Blackwing Two-Step Long Point Sharpener
Blackwing’s story begins in 1934 with the birth of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company’s Blackwing 602. This pencil is well-known for its cult following which included notable artists of various disciplines including, author John Steinbeck, composers John Williams and Quincy Jones, and many more. After a period of time which saw the pencil’s acquisition by several companies, the machine that produced the system’s ferrule and eraser system broke, which resulted in its discontinuation in 1998, leaving its devotees to scour secondary markets for Blackwings, sometimes spending $40 for an individual pencil. In 2008, California Cedar Products Company acquired the name Blackwing and in 2011, released an approximation of the original Blackwing 602 under its Palomino division. Although the Palomino Blackwing does not retain the original’s graphite formula, it has still maintained an enthusiastic following of hobbyists and collectors.
- Two-step sharpening process, first sharpening the wood and then precision sharpening the graphite core to a long, fine point
- Two replacement blades included
- Automatic brake that prevents over-sharpening