how is a pencil made?

Answer 1

Two slabs of cedar wood (straight grained) are grooved for the graphite clay lead on one side and for the hex shape outside on the other, the clay is extruded into the round groove and the other slab is coated with glue and laid in place. The whole is baked (heated) which sets the glue and the clay mix. The slab is cut into pencil shapes and smoothed if need be and they are painted and baked dry and the label embossed. The eraser of it has one and a metal sleeve are placed together on the wood and crimped.

Answer 2

In ancient Rome, scribes wrote on papyrus (an early form of paper) with a thin metal rod called a stylus, which left a light but readable mark. Other early styluses were made of lead. Today we still call the core of a pencil the "lead" even though it is made from nontoxic graphite.

1. Incense-cedar logs are cut into "Pencil Blocks."

2. Pencil Blocks are cut into "Pencil Slats."

3. Pencil Slats are treated with wax and stain.

4. A machine cuts grooves into the slats to accept the writing core (or "lead").

5. Writing cores -- made from a mixture of graphite and clay -- are placed into the grooves.

6. A second grooved slat is glued onto the first -- making a "sandwich."

7. The sandwich is machined into pencil shapes.

8. Individual pencils are cut from the sandwich,
and are sanded smooth.

9. Each pencil is painted. A recess is cut to accept the ferrule (the metal ring that holds the eraser to the pencil).

10. A ferrule and eraser are crimped into place on each pencil.

The center of the pencil -- known as the writing core -- is made of a nontoxic mineral called graphite.

Graphite came into widespread in the 16th century, following the discovery of a large graphite deposit in Borrowdale, England. As the story goes, a passerby found bits of shiny, black graphite clinging to the roots of a fallen tree. The whole countryside was abuzz with talk about this mysterious mineral, which soon came to be known as "plumbago" or, more commonly, "Blacklead."

Graphite left a dark mark, making it ideal for use by writers and artists. But it was so soft and brittle that it required a holder. At first, sticks of graphite were wrapped in string. Later, the graphite was inserted into wooden sticks that had been hollowed-out by hand! The wood-cased pencil was born.

.....All the best.

Answer 3

The outer casing is made from wood or plastic.
The lead is not made from Lead its actually mix of graphite and clay. If amount of graphite is more it becomes soft pencil (standard B) and if clay is more then it become hard (Standard H).

Answer 4

Go to this web site http://www.generalpencil.com/how.html
Click on How is a pencil made, run your mouse over the pictures, click on more at the bottom for more pictures and info.

Answer 5

A pencil is a hand-held instument containing an interior strip of solid material that produces marks used to write and draw, usually on paper. The most common type of pencil is called a lead pencil, even though the grey marking material is not lead but graphite mixed with clay. Some pencils come with a correction device attached to the other end (such an rubber) to remove the markings. Coloured pencils employ pigments, including those used in oil and watercolour paints. Other marking materials are also used, such as charcoal or cosmetics (as in an eyebrow pencil). The marking material is typically contained inside a disposable wooden sheath but is sometimes held in a re-usable mechanical device. This is called a mechanical pencil.

Pencils are distinct from pens, which use a liquid marking material, ink, usually used on paper too.

Manufacture
Pencil manufacturing
Pencil manufacturing

Modern pencils are made industrially by mixing finely ground graphite and clay powders, adding water, forming long spaghetti-like strings, and firing them in a kiln. The resulting strings are dipped in oil or molten wax, which seeps into the tiny holes of the material, resulting in smoother writing. A juniper or incense-cedar plank with several long parallel grooves is cut to make something called a slat, and the graphite/clay strings are inserted into the grooves. Another grooved plank is glued on top, and the whole thing is then cut into individual pencils, which are then varnished or painted.

Many pencils, particularly those used by artists, are labelled on the European system using a "degree" scale from "H" (for hardness) to "B" (for blackness), as well as "F" (for fine point). The standard writing pencil is "HB." However, artists' pencils can vary widely in order to provide a range of marks for different visual effects on the page. Pencils graded with different schemes were used to expand the range of grades, such as 'BB' and 'BBB' for successively softer leads, and 'HH' and 'HHH' for successively harder leads between the early 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. Today a set of art pencils ranging from a very hard, light-marking pencil to a very soft, black-marking pencil usually ranges from hardest to softest as follows:

9H 8H 7H 6H 5H 4H 3H 2H H F HB B 2B 3B 4B 5B 6B 7B 8B 9B
Hardest → Medium → Softest

The American system, using numbers only, developed simultaneously with the following approximate equivalents to the European system. It was developed by Nicolas-Jacques Conté.

Pencil Number


Graphite


Clay


Wax

9H


41%


53%


5%

8H


44%


50%


5%

7H


47%


47%


5%

6H


50%


45%


5%

5H


52%


42%


5%

4H


55%


39%


5%

3H


58%


36%


5%

2H


60%


34%


5%

H


63%


31%


5%

F (Fine Point)


66%


28%


5%

HB


68%


26%


5%

B


71%


23%


5%

2B


74%


20%


5%

3B


76%


18%


5%

4B


79%


15%


5%

5B


82%


12%


5%

6B


84%


10%


5%

7B


87%


07%


5%

8B


90%


04%


5%


Tone U.S. Europe
#1 = B
#2 = HB
#2 ½ * = F
#3 = H
#4 = 2H

* Also seen as 2 4/8, 2.5, 2 5/10, due to patent issues

* note that F lead is no longer in production.

Even though the natural deposits of pure graphite are tapped out, it is still possible to write the way Englishmen did centuries ago, without clay or wax additives leaving oily stains on paper. Chemical supply companies commonly sell 99.995% pure graphite rods in 3 mm and 6 mm diameters.

[edit] Color of pencils
Two pencils.
Two pencils.

Pencils in the United States and Canada tend to be painted yellow on the outside. According to Henry Petroski, this tradition now extends to a majority of pencils worldwide and began in 1890 when the L. & C. Hardtmuth Company of Austria-Hungary introduced their Koh-I-Noor brand, named after the famous diamond. It was intended to be the world's best and most expensive pencil, and at a time when most pencils were either painted in dark colours or not at all, the Koh-I-Noor was yellow. As well as simply being distinctive, the colour may have been inspired by the Austro-Hungarian flag; it was also suggestive of the Orient, at a time when the best-quality graphite came from Siberia. Other companies then copied the yellow colour so that their pencils would be associated with this high-quality brand, and chose brand names with explicit Oriental references, such as Mikado and Mongol.

Not all countries however use yellow pencils; German pencils, for example, are often green, based on the trademark colours of Faber-Castell, a major German stationery company. Brazil uses green and black. The traditional low-cost pencil in Argentina is black (no specific tradename), but the typical expensive, high-quality pencil is black and red or black and yellow (Faber-Castell). Low-cost pencils made

Answer 6

A pencil is not made, it is lead, and sometimes it is drawn.

Answer 7

GOOD QUESTION im not sure but i was told that it was made by wood and lead

Answer 8

they make lead in a thin stick form first (from liquid lead), then cover it with two pieces of wood.

Answer 9

it is made up of corbon and soft wood

Answer 10

by the help of woods and lead