It has been difficult to get my review of the Makers Cabinet Ferrule started. What do I think of it? Who is it made for? Is it good, bad, or somewhere in between? What’s the hook?
When I don’t know where to start, the easiest place to begin is with a fact: The Ferrule is a $96 pencil extender. What I’ll try to decide the rest of this article is the opinion portion of the proceedings. Is it worth it?
There is no doubt that the Ferrule is expensive. In the grand scheme of Makers Cabinet products, that is the norm.
The job of the Ferrule is to extend the life of a pencil stub, aka the shortest remnant of the pencil barrel when it has been used past an easily grippable state. There’s a lot of good graphite left in there, so let’s try to get all of it out!
To do that, the Ferrule twists apart in the center of the barrel, opening a clutch mechanism to allow you to slide a 7-to-8 mm diameter pencil into the opening. A twist back the other direction locks the pencil in place for use. To sharpen, or extended the stub further, simply repeat the process to remove or adjust until the pencil is no more.
As you may have surmised at this point, pencils with erasers can be an issue. Standard ferrules and round erasers squeeze in there, but Blackwing’s rectangular setup need not apply.
(Note: Round ferrules are definitely an issue. I got one stuck when I was setting up the pictures for this post. After a moment of panic, I figured out a way to stick a long, skinny metal rod (thank you meat thermometer!) through the top of the barrel down far enough to push it out. Whew.)
Since the pencil is down to its final form as-is, I have no problem hacking the ferrule off to fit the Ferrule. That’s then entire reason for its existence anyway. It does ship with six Kitaboshi-core short pencils for use if you don’t want to use your own pencils.
Historically, pencil extenders are thin and lightweight, designed to mimic the traditional wooden pencil writing experience. The Ferrule is none of that. The brass barrel is heavy at 45 grams, and around 12 mm (I had to eyeball it, my digital caliper battery is dead,) at its widest part of the grip section. For me, these measurements are the biggest hangup. It turns a classic pencil into something completely different.
Different is ok, but the Ferrule is not additive to my writing experience. At this price, it needs to be. As I was using it over the last few weeks, I was hard pressed to find a situation where it would be my preferred writing choice. It’s too wide and heavy for much more than a quick note. Plus, I’m never short on pencil inventory, so if I get one down to the stub, it’s an easy choice to grab a fresh one out of the box. And who doesn’t love that?
This is primarily a drawing/sketching lead holder, similar to the 2 mm ones I enjoy. I think for extended drawing use you would have to grip it further back on the barrel and use broader strokes and movements. Another option would be for it to be a utility pencil; wood marking, for example. Any type of standard writing will tire your hand out quickly.
In the end, it’s a great design that turns a wooden pencil into something I don’t want it to be. I can also see where others could find good utility in the Ferrule, such as the person I borrowed it from. They like it so much they bought two!
(The Makers Cabinet Ferrule was loaned to me by a friend for purposes of this review.)
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