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How Pencil Sharpeners Work

Pencil Facts: How Pencil Sharpeners Work

Image courtesy of popsugar.com We’ve explored the mechanisms of pencils and erasers, and now it’s time to discuss how pencil sharpeners work.  If you’re exploring the site, chances are you understand just how essential our pencil…

Pencil Facts: How Erasers Work

We know pencils work thanks to graphite molecules breaking off and catching onto the fibers of paper.  Today, we’re going to figure out how erasers work to remove those bits of graphite when you make a mistake.  As it turns out, erasers…

The History of the Bullet Pencil

Bullet pencils, as the name suggests, are pencils whose casings are made from spent rifle cartridges. They originated on battlefields in the early nineteenth century, and were sold as souvenirs. .303 British rifle casings were the most commonly…
Bonded Lead

Obscure Pencil Terms and What They Mean

If you’ve spent time lurking through the Pencil Internet, you’ve probably come across some terms that have made you scratch your head. Like most enthusiast scenes, the pencil world is full of obscure pencil terms and jargon that can intimidate…
Colonial Pencil History

American Pencil History at Sutter’s Fort

I live extremely close to Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento, California so, a few weeks back, my wife and I decided to take a walk over to the fort and brush up on our history. As we walked through it’s mud brick walls, we learned about role the…
How Long Can You Balance a Pencil?

How Long Can You Balance a Pencil?

Pencils.com has a challenge for you! Grab a pencil, sharpen the tip to a perfect point, and try to balance it on a surface - your finger, a table, your morning bagel (if you need help achieving a perfect tip, check out this book by David Rees…
Graphite

5 Unique Properties of Graphite You (Probably) Didn’t Know

When you hear the word graphite, pencils inevitably come to mind. The pencil is of course the most common and well-known use for graphite, but there are some unique properties of graphite that make it useful for a number of different applications. It's…

The Rise and Fall of the Yellow Pencil: Part 2

The historical intent of painting a pencil yellow as a reflection of high quality is considered out of date and yellow pencils are increasingly viewed as a low value commodity segment.   - http://timberlines.blogspot.com [Source] In Part…

Choosing the Right Pencil Shape

Hardness and material are important aspects to be considered when choosing a pencil.  Pencil shape, however, is often overlooked.  Though it may seem cosmetic, pencil shape affects grip, comfortability, and, for learners, writing style and…

The Rise and Fall of the Yellow Pencil: Part 1

Like the red fire truck or the blue police car, the yellow pencil is an iconic image. We have all relied on the yellow pencil at some point, the color embedded in our very idea of what a pencil is. The burning question: Why are pencils yellow? Why…