Customer Reviews

After I sharpened it, it was stunning to see the wide core. I used it for general writing, so keep in mind that a facet of the uses of the wide core was not used: its shading abilities. As a 4B, it is smoother than most pencil I have used, but as expected from a 4B pencil, it gets dull rather quickly. I was a mechanical pencil user, and this pencil, doubtless, is smoother than the highest grades of mechanical pencil lead such as Ain Stein or Nanodia. The wood is easily sharpened, although that trait is common these days among many other pencil, even ones of lower grade, since most of them are made from cedar. The barrel is just a bit wider than most cheaper pencils on the market, which makes it a bit more comfortable to hold, and there is indeed a heavier weight to it, although not by much at all. The aesthetic qualities of this pencil is also doubtlessly nice, and compared to Dixon Ticonderoga (the best pencil that you can get in a supermarket in America these days), it is a lot better, although Ticonderoga is also nice. There isn't much to wooden pencils, but this pencil stands out from all other pencils in all areas, and the best part of this pencil would be the darkness and smoothness of its wide lead core. This isn't a pencil that you can buy anywhere.

Purchased by way of review comments and am very pleased with this fantastic pencil. Will definately consider the Hi Uni line for next purchase.

Pencil: Uni Penmanship 4B
This is an outstanding pencil with one of the smoothest leads I've ever encountered. Would definitately buy this again. Can't wait to try the Hi-Uni sometime soon.

i have never bought this pencil b4, but my friend has one and gave it to me. i actually tried writing with it and it is so good i like the hexagon shape, but i preger triangle shaped one... great pencil!!!!

It's soft, and thus is not really suited to sustained writing unless you're fond of sharpening a lot. The lead is wide, which may be useful to some, but since I'm a writer and not a sketch artist, it makes no real difference to me.

This pencil is relatively unknown, which is a little surprising as it's a little bit nicer than any of my other soft pencils, including the lauded Staedtler Mars Lumograph 4B and hyped Palomino Blackwing. In some way, the silent, humble excellence of the Uni Penmanship is attractive, but it also seems a little unfortunate that it's so often overlooked.

If you're a writer who likes soft pencils, this is probably the best available, and almost nobody knows it. For sketching, I'll defer to Alberto.

For the value-minded artist and wooden pencil connoisseur, this should be a no-brainer: with the same length and similar graphite handling properties of the second-to-none Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils, the Penmanship Writing Wooden Pencil 3-pack is a great deal (one could get all four 3-packs available for much less than a dozen Hi-Uni pencils, and end up with a mixed dozen of premium 4B & 6B pencils). Its ergonomic triangular profile is quite comfortable for precise drawing control for extended periods. They feel silky smooth gliding on card stock and quickly lay down large areas of deep dark tones. Thus they are great tools for shading and defining shapes in the final drawing stages. Their rich graphite cores are even wider in diameter than the Hi-Unis making them an even better deal. While there is no such a thing as a magic pencil that can make you a great artist overnight, these great pencils are certain to make your artistic journey a lot more pleasant and satisfying. Just to make it crystal clear, every budding artist should try adding these awesome tools to their analog sketch kits.

I totally agree with the other reviewer. I just got these pencils today and I love them. They are better than any sketching pencils I have ever owned. This is a great deal, considering the price of the Hi-Unis, and you would be crazy not to get these if you like drawing.

So far the best woodcased pencil I have ever used; You think Mitsubishi Hi-Uni is the best or Tombow Mono 100, well I think this pencil beats those by at least a notch. The lead is very wide [maybe 4mm] dark, and very stirdy [have never broken it even I tried with pretty heavy force], does not require frequent sharpening and is the smoothest graphite I have ever used. This is basically a pencil brush in my opinion. Simply FANTASTIC pencil.

Very wide lead, skims over the page. Agree with another reviewer that this is almost a lead brush. I really wish the body was wider and round, rather than hexagonal, but this is the perfect pencil for those of us who don't want to gouge our notes onto the page.

Yes, it smudges, but I'm using this to write marginalia in books where I don't scrub my hand over the writing, so I'd rather have the ease and comfort. Don't have to press down to write with this at all.

Back for more as these are now my go-to pencils.

Very thick lead, hard to write with when it becomes dull, it also smudges the paper. :(