BoringWelcome | What’s New?Site Map | Usage NoteBecome a ContributorReally BoringWhat is a Leadholder?Leadholder HistoryLeadholder MechanicsLeadholder DatabaseYawnReferencesContributorsLeadholder LinksContact D. B. SmithGalleriesDrafting LeadholdersThin Lead Drafting LeadholdersWood Cased Drafting PencilsNon-Drafting LeadholdersLead PointersDrawing LeadHistorical DocumentsVintage CatalogsVintage AdvertisementsLeadholder and Related PatentsArt of the LeadholderKeynew entryupdated entryhistorical informationmechanical partslarger imagedirect link to exhibitkeyWelcome to Leadholderthe online drafting pencil museumDennis B. Smith, curatorWhat’s New?2011 April 3▲ topThis update was previously dated March 26, but today’s updates are all related to the March 26 updates so I’ve updated the update rather than essentially duplicate the update entry.Bug.Apple has recently introduced bug into Safari that breaks the image zoom.  The bug had nothing to do with the fixed Safari bug, but rather to an incompatibility between the zoom JavaScript and the browser plug-in AdBlock.  Only AdBlock users were affected and the bug is now fixed.The Curious Case of Koh-I-Noor 5611The ol’ 5611, undoubtedly the most common drafting pencil in the U.S. from the 1960s through the eighties, and in my opinion, the best drafting pencil ever made.  For collectors it doesn’t take long to fill out your collection of them with...the early “2B thru 6H” version,the “Adapto,”and the “Technigraph.”But then, every so often, something  like these will turn up...Koh-I-Noor 5611 “2B thru 6H” with “Italy G3 Pat. Pend.” on the pushbutton, indicating an earlier variation than the usual “2B thru 6H”.  Courtesy Allan Macdonald collection.Koh-I-Noor 5611 “5B thru 9H” which includes a lead pointer in its knurled pushbutton.  Courtesy Allan Macdonald collection.The legendary made-in-U.S.A. Koh-I-Noor Adapto 5611.  My pal, Laurie Schmidtke told me about this pencil years ago, but I had never set eyes on it until he recently sold off part of his collection and I bought it.Koh-I-Noor 5611 (eight-sided metal barrel) identical in construction to the circa 1995 Koh-I-Noor 5616.  CourtesyAllanMacdonaldcollection.Koh-I-Noor “Versatil” 5611 (Czechoslovakia) almost certainly the very first Koh-I-Noor model 5611 and possibly the first Koh-I-Noor branded pushbutton spring clutch leadholder, but I’m not sure, I can’t find the purported patent for the Versatil.Koh-I-Noor “Versatil” 5611 (U.S.A.) which was added in a previous update, but I put it here again (with zoom) so you could compare to the Czech version above.Koh-I-Noor magazine ad, April 1954 which includes a never before seen or heard of leadholder model, the made-in-U.S.A. Koh-I-Noor “Versatil” 5612.Koh-I-Noor “Versatil” 5612 (U.S.A.).  Courtesy Alex Hanna collection.What’s New?2010 September 2▲ topThe Forum is only partially functional at the moment.  The link has been removed from the top menu because the server it is hosted on no