PENCIL LEAD: 10 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About It
This week's video goes through 10 things most people probably don’t know about the Pencil Lead!
#1 - Composition
The Pencil Lead (commonly used either to write or draw) is composed of 4 components: a solid pigment core, a core casing, and, most of the time, a ferrule that connects this core casing to a rubber.
#2 - Working principle
This pigment core leaves a trail of solid material adhered (most of the time) to a sheet of paper by means of physical abrasion. Its casing has two very important functions, preventing the core from breaking or marking its user’s hand.
#3 - The name
Fun fact: Pencil leads actually have no lead in them whatsoever!
Their name comes from their associated function with the styluses used by the ancient roman empire scribes. These styluses had pretty much the same purpose back then as the pencil lead has today; being made out of a thin metal (or lead) rod they intended to leave a light yet readable impression on a piece of papyrus.
#4 - Graphite
In today’s day and age, pencil cores are made out of a non-toxic mixture of graphite and clay.
Graphite started to be widely used when a large deposit was found in England (Borrowdale), in 1564.
The fact that graphite allowed its holder to leave a dark mark on almost every surface made its popularity increase rapidly. However, its soft and brittle nature required it to be, initially wrapped with string and later on inserted into hollowed-out wooden sticks.
And that’s how the Pencil Lead was born!
#5 - First mass-produced pencil
In 1662 Nuremberg (in Germany) saw the first-ever mass-produced pencil. This event was the first stepping stone into establishing a new and rapidly growing industry in the 19th century, with the appearance of companies like Faber-Castell (1761), (Staedtler) and many others.
#6 - A patented mixture
In 1795 Nicholas Jacques Conté (a French chemist) patented the process (still used today) for producing graphite pencil cores. Conté’s patent involves mixing powdered graphite with clay and water until their mixture allows for the formation of sticks which are then hardened in an oven.
This process not only made the use of graphite more efficient but it also allowed for the reduction of production costs. Moreover, by adjusting the ratio between clay and graphite powder, one could control the lightness and darkness that the graphite mark leaves on the paper which proved to be an industry game-changer.
#7 - Different shades of grey
Pencil manufacturers started grading their pencils’ core hardness using numbers and letters; the hardest available is the 9H, while the softest is 9B; most commonly eraser-tipped pencils tend to be around the 2H and 4B range while the general #2 pencil equates to an HB one.
As strange as it may sound, this is not a standardized graphite scaling system, therefore the hardness, smoothness, and overall quality of a pencil differs from manufacturer to manufacturer.
#8 - Industry establishment in America/ Arriving to America
It took roughly 50 years, in 1812, for William Monroe to manufacture the first wood pencil lead in America.
Until this point, Americans relied purely on pencils produced overseas, however, the war with England forced American ingenuity to be put to work; and so it did with the appearance of The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company (now known as Dixon Ticonderoga) towards the end of the 19th Century.
#9 - Splashes of color
It all started with raw natural and unpainted pencils showing off high-quality wood casings, but today's most commonly used pencil lead is painted yellow!
This color has a far deeper purpose than the one to just help you find a pencil on a cluttered desk; in fact, it was used by American pencil makers to symbolize the royal and respectful Chinese origins of their pencil cores.
#10 - Various shapes
Generally, pencils tend to be made in 4 different shapes: hexagonal, round, triangular and flat shaped.
Hexagonal pencils are great to be used every day; round and triangular shaped ones are often used by children providing them an easy grip; and finally there’s the flat-shaped ones (which are often called carpenter pencils) and can be laid flat thereby not allowing them to roll while woodworking.
From its Composition to its various shapes, going through their name and color, these were 10 facts about the Pencil lead that you were probably not aware of.