (plus mystery jewel-tone demonstrators spotted at the NYC stationery festival)
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki ink — Andy's persimmon-orange favorite
Stationery Day recaps from Brad Dowdy and friends
Musgrave Tennessee Red — eastern red cedar, clear lacquer, glorious smell
Musgrave Single Barrel 106 — named for Erasable episode 106 with Henry Hulan of Musgrave
Pencils Past and Present — the YouTube channel reviewing the Single Barrel 106 (and lots of vintage pencils)
ForestChoice — the FSC-certified incense cedar standard-bearer
General's Cedar Pointe — naked cedar, as God intended
Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth — where the yellow pencil (and its complicated marketing history) began
Caran d'Ache Swiss Wood 348 — reportedly discontinued; pour one out (Pen Addict review; Well-Appointed Desk review)
Dixon Tri-Conderoga — Andy's triangular gateway pencil
Ticonderoga Laddie — the bigger, soft-triangle one
Faber-Castell Grip 2001 — triangular, six design awards, formerly bubbly grip dots

The whole gang is back together to catch up. Andy recaps his Field Notes–filled wedding, starts a new job, and falls down a serious wristwatch rabbit hole — from Bluetooth-modded Casio F-91Ws to a Draplin x Timex Scout. Johnny's loving a $30 Asvine piston-filler, a possibly haunted Cedar Pointe, and a Rhodia Goalbook in Peacock, while Tim is deep in World Cup fever and cheap-but-good Pen+Gear black pencils. Plus: Blackwing's 250 drop, Nahvalur's Fireworks Nautilus, and a locked-in promise that next episode is a Pencil Primer all about wood.
For this episode, we recorded video, available to Patreon subscribers! If you’re a patron, head over to see our faces and visual examples of many of the things we discuss. And if you’re not a patron, join us at any level and you can see this and other supplemental content at any time!
Show Notes & Links
Murchie's Tea (Victoria, BC) — Scottish breakfast blend
ForestChoice #2 pencil — still $5 a pack at Pencils.com
Field Notes Explore America: Northern California — Golden Gate National Recreation Area edition (with Big Sur and Muir Woods)
Range Leather notebook cover
Bound to Be Beautiful by Bari Zaki — from Bari Zaki Studio in Chicago
No Man's Sky
Asvine P90 piston-fill fountain pen (~$30)
Organics Studio Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass ink
General's Cedar Pointe #1
Baron Fig x Caroline Weaver Archer pencil
Rhodia Goalbook in Peacock
James Corden's live after-match World Cup show on Tubi
The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno
Replica J. Thoreau & Son pencil from The Shop at Walden Pond
Moleskine Cahier XL notebook — $9.99 at Walmart
Casio F-91W and the Ollee Watch Bluetooth mod (~$60)
Casio Vintage series — calculator, world-time, and the Alien wrist-communicator lookalike
Timex Weekender, Timex Expedition, and a Draplin Design Co. x Timex Scout
Fitbit Air ($99) — strap-only tracker people pair with analog watches
Paper & Pencil (Chicago) custom Stationery Day Field Notes — including a stamp-collecting edition
Delfonics Rollbahn Micro — the impossibly tiny new size, found at Maido
The Blackwing 250 Collection — red, white, and blue pencils, plus the 250-box with a gold one (only 50 sets)
Musgrave America250 Cedar Box Set — 2 dozen red, white, and blue Ceres pencils
Field Notes: The Founding Documents
Nahvalur Nautilus Fireworks limited edition
Pen+Gear round black #2 pencils — back-to-school find at Walmart
Panini World Cup sticker album — $2 packs, 450+ stickers

Andy's out this week for the best possible reason — he got married! (Congratulations, Andy and Erica! 🎉) So Johnny and Tim keep it short and sweet with a catch-up and some fresh points: Tim falls down a Blaze Foley rabbit hole and digs into a new book on heartland rock, Johnny can't stop playing No Man's Sky, and both Henries pick up guitars. Plus: Field Notes' new Explore America memo books, Musgrave's America 250 collection, a pencil-powered fire-starting experiment, and a look at this year's (sadly slim) crop of Pride stationery. We'll be back next time, Andy in tow, with Pencil Primer, Part 2.
For this episode, we recorded video, available to Patreon subscribers! If you’re a patron, head over to see our faces and visual examples of many of the things we discuss. And if you’re not a patron, join us at any level and you can see this and other supplemental content at any time!
Show Notes & Links
Erasable Patreon
Erasable Podcast Discord invite
Blaze Foley — Live at the Austin Outhouse
Blaze (2018), Ethan Hawke's film about Blaze Foley
Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America by Erin Osmon
Andor
King of the Hill
No Man's Sky
A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 by Bill Bryson
A Perfect Circle — "Starless" (new single)
Arab Strap — "You You You" (new single + video)
Field Notes Explore America memo books
Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery
Pencil graphite lighter video
Musgrave America 250 collection
Fisher Space Pen — America 250 AG7 Astronaut Pen
Nahvalur Horizon Pride 2026 fountain pen
The Trevor Project
War by Sebastian Junger
Your Hosts
Johnny GamberPencil Revolution
@pencilution
Andy WelfleWoodclinched
@awelfle
Tim Wasem@TimWasem

We kick off the Pencil Primer — a new series for anyone who wants to start at the beginning of pencildom. This installment traces graphite from the legendary Borrowdale lightning strike of 1564 to Nicolas-Jacques Conté's clay-and-graphite breakthrough during the Napoleonic Wars, plus the Thoreau family's role in standardizing the American pencil grade scale and a tour through HB-to-9B. Plus, Tim's into a Bill Frisell biography, Johnny's writing with a sparkly Narwhal "raspberry cheesecake" pen that looks like, uh, something else, and Andy debuts booklet.lol — a vibe-coded book tracker. Patreon subscribers can watch the video version.
For this episode, we recorded video, available to Patreon subscribers! If you’re a patron, head over to see our faces and visual examples of many of the things we discuss. And if you’re not a patron, join us at any level and you can see this and other supplemental content at any time!
Show Notes & Links
Erasable
Read a transcript of this episode at Erasable Scribe
Erasable Patreon
Erasable Facebook group
Erasable Discord invite
Episode references
Episode 57: “The F Bomb”
Podcasts / media
Drug Story
r/pencils
Letterkenny
Books
Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer
Excellent Advice for Living by Kevin Kelly
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Pencil / stationery / book arts
Cumberland Pencil Museum
Nicolas-Jacques Conté (Britannica)
Henry David Thoreau (Britannica)
Guild of Book Workers
General’s Layout Pencil
STAEDTLER WOPEX
Derwent
Photography / camera stuff
Micro Four Nerds
PetaPixel
Apps / sites / companies
booklet.lol
People / artists / companies
Willie Nelson
Charlie Crockett
Bill Frisell
JHS Pedals
Your Hosts
Johnny Gamber
Pencil Revolution
@pencilution
Andy Welfle
Woodclinched
@awelfle
Tim Wasem
@TimWasem

A big one this time around: we celebrate 12 years of Erasable, Andy launches a transcript site and an AI quiz generator, Johnny's been making books and hiking in 15-degree weather, and Tim christens his new Nahvalur Nautilus with a boiling water incident. Plus fresh releases from Field Notes, Blackwing, Baronfig, and Musgrave.
For this episode, we recorded video, available to Patreon subscribers! If you’re a patron, head over to see our faces and visual examples of many of the things we discuss. And if you’re not a patron, join us at any level and you can see this and other supplemental content at any time!
Show notes & links
Erasable Patreon
Erasable Podcast Discord invite
The Truth About Vintage Amps with Skip Simmons
Pilão coffee (Tim's Brazilian coffee recommendation from Skip Simmons)
Erasable Scribe
Quizard.cool
12 years of Erasable, by the numbers (according to Claude)
Ed Kemp on zines (Erasable episode) (if you have a specific episode link handy)
Plumbago magazine
Field Notes "Lucky"
Blackwing Volume 343
Blackwing Quarterly Zine, Issue 1
Baronfig Winnie the Pooh Squire Hex
Baronfig Legend hardcover notebook
Musgrave America 250 Celebration Red, White, and Blue set
Nahvalur Nautilus Ti "Toffee"
Mike Masuyama nib grinding
Your Hosts
Johnny Gamber
Pencil Revolution
@pencilution
Andy Welfle
Woodclinched
@awelfle
Tim Wasem
@TimWasem