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Pencil Manufacturing

Pencils
Image source: eng.monash.edu.au

Pencils are one of the first writing aids for any kid, but we are not far from an age when a kid will be using a stylus and a tablet instead of a pencil and notebook for his schoolwork. Apart from writing, pencils can be put to many uses, but any idea as to how they are manufactured. Before explaining their manufacturing process, I would like to highlight the fact the pencils do not contain the chemical element lead (Pb) even though the writing core is referred to as lead, it is actually a mixture of graphite and clay.

Now here is a simple picture explaining their manufacturing process from the initial cedar block to the end finished product.


Pencil Manufacturing
Image source: pencilpages.com


It all begins with pencil stocks which are incense-cedar (a coniferous tree) logs, which finds its way to the slat factory.

  1. The pencil stocks are cut into pencil blocks
  2. The pencil blocks are further cut into slats
  3. These slats are then treated with wax and stained for uniform color and better machining
  4. The slats are cut into grooves with a grooving machine and filled with glue
  5. Writing leads or cores are placed into the grooves
  6. A mirror slat is placed onto this to form a sandwich and held together with glue and pressed with a hydraulic press
  7. The lead sandwich is then machined for the required shape
  8. During shaping, they separate to form individual pencils
  9. The individual pencils are then undergone tests for non centered cores and chipped wood
  10. The individual pencils are painted with multiple coats for the required finish and color
  11. A ferrule is provided
  12. An eraser is cramped into the ferrule

As per the Chinese proverb, a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this digital age I strongly believe a video is worth a thousand pictures. Below is a segment on pencil making from the popular documentary series How It's Made broadcasted on Discovery Channel.


2 comments:

xheavenlyx

this blog post motivated me to look up Steadler company. An artistic talent dating back to the 1660's!

Flogistix

I really like the content of your post. . .thanks a lot for showing it . . ..
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