Who invented the pencil?
Pencil, a derivative of the Latin word pencillus for "little tail,"
originally described a small, fine, pointed brush.
N. J. Conte, in 1795, successfully produced pencils, after the later
famed Faber family of Nuremberg, Germany, failed to do so, by using a
pulverized graphite base to create a substandard, crude prototype of a
pencil. Conte's method, the basic recipe used by all pencil
manufacturers today, differed from the failed Faber fiasco, as he
ground graphite, mixed it with certain types of clay, pressed the
"dough" into sticks, and finished them in a kiln. The Faber family
followed suit, and achieved the fame and fortune that previously
eluded it.
The recipe used by modern pencil manufacturers, calls for dried,
ground graphite, a form of carbon, mixed with clay and water in
varying proportions. Pencils made with more clay produce a harder
pencil, and, conversely, pencils made with more graphite produce a
softer pencil. In either case, the ingredients are mixed until they
reach a doughy consistency, then pass through a forming press, which
presses the dough into a "pencil thin," smooth, glossy rope. After
workers straighten the rope, they cut it into the desired lengths, and
bake them in industrial ovens.
While the mixture is prepared and baked, workers prepare the casing
that will house the lead. They shape the wooden casings, made from
either red cedar or pine, into halves, and carve grooves in them to
encase the graphite-based leads. The workers then carefully insert the
finished leads into the grooves, glue the two wooden halves together,
run the resulting slats through a saw that cuts them into single
pencils, and finish them with a shaping machine that smoothes the
pencils' surfaces.
Modern pencils come in over 350 flavors, each designed for a specific
use, and may be purchased in over 72 colors. "Black pencils,"
graphite-based pencils, come in 19 degrees of hardness and of
intensity. Specialty pencil leads are crafted to write on surfaces
such as cloth, cellophane, plastics, and movie film. Architects,
engineers, and those doing out door construction work primarily
purchase these specialty leads, as they possess non-fade, weatherproof
qualities. The versatility of Conte's brainchild, the pencil, makes it
the essential, indispensable tool of these trades.
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