Pencils have always been an integral part of our lives, whether in school when we first learned to draw on blank paper or today when some professionals still use them in their daily practices. Artists use pencils for drawing, carpenters use pencils for marking, and they are used for various other purposes.
Having used a pencil for many years, have you ever wondered how pencils are made? If you are looking for the answer to this question, you are in the right place. In this blog post, we have discussed everything about the pencil’s invention in detail. Let us dig deep to explore all the things about pencil’s invention.
Table of Contents
How was The Pencil Made?
We all take pride in handcrafting quality pencils and performer materials using traditional strategies passed down for six generations. Our history dates back to 1860 when Edward Weissenborn founded the American Lead Pencil Company in Hoboken, NJ.
This individual was an inventor plus a machinist and acquired twenty-eight patents for improved equipment and processes in producing 360 different sorts associated with pencils to sell the particular company to the Reckford family members in 1885.
Further, he established the pencil trade in Jersey City, Brand New Jersey, with his child Oscar in 1889—this is how the company was later renamed The Particular General Pencil Company.
Who Invented the Pencil?
You may have always wondered who invented the pencil and where it originated. However, the modern pencil was invented in early 1795 by Nicholas-Jacques Conte, a scientist serving in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army.
The magic element suitable for the purpose was graphite, a form of pure carbon discovered in Europe in Bavaria at the start of the 15th century. The Aztecs had used it as a marker several hundred years earlier.
Initially, it was hardly believed to be the kind of lead and was called ‘plumbago’ or dark lead (hence the ‘plumbers’ who mend our business lead water-carrying pipes), a misnomer that still echoes within our talk of pad leads.
It was known as graphite only in 1789, utilizing the Greek word ‘graphein,’ meaning ‘to write.’ The particular pencil is an old word, based on the Latina ‘pencils,’ meaning ‘little tail,’ to describe the little printer ink brushes used for creating in the Middle Ages range.
How Are Pencils Made? Know All The Steps
Preparing pencils involves various steps, which we have discussed below. Continue to read below; it will help you clear all your doubts about how pencils are made.
#Step 1
Little chunks of graphite (a soft, dark mineral) and clay are positioned inside a huge rotating drum. Large rocks within the drum crush the graphite and clay into a fine powder, and then water is added, and the mixture is blended in the drum for up to three days.
#Step 2
A machine squeezes all the water out of the mixture, leaving a gray sludge behind. Here, a worker puts the sludge in the cabinet where its airflow dries and hardens for about four days.
#Step 3
Huge wheels grind the dried sludge into another fine powder, and water is blended again to prepare a soft paste.
#Step 4
The paste is forced through a metal pipe and comes out within the condition of slim rods. The rods are usually cut into pencil-length items, called leads, and delivered along a conveyor belt to dry.
#Step 5
After drying, the pencil leads are put into an oven heated to 1800 degrees F. The extreme heat makes the leads smooth and complex, which makes for good writing points.
#Step 6
In another part associated with the factory, the wood is prepared. Machines reduce blocks of Incense plank wood, a renewable source, into wide slats. Eight shallow grooves are sawed lengthwise into each slat.
#Step 7
A thin coat of glue is applied to the slats, and one pencil lead is positioned into each of the eight grooves. Within seconds, another wide grooved slate is glued on top, sandwiching the leads.
#Step 8
When the glue dries, the slats are fed through the cutting machine. Fast-spinning steel blades trim the wood into round or hexagonal shapes, one part at a time.
#Step 9
In step nine, the machine cuts each slat into eight separate pencils. Thus, the pencils are user-friendly and easy to hold, carry, and sharpen. They are usually sanded, each receiving five to eight coats of color.
In the last step, the branding is completed, as it is done via a heated metal stamp pressing the company’s name and a number—such as 2—on the pencil in foil or paint. The number indicates how hard the pencil lead is.
Further, we see a metallic band, called a ferrule, wrapped tightly close to one end of the pencil. You will find that some pencils carry an eraser on top of them. Note that pencils are usually prepared to be sharp, packaged, and used.
Above are the steps that we have discussed to clear your doubts and let you know how pencils are prepared to make them useful. Seeing all the steps to prepare a pencil may have shocked you at how long it takes to make a pencil and what things it includes that make it strong enough to make your writing flow.
How Do Pencils Work?
When you learn how pencils work, such as how they draw and how you can make beautiful art using them, you realize that the making process makes them usable for any purpose and in any field. Get to know everything about how pencils work and how a pencil is worth completing a task.
- A pencil can write at least more than 45,000 words in the English language.
- The pencil was invented in the early sixteenth century.
- Pencils have always been ideal for artists and learners as they make it easy for them to use and correct mistakes while working and studying.
How do you draw using a pencil?
Below, we have discussed a common thing that will help you understand how a pencil works when you draw something. Check it in detail to know everything.
- Before learning to draw a toon pencil, please look at the picture on your left. You can observe two sorts of pencils: Your ordinary pencil plus a ballpoint pen. The particular first one has a good eraser on the top.
- The 2nd one is associated with a push-button (1), the clip (6), and the point (4). Drawing the pencil is relatively easy, and here, it is given that it is made from three parts: the stage, the barrel, and the particular cap (or top).
- The designs of those pencils will also be simple to figure out. Triangles for that point, a lengthy rectangle for that barrel (or the body), and a little rectangle for that top. Discover how the form associated with the ballpoint pen’s barrel or clip is irregular. However, your average pencil will be straight and firm.
- For this instance, let’s draw an easy pencil. Firstly, try to draw a rectangle-shaped square for the body. Then, draw another rectangle for the small part that holds the eraser. Continue by adding a triangle for the exact point.
- It’s now up to you to continue your experimentation. You can draw a funny pencil with eyes (1) (3) or a more realistic one (5). If you practice a little, you can draw a pencil quickly. This is an excellent example if this is your first drawing tutorial!
If you follow the above process, you can draw better and learn how a pencil works and how valuable it is.
Different Types Of Pencils
There are various types of pencils that you must consider before starting to use them. This will help you complete your work properly because pencils have different purposes. Suppose you are a cartoonist. If you use a normal pencil of poor quality, you may not be able to achieve the perfectness you seek. Therefore, you must identify a pencil type and its purpose before using it.
Check the list of pencils below you may use for your profession:
- Color pencils
- Watercolor pencils
- Glitter and high pencils
- Woodless pencils
- Grease pencils
- Use carbon pencils
- If you are a mechanical you can use mechanical pencils
You should check which pencil you should use and how it will help your work to make it effective.
Final thoughts
Pencils are still used in almost every place and by every professional, so everyone must know about them. Reading the complete information about them above clears all your doubts about how they make most of your work easy and gives you a chance to correct them.
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