The Erasable Podcast

The Pencil Primer returns with part three: the other end of the pencil. We trace the eraser from stale bread crumbs to Goodyear's vulcanized rubber to Hymen Lipman's well-timed patent sale, then get into ferrules — wartime plastic ones, the Blackwing's famous clip, and why American pencils wear erasers while Japanese and German ones mostly don't. But first: Andy falls down a Carter Family rabbit hole, Johnny finds a forest green ink and an all-black Musgrave Ceres, and Tim awaits Blackwing's new Telecaster pencil.
Show Notes & Links
Show notes
Erasable episode 237: Pencil Primer, Part 1
Erasable episode 240: Pencil Primer, Part 2
Lost Weekend by Phoebe Bridgers
Trio by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris
Trio II
The Johnny Cash Show
The Carter Family
Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns
Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Field Notes Explore America: Northern California
Penco Bullet Ballpoint Pen Light
The Gentlemen (series)
The Gentlemen (film)
Grantchester
The Vicar of Dibley
The Art of the Fold by Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol
Asvine C80
Jacques Herbin Vert Forêt ink
General's Cedar Pointe
Paper Mate EarthWrite
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie
Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger
Tires
Pilot Metropolitan
Pilot Plumix
Diamine Aurora Borealis ink
Nahvalur Nautilus
Against Convenience by Gabe Bullard
Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
Musgrave Ceres 909 Midnight
Musgrave America250 Ceres 909 Red, White, & Blue Set
Justin Ostrander on YouTube
Blackwing Volume 33 1/3
Tombow 2558
Mitsubishi 9852
Blackwing x Fender Butterscotch Blonde Telecaster pencils
Blackwing x Fender Butterscotch Blonde Telecaster notebook
Blackwing x Fender Stratocaster pencils
Blackwing Volume 725
Edward Nairne
Charles Goodyear
Vulcanization
Kneaded eraser
Will It Blend? iPhone
Hymen Lipman
The brief and fascinating history of WWII-era pencil ferrules
Bic Evolution
Uni-ball Air
Tombow Mono eraser
Mitsubishi 9852EW
Staedtler Noris
Telephone pencils in action — pencils with a tip for dialing rotary phones
Supreme Court gift shop gavel pencils
Hemingway Home & Museum store
Sprout plantable pencils
Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil
The Blackwing pencil: a history
Eberhard Faber Mongol
Mirado
Golden Bear
Richard Best Futura
Venus Velvet
Craft Design Technology pencils
Camel pencils and the integrated eraser
Itoya Helvetica pencil
Erasable Patreon
Erasable Podcast Discord invite
Your Hosts
Johnny Gamber
Pencil Revolution
@pencilution
Andy Welfle
Woodclinched
@awelfle
Tim Wasem
@TimWasem

No Pencil Primer this time (part three is coming, promise) — instead, a Fresh Points extravaganza to say bye-bye to summer. Blackwing goes big with a Mickey and Friends collection and the gorgeous Frida Kahlo Volume 143, Andy's wristwatch rabbit hole deepens into designing the perfect podcaster's watch, Johnny hand-binds his kids' planners and stocks up on pastel Musgrave Ceres, and Tim shows off Sharpie Harpy art and a compendium of delightfully weird writing prompts. Plus: Hobonichi szn is upon us, the SF Pen Show, Ian Schon's new dip nib, and a tall stack of books. Patreon subscribers at any level can watch the video version.
Show Notes
St. Denis Medical — season 1 on Netflix, season 2 on Peacock
Against Convenience by Gabe Bullard — out September 15 from Hanover Square Press; preorder it! (More at gabebullard.com)
Tom's Studio refillable fineliner pen
Paper Mate InkJoy multi-pen — surprisingly good company swag
The Land and Its People by David Sedaris — recorded live at his readings
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt — the octopus book, now a Netflix movie
three six five: prompts, acts, divinations by Lucy Ives (Siglio Press) — Tim's beautiful, backordered book of writing exercises (three ribbons!)
Field Notes: Is a River Alive? — Tim's favorite Field Notes ever, with art by Stanley Donwood for Robert Macfarlane's book
Uni-ball Air Micro — Tim's pocket pen
Musgrave Ceres — America 250 blue for Johnny, pastels by the gross for back to school
Levenger True Writer in Sea Glass with Levenger Empyrean bottled ink ("navy blue and teal had a very beautiful baby")
Hamilton Khaki Field Murph — the Interstellar watch, plus Andy's musings on military field watch dials and podcaster's-watch design
Hobonichi Techo season — Weeks, Cousin, and the V&A collabs; see Yoseka Stationery's big walkthrough video
San Francisco Pen Show — this weekend, bring your elbows
Schon DSGN — Ian Schon's new $68 titanium dip nib, debuting at the show
Blackwing x Disney Mickey and Friends collection — soft graphite, $40 a dozen
Blackwing Volume 143 — the Frida Kahlo edition: saturated florals, pink metallic ferrule, teal eraser, and the best QC in years
Blackwing One-Step sharpener — a big responsibility, bud
Sharpie Harpy — Em Varian's Sharpie art on Etsy (you can even license a tattoo)
Leuchtturm1917 — Tim's new default notebook gift for normal people
Pencil Revolution Press — Johnny's handmade planners and '90s diskette journals
Musgrave Test Scoring 100 — now with that sweet new ferrule
Musgrave Tennessee Red pencils and the Songbird edition — remembering Dolly Parton
Support the show and get video episodes: patreon.com/erasable

Your Hosts
Johnny GamberPencil Revolution
@pencilution
Andy WelfleWoodclinched
@awelfle
Tim Wasem@TimWasem

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