A year or two ago I saw a listing for about 30 pencils. I think it was an auction/buy it now and I didn’t want to risk the auction because there were two Alteneder holders in it, and it was therefore well worth the $75 asking price.
I took some time to fix one up today. Cleaned the metal bits and then used fine grit sand to buff it and then ultra fine to polish. Sanded the wood down very carefully with some 800 grit sand paper on a flat edge. Followed up with 3000 grit and some wood wax stain.
Added an eraser and some old Staedtler lead to make it shine.
These are probably my favorite holders. The dark wood, silvery grip and tail, and the dark nose cone just look fantastic together. The snakewood barrel is quite durable (unlike the light duty Dixon Eldorado), and the grippy fluted nose cone and fluted/ribbed grip are highly functional while maintaining handsome looks. They just got everything right with the design.
Here is Dan Linn’s Alteneder post from some time back.
