Comments on: the age old mystery of pencil manufacturing, revealed!

the age old mystery of pencil manufacturing, revealed!

limitedpie — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:53:22 -0800

Have you ever wondered how pencils are made ?

By: untuckedshirts

untuckedshirts — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:00:41 -0800

Yes. And this reminds me of some of the "field trips" they would take on Mr. Rogers or Reading Rainbow. This post would probably benefit from a few more links though.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:02:40 -0800

I already knew how. I also know, to quote Woody Allen, that the lead in a lead pencil is not lead. It's neon that isn't turned on.

By: alicila

alicila — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:04:24 -0800

cool link. if you want to know how erasers are made though, watch eraserhead.

By: debralee

debralee — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:13:51 -0800

this reminds me of some of the "field trips" they would take I always liked those segments on Sesame Street; how they made crayons, bubble gum, etc. There's a similar show on the Discovery Channel these days called "How It's Made" which I enjoy when I manage to catch it.

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:18:09 -0800

heh. cool link.

By: agregoli

agregoli — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:19:35 -0800

I did a report on this in the third grade. I did a much better job.

By: Bag Man

Bag Man — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:20:25 -0800

This is soooooooo cool!

By: Postroad

Postroad — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:01:11 -0800

AndI had always wondered how they slipped the graphite into the pencil without breaking it! Question: do you know which American, famous as a writer, was the first to use #2 to designiate the number two pencil that he manufactured, after taking lver his dad's business? And can you tell why for years pencils were always yellow, no matter who made them? Much still to be learned, right?

By: devbrain

devbrain — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:11:24 -0800

If this isn't a page that needs a reference to "I, Pencil" then I don't know what is. http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html is one location where it can be found. link

By: putzface_dickman

putzface_dickman — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:21:29 -0800

Here are six "How People Make" videos from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. The closest to the pencils they've posted is How People Make Crayons. Thanks Picture, Picture!

By: Songdog

Songdog — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 12:15:32 -0800

I have wondered, and this is all very interesting.

By: Tubes

Tubes — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 12:22:44 -0800

I can't remember the last time I touched an actual pencil, but I do remember them from school years. Anyway, this explains how the nice cedar pencils are made, but what about those weird, slightly-flexible and cheap-feeling pencils that seemed to be made of some kind of recycled plastic & sawdust slurry?

By: taz

taz — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 12:34:39 -0800

submitted mostly for the drool factor: vintage pencils (though the "sheathes" and "extenders" under Victorian pencils do show how valued the wooden pencils were...)

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 12:35:43 -0800

what about those weird, slightly-flexible and cheap-feeling pencils that seemed to be made of some kind of recycled plastic & sawdust slurry? Oh, those? They're made of some kind of recycled plastic & sawdust slurry.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 13:20:54 -0800

And on a similar note: How they get the cream inside a Twinkie.

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:07:38 -0800

A Drawing Glossary (Harvard Art Museums). Drawing Materials and Drawing Techniques (NYU). The Media of Drawing (nextmonet.com).

By: pejamo

pejamo — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:12:44 -0800

I'm a big fan of the pencil. Meetings, notes, doodles - my trusty Dixon-Ticonderoga #2 is on the scene. Ball point pens, feh.

By: trharlan

trharlan — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:28:35 -0800

devbrain: I get chills every time I read it.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:54:59 -0800

I have wondered this, but not for very long.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 23:45:46 -0800

Question: do you know which American, famous as a writer, was the first to use #2 to designiate the number two pencil that he manufactured, after taking lver his dad's business? And can you tell why for years pencils were always yellow, no matter who made them? Nobody seems to have taken you up on this, Postroad. Of course, it was Henry David Thoreau (not to be confused with his wine-making brother, Mogen David). You're old enough to have known him personally, right? As for the yellow part, it must have something to do with homework done at the last minute on school buses.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 23:54:48 -0800

Why pencils are yellow: general, and specific. And those bendy pencils? Polywood, or recycled lunch trays and sawdust. It's the next generation lumber!

By: taz

taz — Fri, 24 Oct 2003 05:26:39 -0800

By the way, in addition to asking how pencils are made, we could ask "what is made from the remainder of pencil-making?" and we would find Dura-logs! Though these days, artificial logs might be just as likely to be made of coffee grounds. Both links found via girlhacker.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 24 Oct 2003 06:53:56 -0800

dhartung: What do you mean, general and specific? Those are two completely different explanations! Are they yellow for China (uh, because yellow is... an imperial color! yeah, that's the ticket! Calling Stan Chin...) or "in honor of the Austro-Hungarian flag"? MetaFilter expects you to get to the bottom of this!