Pencil Manufacturing

STEP 1: Chunks of graphite and clay are placed inside a huge rotating drum. Large rocks inside the drum crush the graphite and clay into a fine powder. Then water is added, and the mixture is blended in the drum for up to three days

STEP 2: All the water is squeezed out of the mixture leaving behind a grey sludge. The sludge is then put into a cabinet where it air dries and hardens for four days.

STEP 3: Wheels grind the dried sludge into fine powder, and water is blended in again to make a soft paste.

STEP 4: The paste is pushed through a metal tube and comes out in the shape of thin rods. The rods are cut into pencil-length pieces, called leads, and sent along a conveyor belt to dry.

STEP 5: The pencil leads are than put into an oven heated to 982.2222 degrees celsius.

STEP 6: Cedar Wood is then into wide slats. Eight shallow grooves are sawed lengthwise into each slat.

STEP 7: A thin coat of glue is applied to the slats, and one pencil lead is placed into each of the eight grooves.

STEP 8: When the glue dries, the slats are fed through a cutting machine.

STEP 9: The same machine cuts apart each slat into eight separate pencils.

STEP 10: The pencils are sanded, and each one receives from five to eight coates of paint.

STEP 11: A heated metal stamp presses the name of the company and a number - such as the number 2 - on the pencil in foil or paint. The number indicates how hard the pencil lead is.

STEP 12: A metal band, called a ferrule, is wrapped tightly around one end of the pencil. The ferrule holds the eraser.