Pencil as element mixture1/14/2024 They did this at first by hollowing out a stick of juniper wood. Their version was instead a flat, oval, more compact type of pencil. In 1560, an Italian couple named Simonio and Lyndiana Bernacotti created the first blueprints for the modern carpentry pencil to mark their carpentry pieces. The Italians first thought of wooden holders. Residual graphite from a pencil stick is not poisonous, and graphite is harmless if consumed. It used a mixture of graphite, sulphur, and antimony. The first attempt to manufacture graphite sticks from powdered graphite was in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1662. The town of Keswick, near the original findings of block graphite, has a pencil museum. The distinctively square English pencils continued to be made with sticks cut from natural graphite into the 1860s. The news of the usefulness of these early pencils spread far and wide, attracting the attention of artists all over the known world.Įngland continued to have a monopoly on the production of pencils until a method of reconstituting the graphite powder was found. Graphite sticks were at first wrapped in string or in sheepskin for stability. Because graphite is soft, it requires some form of holder. Graphite had to be sneakily moved out for use in pencils. When enough stocks of graphite had been added up, the mines were flooded to prevent theft until more was needed. The mines were taken over by the Crown and guarded. The value of graphite was soon realized, mainly because it could be used to line the moulds for cannonballs. The black core of pencils is still referred to as lead, even though it never had the element lead. Consequently, it was called plumbago (Latin for "lead ore"). Chemistry was in its early stages and the substance was thought to be a form of lead. This is still the only large scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form. This deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into sticks. The locals found that it was very useful for marking sheep. Some time before 1565 (it may have been as early as 1500), a large deposit of graphite was found in Borrowdale, Cumbria. It is an invention of the 16th century in England.ĭiscovery of graphite deposits The word pencil comes from the Latin word pencillus which means "little tail". It was used for scratching onto black wax that covered white wood, a method used by the Romans. Old Soviet colour pencils with box (circa 1959)Īn early writing tool was the reed pen used by ancient Egyptians, who wrote with ink on sheets of papyrus paper.Īnother early writing instrument was the stylus, which was a thin stick of wood or metal, often lead. Writing from a pencil can be erased, but writing from a pen usually cannot, unless it uses a special type of ink and eraser. Writing with a pen can smudge when it is still wet. A pen has a tip, usually made of metal, with liquid ink coming out and onto the paper. The important difference between pens and pencils is that the tip of a pencil is made of solid graphite (or other material) which is rubbed off onto the paper. Colored pencils or crayons are usually meant for drawing rather than writing. The shape is usually a hexagonal prism but some pencils are square or cylinder.Ĭolored pencils are a kind that do not use greyish silver graphite. So, a pencil is usually made with a piece of graphite mixed with clay that has a wood case around it. Most pencil cores are made of graphite powder mixed with a clay binder. Solid pigment core (typically graphite, commonly called pencil lead).Ī pencil is a kind of writing equipment that is also used to draw, usually on paper.
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