Photo Courtesy: Image by Bruno from Pixabay
Aalap Bhatt
First Year Student at Plaksha University, Punjab
If you ever asked me to define what a pencil is, I might say “Well, it’s a writing or drawing tool with a stick of graphite or colored substance enclosed within a cylindrical piece of wood” and then wonder if the ponderer has gone insane, because every single person I have ever met in my life is aware of what a pencil is. It is a tool so versatile that it has seeped into routines of our daily lives. But hidden deep within the simple structure of our dear pencil lie centuries of untold history, scientific breakthroughs and economic developments that allowed humanity to forge this tool of seemingly ‘perfect design’. In fact, the pencil embodies the very essence of design and engineering within itself!
The history of pencils begins many centuries ago, where in search of a good writing tool, the Romans discovered that thin sticks of the metal lead could make faint marks on papyrus1. This tool (the stylus) was the birth of pencils and is the reason the term ‘lead pencil’ has stuck around.
However, modern pencils came about much later when in 1564 a deposit of graphite was discovered in Borrowdale, England. Initially, the graphite was used by shepherds to mark their sheep, however, the true potential of this material was understood by Nicolas Jacques Conte, a French inventor who realized that by mixing varying amounts of clay and graphite, firing them in a kiln3 and then encasing them between two sheets of wood, one could produce a convenient and non-toxic writing tool. Post this discovery, pencil manufacturing took over Europe like a wildfire, with infamous companies like Faber Castell, Staedtler, Eberhard Faber and Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth being born. It was Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth that introduced the first yellow painted pencils to showcase the use of high-quality graphite they sourced from China. Keeping true to the name of the Kohinoor1, the colour yellow was used to signify superiority and royalty. Further following the trajectory of the pencil’s history, cut off from imports during America’s fight for independence, early settlers lacked the pencils produced in Europe. Here, William Monroe, a Concord, Massachusetts cabinet marker rediscovered Conte’s method of producing pencils and is since credited for creating America’s first pencil. Soon America too joined the pencil production craze and even infamous American philosopher Henry David Thoreau was involved in the production of pencils. In his book Walden, he talks about how he funded his education at Harvard through his pencil production company.
The design of the pencil is considered by many to be ‘perfect’. In his book “The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance” Henry Petroski goes as far as saying that “the pencil is a vehicle for conveying the nature of engineering”. From the pencil’s history it is evident that the design was led by numerous iterations and variations before the version we know today was born. Still the method of pencil production has remained largely unchanged from the initial discovery by Conte. Firstly, to make a pencil, one must start with its core – the graphite/clay mixture which in the correct ratios yields the desired level of hardness of the pencil. This defines the pencil grading scale, with B representing Blackness (how dark a pencil mark is/softness) and H representing Hardness. The range can be visualized as a number line, starting in the negative with 9H (-9) to HB (0) and then moving in the positive direction up till 9B (+9). There is also a grade ‘F’ which represents ‘fineness’ and is used prominently in technical drawing or carpentry. Once the graphite-clay mixture is prepared in the required ratio, it is shaped into thin cylinders and fired in kilns to prepare the final pencil core. As for the wood casings, two blocks of incense cedar are grooved and sandwiched together with the pencil cores and then cut into hexagonal prisms to minimize wood-waste. Lastly, the outer body is painted and stamped with the company credentials. Historically, Eastern Red Cedar was used to make pencil bodies, but manufacturers quickly shifted to Incense Cedar due to its relative softness and higher quality. Today, Incense Cedar is cultivated on sustainable yield basis i.e. annual forest growth exceeds the amount of wood harvested.
One might be surprised to know that the primary ingredient in a pencils core (graphite) has the exact same composition as diamond – Both compounds are made purely of carbon, with the only difference being in the structure of how carbon atoms are arranged. This difference in structure makes diamond the hardest material known to man and also gives graphite its lubricating and conducting properties. These properties are explained by the fact that the carbon atoms in graphite are bonded to each other in a hexagonal structure, with each carbon forming 3 single bonds with adjacent carbons. Carbon is known to be the most stable when it forms 4 covalent bonds (as is the case with diamond), but due to graphite’s unique structure, each carbon atom has one electron that roams freely within this hexagonal sheet (called graphene), forming a ‘cloud’ of valence4 electrons. Furthermore, millions of these graphene layers stack onto each other to from graphite with only weak forces of attraction between them - allowing them to slide over each other with little effort. This explains how pencils write so smoothly on surfaces. Furthermore, this electron cloud is the reason why graphite can conduct electricity. Graphite is therefore suitable for use in electrochemistry in the production of electrodes5 – making pencils a valuable material to be recycled.
As we have transitioned into the era of computers and technology over the past few decades, we have shifted away from the usage of traditional stationery such as pencils and paper. While embracing the new technology and their benefits, we must also not lose the amazing tools that have served us for centuries. Furthermore, Studies have shown that using pen or pencil and paper to perform writing tasks can lead to the stimulation of greater neural circuits compared to typing, which holds huge value in optimizing learning in educational contexts. According to a market report in 2023, pencil production contributed to a whopping 14.5 billion USD, further strengthening the enormous impact such a simple tool has on our lives.
The pencil, an amalgamation of centuries of history, perfect circumstances, development and design. A tool so simple we dismiss it as unimportant, but when one looks deep into its making, we find the worlds of economics, business, chemistry, physics, and so many other fields embedded right in its wooden body. If there’s one thing that the tale of the pencil has shown us, it’s that even the simplest things can have the most significant stories. So, the next time you use a pencil, let this knowledge flow through every line you make!
Papyrus - A material similar to thick paper used in ancient times as a writing surface, made from the papyrus plant.
Kohinoor – Originating in India, the Kohinoor was once considered the largest diamond in the world
Kiln – A thermally insulated chamber used to produce high temperatures to facilitate processes like drying or hardening
Valence – In this case, refers to free, outer-shelled, unpaired electrons that have not been utilized in chemical bonding for an atom
Electrode – A solid electrical conductor through which current enters or leaves a circuit.
