Excalibur Maker 5000

[@ItsLifeLibertyFreedom]

Our times were so different, but I'm glad I grew up when I did. They were good times

[@tsr7198]

Yes they were.

[@tedlogan4867]

They ARE good times. If you can avoid breathing the smoke, or stepping on human waste or used needles, it's quite entertaining to watch the spectacle.

[@Aurora3242]

I would go back in a heart beat - loved the eighties!

[@James-po5ed]

Thing is, if internet suddenly stopped working we would survive quite easily

[@Aurora3242]

@@James-po5ed without a doubt, my children on the other hand...God bless em!

[@aleigh2]

Dude, as a late Gen-Xer (1981) who teaches college, I 100% still look for an Excalibur Maker 5000 in classrooms and get excited when there's actually one there. There are always real pencils in my bag ... and actual paper to write on. My students think it's weird. 😄

[@18deadmonkeys]

1974 here. I keep 3 ring binders of ruled paper, note pads, note cards, and yes, boxes of pencils. I keep notes of important things, write down ideas, sketch out projects (I'm a maker of many things) on paper products. I need to find a EM5K... would be awesome to have in my shop.

[@doodsanddudes]

@@18deadmonkeysI would get so excited for my trapper keeper lol and new dividers and labels.

[@doodsanddudes]

Stop hiding you are technically a millennial at 1981 😢

[@aleigh2]

@doodsanddudes My younger brother ('93 and solidly GenY) says the same thing. 😆 For GenY/Millenials, I've seen starting dates ranging from 1980 to 1985. It depends both on birth year and household/community culture. I have traits of both GenX and GenY, but culturally I fall more into GenX because of an older brother ('79), mostly older friends, and growing up very unplugged from mainstream media. I spent summers barefoot, hanging laundry on the clothesline, shelling peas, shucking corn, and helping can, preserve, pickle and freeze food for the rest of the year. Doing all that, I kinda missed many of the early defining cultural experiences of GenY, so since I'm borderline, I claim GenX. 😄

[@doodsanddudes]

@@aleigh2 ok fair enough. I earned it born in 1978.

[@jamesschoonover]

Your videos always bring me happiness! Oh what the children of today are really missing out on. I often sit and think fondly of how much easier things were at least as far as the pace of the world when we weren't so reliant on technology. The days of just enjoying the outdoors and being actually disconnected from one another and how much more we appreciated each other.

[@teazy1088]

When I found out years ago that my daughter couldn’t read cursive I was appalled. I placed a copy of a document in front of her and she said “ I know this document is important but I don’t know what it is” I then told her it was the constitution. From now on our decedents will have to take someone else’s word that the constitution says what it says. I can see a truly sad future ahead.

[@paganbornspiritbear8249]

@@WNT2BLVMaybe that’s why hieroglyphics came about, a form of ancient emoji’s!?! I jest. On a serious note, I too fear for the future and this generation that can’t read/write cursive, nor read an actual map, nor use fact based mathematics…it’s all rather frightening. I’ve done what I could by teaching my 3 all of the above, but I’m sure they’ll be part of only a rare few.

[@Xanduur]

How about teaching your children to read cursive and write cursive?

[@teresacatlett4974]

Oh my gosh I love these videos! We’re oldies but goodies!! Stand the test of time!!

[@Panzer_the_Merganser]

And the wonderful aroma surrounded said ‘fishing reel’ after withdrawing Excalibur will always be etched in my mind, and be an instant transportation to my childhood, should I be lucky enough to encounter that sharp, yet calming scent.

[@lionofthemorning7997]

Cursive handwriting was incredibly important. Not only did it save time by allowing you to keep the writing instrument on the page longer, allowing a more efficient flow from thought to manuscript, it was also an artistic expression of the writer. You could glean precious insights into the writer’s emotions as they wrote. Frantic. Calm. Halting. All these things could give you more information into the words on the page. Sometimes, progress is a step backwards.

[@AndyMcGehee]

I was pleased to be able to send my Gen-Z son to a school that taught cursive. I didn’t particularly care if he could write in it, but I did want him to be able to read it.

[@MightyBjorn]

We have a Excalibur Maker 5000 at my work. It really takes me back every time I use it. Those were the days.

[@Vermonster23]

Most GEN Xers, in fact, have a piece of said, pencil lead in the body due to multiple possibilities at school

[@kokocaptainqc]

*whistling looking at the sky and hands in the back*

[@michaelnasser8697]

😂😂😂

[@thenorsemen1959]

Ha! Mine is in my hand

[@melaniereese5226]

You're so right! A girl bumped into me and got me in the back in 4th grade. 43 years later you can still see it

[@petuniasevan]

I have a "tattoo" of a pencil lead in the calf of my right leg. It got imprinted in the 4th grade. I'll be 61 in August.

[@stanholcomb]

On the subject of cursive writing; thanks to a comedian of the by gone years( Sam Kenison) I taught myself cursive using my mouth and tongue. About a decade later, due to a neck and head injury taken in the Army this skill was re fined and put to use. It was soooo much easier than blinking Mores code for everything. Now that some fine surgeons have mostly restored me; I only share that particular skill with my wife. 👍😂👍

[@nicj5354]

It was also a lesson in humility, because you had to stand there in front of everyone grinding away, stuck by the wall practically forever.

[@tuzu1758]

Just turned 62 the other day. I've reached that stage of wishing for a second go round. Yes you are so correct. I see my grand children and, yes my great grand children. They come to visit and they spew forth thing they are taught in school. After those visits I no longer wish for that second chance at life. Keep up the good works sir. I'll keep watching.

[@GypsySoulSister]

Yes!! And it was an honor to be selected to empty Excalibur. Lol. I think the only cursive taught now, is how to write or sign first and last name 🙄 I found Mother's business college shorthand book and notepad from 1958. Now THAT'S impressive! 🤯

[@ladyfreedomrocks]

My cursive was, before my disability, perfect. My signature was art. A young co worker saw it and was like, "why do you make a long scribble "? Her signature was a circle thing. Told her my signature was my name. She looked at me saying "how can anyone tell that it's your name "? She has no idea what cursive was. It sent chills down my spine.

[@odgreen9113]

I am glad I teach my children cursive. Oh! I also have one of these mounted on the side of a bookcase in the school room

[@WvlfDarkfire]

Cursive and calligraphy were my favorite things growing up. My handwriting is already atrocious so calligraphy really helped tame the finger

[@nicademusx6624]

I would appreciate hearing Dadbod reminding us of the time before when we would climb things just to jump off of them...and then do it again.

[@JeffryJForan]

You captured that era of yourh perfectly.

[@TheBaumcm]

As you have pointed out, our Gen X childhood allowed us to be children, so no inner child to appease, and prepared us to be creative and innovative while also self sufficient. I can honestly say my childhood was better than anything these kids today experience, because I wasn’t constantly comparing myself to everyone else and I lived fairly stress free.

[@benhoutekier2973]

I have one of these and my children know how it works. It is up to us to give them the experiences we want them to have. I allow and encourage them to climb a ladder to the garage roof and play. Thank you for the nostalgia!

[@AenesidemusOZ]

Your neighbor rang and asked if you could please build your own dang garage and stop sending your kids up the ladder onto his! 😂

[@prisonwifeprepper]

🙋‍♀️me! That was my job! Erasers, sweeping, and cleaning the pencil sharpener. Wow! Crazy how much of our childhood is vanishing right before our eyes.

[@monicasojka2738]

I still write in pencil. I remember these. They were awesome.

[@remconoordermeer7015]

It did take skill to wield the Excalibur Maker 5000. An incorrect application of pressure could result in the chipping or even breaking of the graphite shaft or the protective wood surrounding it. Creating the perfect tip required a decent amount of skill indeed. I often fondly look back on those times, for as you said, they were good times indeed.

[@thegrizzlyoldtiger]

Just found your channel saw the “who let the gen X off the hook” video. I must say it’s almost like looking/listening to a mirror! Lol! Great job

[@kokocaptainqc]

even more for me as i could be his twin 😆

[@Metalman200xdamnit]

It did have a wonderful smell to it. It was almost magicial to transform a broken pencil into a fine pointed instrument to write with. Kids today will never know about these relics that facilitated learning.

[@HammerWrench]

Excalibur would occasionally call out to me. Harkening me to break my lead purposefully. I’d incline and would set out on my quest to lead my peers to watch, as I every so delicately honed the perfect point. After we shared a few moments, I would promise Excalibur that I would return the next day and once again witness his craft.

[@barbburns2122]

Sad...and I enjoy your humor. We had one in our home. Later, my 5 children had the joys of knuckle scrape by holding hands to close...Remember how fast we learned to pull our hands back ? Good days !

[@jayo2009]

I was born in 1990 and I still miss the simpler years.

[@jamiegonzalez159]

Yes, I love those times. I miss lawn darts.😂😮

[@NOLAgenX]

Why you don’t have 500k subscribers already is beyond the knowledge of this humble GenX’er.

[@cdickey3211]

The teacher would reprimand me as I poured shavings into a baggy. I kept them for building fires. I was a boy scout when it was just boys.

[@lindaward3156]

I was one of those kids that actually enjoyed sharpening a pencil. something about the action/noise/sensation spoke to me. as an adult i didn't seek it out but oh my, i sure liked doing it. simple pleasures no longer provided for the children. no wonder they're anxious

[@mwfmtnman]

It is so odd. I remember seeing many "antiques" in my 65 year old neighbors' house as a kid(in the 70s), and just using my powers of deduction, I figured out what most were. These kids today are not smarter than generations before, as I keep hearing, they are so....underdeveloped.

[@TheLadyWoreBlack73]

Sir, I love listening to you talk! You have the best elocution!

[@michaellane4762]

I have one mounted to the wall in my basement, next to my desk. I love the smell of cedar as I sharpen my #2 pencil when paying bills. I do use auto pay, online paying and phone paying, but I still have a ledger to keep track of all my payments. I don't trust "paperless" billing. I've been charged for things I didn't order in the past. Mike from Mass.

[@Aurora3242]

There was always that one kid, who always had the pencil that was ground down to the eraser, barely enough room to grip it, lol!

[@rontucker8389]

Wow. I’ve been looking for one of those for years. Best sharpener ever.

[@thescifihero1769]

Ah, but those were the good days of times long past. I remember the class we called 'penmanship', where we learned how to make proper cursive characters. Sadly, I never paid closer attention in that class, thanks in part to my close proximity to several young ladies. I now regret my lack of attention to my own penmanship, as I have much difficultly reading my own writing - cursive or print. And yes, there was an Excalibur mounted on the wall of the classroom, and we all made frequent use of it. Ah, those WERE the good days.

[@mikelegros2467]

Maybe, just maybe you should have taken him fishing or taught him how to draw. Just messin with ya. A couple of years ago I was carrying a cassette tape for some reason and a younger fellow at work tried to make fun of me for still having an Ipod. Even after I showed him he still had no clue. Love your videos. I'm 49, born in 74 so everything you say just seems like common sense.

[@johnvincent4048]

I love pencils. I can erase my mistakes and learn from them and start over.

[@Opinions-d5p]

I learned about corners from a young age because of those sharpeners. 😂😂

[@Sally4th_]

When a delivery driver exclaimed "What a beautiful signature!" I knew I'd officially passed into Ancient Relic status. It was nice to have it appreciated though 😂

[@AenesidemusOZ]

I've just discovered, by reading these comments, that I just be one of the few remaining that write in cursive (Using a pencil or pen - does that mean I'm bigraphial? No judgement.) everyday. Voluntarily! I love the flow of the words when using cursive, as opposed to the stutter using block letters.

[@AenesidemusOZ]

Not to forget the ultimate use of pencils honed by Excalibur Maker - swordfights! Albeit with small swords; we were but small people.

[@TDSgeek]

My father has one of those mounted on his workbench. I've told him many times that in his will that of all his positions that I would like that one perfect tool I would like that most of all. I'm a carpenter and handyman and they don't make them like they used to!!!

[@wessleycoleman3014]

Light weight miss cursive. Just because a letter to a lady in cursive made her feel special! Oh the good old days.

[@staticinwonderland]

I'm sitting outside Aberdeen proving ground after leaving the job laughing my ass off after a long ass night 😂

[@barnesfamily1128]

MISS THOSE SO MUCH. So much fun❤❤

[@DawnMK2023]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he's never seen a fishing reel; his eyes are too glued to his screens.

[@old_timey_prospector]

Getting up to go to that little corner of the room, stretch your legs for a few seconds, take a look out the window if you were lucky, ground yourself with the scent, sound, and tactile feedback of that lovely little machine... I swear, it was like the gradeschool version of a smoke break. Or soda break, if you prefer. They both suck for you.

[@ginaheller333]

I have my Dad's and I like to use Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils to this day!

[@zaphodbeeblebrox1880]

I work at a state college. Some of you may be happy to know that there are still pencil sharpeners bolted to the walls in the classrooms of some of the older buildings. Next to the door, above the trash cans (as they should be).

[@justinsharp678]

Oh how I long for the days of old.

[@Loraann54fi10]

I have one of these mounted on my roll top desk. It gets used a lot just for fun.

[@LC-1748]

Ha ha you left out the part where we would sharpen our pencils like daggers and poke each other with our freshly sharpened pencils. 😂

[@susanhaertel294]

I really miss the old days😢

[@karlsquire8148]

You are the best buddy.

[@cski4048]

Prefer the time period I grew up in. Shopping bag book covers, putting your favorite rock bands on the covers. The 70's and 80's, no better time to have your childhood.

[@JesusMontiel-gu5um]

Teach and spread the word across our lands , everyone should watch these videos.

[@VictorRomeo1917]

have one of those in my classroom and i tell the kids (highschool), it either eats your pencil or makes a John Wick pencil - and share a smile with those who get it. (really does make John Wick pencils!)

[@mactireliath2356]

I have a classic pencil sharpener, purchased at an Antique Mall (…) affixed to my desk side, next to a collection of Black Mirado No. 2’s.

[@kokocaptainqc]

and each time the lead was broken inside we would grind that pencil all the way to try and find a solid part remaining

[@terririmmer4706]

I remember standing at the pencil sharpener one time and I had this really mean teacher. While I was standing there sharpening my pencil she said, "You've got two left feet at the pencil sharpener." I didn't know what she was talking about but I never forgot it every time I saw one.

[@foncywoolsocksiii923]

Thanks for bringing awareness.

[@babyrocasmama]

My GenZ child does know cursive! She also knows the difference between a pencil sharpener and a fishing reel. She's an artist, so I must keep her in an endless supply of fairly expensive colored pencils, markers, paints, canvases, drawing paper/sketchbooks, etc., and a good pencil sharpener is essential. She caught her first fish at age 7, using a stick, fishing line, and a hook. She then was introduced to fishing technology. She said she liked the stick better. 😂

[@muneebaha.6453]

Best 30 sec break ever!

[@michaelkeyes3856]

Them excalibers would outlast todays automobiles

[@brookms4037]

Thank you, I really enjoy your work. 😂

[@ImTheDaveman]

Sadly in my school, we had to use the Drunken Merlin 560-XX model (circa 1965). Sharpen the pencil as we may, it would break the lead off and inevitably transform our lengthy pencils., cowering stumps.

[@AenesidemusOZ]

😂😂🧙‍♂️🍻

[@silverthorngoodtree5533]

I would put my pencil in at an angle to give it a flat surface with a point. Great for cursive to make those sweeping letters like L, G, J. Memories.

[@thomasboyd72]

Remembering the big blue pencil

[@Mikehunthertz51]

There was one time i sunk Excalibur into someone.😂 in front of the teacher i left my mark that day.😂😂and didn't even have to have my daily visit with the principal.

[@cteal2018]

I wrote out a sentence the other day in cursive... My child thought it was elvish of some kind

[@kevindonaghey8483]

I still have one of those sharpeners

[@donk026]

We still have a paper shopping list in the kitchen and both my girls must write their food requests in cursive. Not completely lost art, but I've had to ask what word they were attempting to write

[@pskarnaq73]

What of Lawn Darts, O Wise One? We are eager for thy tale!

[@chuckthompson4610]

My friend and partner in crime in middle school got a frog leg jammed in the pencil sharpener. He too was unwise as to it's true power.

[@tamarackgaming]

I live in the house I grew up in. Upstairs still has one of those screwed into the bookcase that my father put there about 48 years ago. And yes, it is sad that the youngster doesn't know the difference between a pencil sharpener and a fishing reel.... if there is failure GenX has to own, it's that even one of our grandchildren doesn't know this. [edit] Just remembered this, ever get a pencil that was made so badly that the lead was broken so badly you couldn't sharpen it? Get it to a perfect point and as soon as you used it, the little piece at the end just fell out on to the paper?

[@shibosuru]

My mom still had one in her house until last year. Cracks me up kids don't know what they are

[@waynethompson1115]

Ah yes the pencil. Useful nearly everywhere and it didn't need to be charged. You didn't even need an Excalibur 5000 to make it work. You could sharpen it on the sidewalk.

[@walterkoziol3822]

Now, the only cursive the generations after Next-gen need to know is their signature.

[@darcychurch9749]

I still have and use one in my home

[@donniedays1655]

You taking me back! 🤣🤣

[@jasonallred244]

Funny and sad at the same time. Back in my day we would try to break them with putting anything that would fit. Never broke. LOL

[@trishayamada807]

I have a pencil sharpener attached to my end table because we homeschool. My children absolutely know pencil sharpeners, cursive too and old school math and can diagram a sentence.

[@lorettacarroll6015]

Somehow in every classroom the thing was always way to close to the wall it was mounted on. So you bruised your knuckles constantly sharpening your pencils.

[@UpstateNick]

As a child, I did not understand why I had to learn how to write in cursive. Aside from my mother, I did not know any adult who wrote in cursive. I was certain that learning “new hieroglyphics” as I called it, was as pointless as learning how to play the recorder. 40 years later, I still believe that my teachers simply ran out of things to teach, so they filled the remainder of the school day with cursive and recorder lessons.

[@artfuldodger978]

My son's learning how to write in cursive in the second grade. That or he's playing a game of connecting all of the letters together.

[@Raiden4019]

Cursive is, as the name implies, incredibly cursed. Speaking as a tail-end millennial who was around for cursive to still be drilled into us in elementary school only for it to become completely irrelevant by the time I had a diminutive ASUS laptop for highschool, the only thing I can credit cursive for is giving me a passable signature, and early-onset arthritis.

[@tiffycurtis1844]

Nope .... take me now smight me oh mighty smighter. 💀

[@PaulWade87]

Pencil sharpener, & my no.2 or no. 4 # pencils had lead.

[@pamweese7678]

My husband has one hanging in the garage.

[@Orncaex]

I seam to be born in a weird time frame. Old enough to use Analog, and I was there when things turned digital and am comfortable with either. Is this why I can't learn new languagees? Already hit my cap?

[@richardweidman7193]

Pencil wars with our #2's!✏✏✏

[@josephwurzer4366]

Great keep this up!

[@rogerdeese2491]

Interactive games of war on paper.

[@Torichan888]

My house came with an Excalibur Maker 5000, in the dining room closet for some reason. Not why I bought the house but still.

[@MsAubrey]

OMG! Ours was in a closet too! 😂 Where we stored our vacuum.

[@pennydink72]

Oh and don't come in with a big pencil.....Babyyyy you get to adjust it!!! Oh my gawd!

[@karend8404]

My classmates were often in trouble for sharpening their pencils for too long. OK - I did it too.