![]() Their concept involved the hollowing out of a stick of juniper wood. ![]() Their version was a flat, oval, more compact type of pencil. Wood encasement Palomino Blackwing 602 pencilsĪround 1560, an Italian couple named Simonio and Lyndiana Bernacotti made what are likely the first blueprints for the modern, wood-encased carpentry pencil. The meaning of "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late in the 16th century. 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. However, the distinctively square English pencils continued to be made with sticks cut from natural graphite into the 1860s. England would enjoy a monopoly on the production of pencils until a method of reconstituting the graphite powder was found in 1662 in Germany. Graphite sticks were initially wrapped in string or sheepskin for stability. Because graphite is soft, it requires some form of encasement. The usefulness of graphite for pencils was discovered as well, but graphite for pencils had to be smuggled. When sufficient stores of graphite had been accumulated, the mines were flooded to prevent theft until more was required. 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. The words for pencil in German ( Bleistift), Irish ( peann luaidhe), Arabic (قلم رصاص qalam raṣāṣ), and some other languages literally mean lead pen. 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, and the black core of pencils is still referred to as lead, even though it never contained the element lead. Consequently, it was called plumbago (Latin for "lead ore"). Chemistry was in its infancy and the substance was thought to be a form of lead. It remains the only large-scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form. This particular deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into sticks. 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 and for palm-leaf manuscripts.Īs 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. Pencil, from Old French pincel, from Latin penicillus a "little tail" (see penis pincellus is Latin from the post-classical period ) originally referred to an artist's fine brush of camel hair, also used for writing before modern lead or chalk pencils. ![]() History Old Soviet colored pencils with box (circa 1959) Camel's hair These casings can be reloaded with new cores (usually graphite) as the previous ones are exhausted. 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. To use the pencil, the casing must be carved or peeled off to expose the working end of the core as a sharp point. ![]() Casings may be of other materials, such as plastic or paper. The most common pencil casing is thin wood, usually hexagonal in section but sometimes cylindrical or triangular, permanently bonded to the core. Grease pencils have a softer, oily core that can leave marks on smooth surfaces such as glass or porcelain. 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. Other types of pencil cores, such as those of charcoal, are mainly used for drawing and sketching. 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. Most pencil cores are made of graphite powder mixed with a clay binder. They are distinct from pens, which dispense liquid or gel ink onto the marked surface. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of solid core material that adheres to a sheet of paper or other surface. Solid pigment core (typically graphite, commonly called pencil lead)Ī pencil ( / ˈ p ɛ n s ə l/ ( listen)) is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. ![]()
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