ncil
is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core encased in a sleeve, barrel, or shaft
that prevents breaking the core or marking a user's hand.
Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of solid core material that adheres to a
sheet of paper or other surface. They are distinct from pens, which dispense liquid or gel ink onto the
marked surface.
Most pencil cores are made of graphite powder mixed with a clay binder. Graphite
pencils (traditionally known as "lead pencils") produce grey or black marks that are easily erased, but
otherwise resistant to moisture, most chemicals, ultraviolet radiation and natural aging. Other types
of pencil cores, such as those of charcoal, are mainly used for drawing and sketching. Coloured
pencils are sometimes used by teachers or editors to correct submitted texts, but are typically
regarded as art supplies, especially those with cores made from wax-based binders that tend to
smear when erasers are applied to them. Grease pencils have a softer, oily core that can leave
marks on smooth surfaces such as glass or porcelain.
The most common pencil casing is thin wood, usually hexagonal in section but
sometimes cylindrical or triangular, permanently bonded to the core. Casings may be of other
materials, such as plastic or paper. To use the pencil, the casing must be carved or peeled off to
expose the working end of the core as a sharp point. Mechanical pencils have more elaborate
casings which are not bonded to the core; instead, they support separate, mobile pigment cores that
can be extended or retracted (usually through the casing's tip) as needed. These casings can be
reloaded with new cores (usually graphite) as the previous ones are exhausted.
Contents
1History
o 1.1Camel's hair
o 1.2Graphite deposit discoveries
o 1.3Wood encasement
o 1.4Graphite powder and clay
o 1.5United States
o 1.6Eraser attachment
o 1.7Extenders
2Types
o 2.1By marking material
2.1.1Graphite
2.1.2Solid
2.1.3Liquid
2.1.4Charcoal
2.1.5Carbon pencils
2.1.6Colored
2.1.7Grease
2.1.8Watercolor
o 2.2By use
2.2.1Carpentry
2.2.2Copying
2.2.3Eyeliner
2.2.4Erasable coloring
2.2.5Non-reproduction
2.2.6Stenography
2.2.7Golf
o 2.3By shape
o 2.4By size
2.4.1Typical
2.4.2Biggest
o 2.5By manufacture
2.5.1Mechanical
2.5.2Pop a Point
2.5.3Plastic
o 2.6Other aspects
3Health
4Manufacture
5Grading and classification
o 5.1Hardness test
6External colour and shape
7Notable users
8Manufacturers
9See also
10Notes
11References
12Bibliography
13Further reading
14External links
History
Old Soviet colored pencils with box (circa 1959)
Camel's hair
Pencil, from Old French pincel, from Latin penicillus a "little tail" (see penis; pincellus is Latin from
the post-classical period[1]) originally referred to an artist's fine brush of camel hair, also used for
writing before modern lead or chalk pencils.[2]
Though the archetypal pencil was an artist's brush, the stylus, a thin metal stick used for scratching
in papyrus or wax tablets, was used extensively by the Romans[3] and for palm-leaf manuscripts.
Graphite deposit discoveries
As a technique for drawing, the closest predecessor to the pencil was silverpoint or leadpoint until in
1565 (some sources say as early as 1500), a large deposit of graphite was discovered on the
approach to Grey Knotts from the hamlet of Seathwaite in Borrowdale parish, Cumbria, England.[4][5][6]
[7]
This particular deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into
sticks. It remains the only large-scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form.
[8]
Chemistry was in its infancy and the substance was thought to be a form of lead. Consequently, it
was called plumbago (Latin for "lead ore").[9][10] Because the pencil core is still referred to as "lead", or
"a lead", many people have the misconception that the graphite in the pencil is lead,[11] and the black
core of pencils is still referred to as lead, even though it never contained the element lead.[12][13][14][15][16]
[17]
The words for pencil in German (Bleistift), Irish (peann luaidhe), Arabic (قلم رصاص qalam raṣāṣ),
and some other languages literally mean lead pen.
The value of graphite would soon be realised to be enormous, mainly because it could be used to
line the moulds for cannonballs; the mines were taken over by the Crown and were guarded. When
sufficient stores of graphite had been accumulated, the mines were flooded to prevent theft until
more was required.
The usefulness of graphite for pencils was discovered as well, but graphite for pencils had to be
smuggled. Because graphite is soft, it requires some form of encasement. Graphite sticks were
initially wrapped in string or sheepskin for stability. England would enjoy a monopoly on the
production of pencils until a method of reconstituting the graphite powder was found in 1662 in Italy.
However, the distinctively square English pencils continued to be made with sticks cut from natural
graphite into the 1860s. The town of Keswick, near the original findings of block graphite, still
manufactures pencils, the factory also being the location of the Derwent Pencil Museum.[18] The
meaning of "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late in the 16th century.[19]
Wood encasement
Palomino Blackwing 602 pencils
Around 1560,[20] an Italian couple named Simonio and Lyndiana Bernacotti made what are likely the
first blueprints for the modern, wood-encased carpentry pencil. Their version was a flat, oval, more
compact type of pencil. Their concept involved the hollowing out of a stick of juniper wood. Shortly
thereafter, a superior technique was discovered: two wooden halves were carved, a graphite stick
inserted, and the halves then glued together—essentially the same method in use to this day.[21]
Graphite powder and clay
The first attempt to manufacture graphite sticks from powdered graphite was in Nuremberg,
Germany, in 1662
