Vacumatic
Testy
Not a nuisance at all, actually. I dig sensory differences
Trying to think of the word, I think it has a French root, meaning a subtle difference, pronounced something like nueesance,
Anybody help?
Pencils
- Thread starter Northam Saint
- Start date
Trying to think of the word, I think it has a French root, meaning a subtle difference, pronounced something like nueesance,
Anybody help?
chazt
shave
Could it be sotilté ? However, it doesn’t seem similar to your recollection.
Vacumatic
Testy
I have just been looking through French dictionaries on line, it is pronounced nueesance I think, what made me think of it was 12's use of the word nuisance and I though that he had used the French word meaning a subtle difference or essence, I think chefs might use the word quite often, and then spell check had changed it to nuisance, perhaps nuance was the word I was thinking of.
Sorry, we should go back to the subject, just ramblings of a foolish old man.
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Northam Saint
Forum GOD!
Ohh dear. Enjoy !
Twelvefret
Forum GOD!
Yes, enjoy Charlie. Having a good writing instrument may not be necessary, but it sure is nice. What got me interested in Esterbrook FP's and dip pens were experimenting with the many nob offerings.
Northam Saint
Forum GOD!
Wish I could !
JamieM
Extreme sharpness is ephemeral!
Here are the last vestiges of a once-booming industry of some 500 pen makers in Osaka, producing hand-turned celluloid pens from the 1920s onwards. We feel proud to present to our customers the pens of Mr Kato and his apprentice, Mr Ohnishi, who have been safekeeping this craft single-handedly for the last few decades.
Legendary Mr Kato Kiyoshi, affectionately nicknamed in the trade "the Father of Pens", began producing pens at age 19, after his father, also a pen maker, passed away shortly before WWII. We are told Mr Kato kept a large quantity of celluloid rods buried in his back garden; when the war was over, he dug these out and established his own pen company, eponymously named the Kato Seisakusho Company.
The many colourful stories about his escapades selling pens around the globe and in particular in the Middle East - including anecdotes of camel-riding and bribing jail officers with Japanese fountain pens - would have us believe Mr Kato was as talented a salesman as he was a master pen maker! During the 80s onwards, as one of the few remaining expert celluloid hand-turners, he was called upon by luxury pen brands such as Visconti to produce small runs of celluloid special editions.
Indeed, celluloid, one of the earliest thermoplastics, is becoming an extinct base material for pen making - regretfully as it has beautiful density, shine, weight and of course features the most vibrant and sometimes psychedelic patterns. Today, it is used only in a handful of industries, including luxury spectacle making. The production of celluloid in Japan has nearly now entirely stopped; Mr Ohnishi, who succeeded Mr Kato after his passing at the age of 85 in 2010, continued to work using materials in limited supply.
Unfortunately, due to the end of production of celluloid in Japan, acetate cellulose has had to step in as a replacement for the obsolete material. The result is not unlike celluloid and possesses the feel of an antique from a bygone era with tremendous nostalgic appeal. This pencil is one of the few made from the remaining celluloid.
Here photographed is Mr Ohnishi at his lathe, hand turning every piece with no machine calibration, using only his experienced eye to gauge each component.
Vacumatic
Testy
I was trying to remember the brand of pencil from when I was a small boy, made of cedar and very dark green with a cracked ice pattern, it was a brand called Venus, having found a pic I see that it was made by Berol, I remember that they sharpened very well, a continuous peel of wood rather like peeling an apple.
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Nuance? Although that doesn't match your description of the pronunciation.
Vacumatic
Testy
Yes, I think nuance fits the bill.
There is a French word puissance meaning strength and also used as an event in show jumping even in England! I suspect that I had managed to combine nuance and puissance to create a new word!
I have a friend who is French and married to a French woman, his job is a contractor where the English word Grievance is in everyday use, he tried using it at home believing it to be French, of course his wife replied, 'Qu'est-ce que c'est grievance?
Moving words between languages can be a problem. The word Ecru threw me for example, I don't think I have heard it used in England although it looks French. I though I had heard it on TV referring to American property or leases but when an American visitor referred to some envelopes on my desk as ecru I had no idea what they where talking about, turned out to mean unbleached paper, a shade of yellowish grey.
We live and learn.
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Twelvefret
Forum GOD!
My first art colors were Prang Pastellos. I still have some artwork my grandmother had framed. These chalk allow for shading. I
f I recall correctly, those turquoise pencils, being sketch pencils, didn't lay down a dark script. Were the Venus a dark graphite?
Vacumatic
Testy
A very long time ago now, they were every day use pencils as I recall, drawing, writing and so on. an attractive alternative to the plain yellow pencil.