[5] Courtesy of The Scientific American.
Why Do They Call Them Lead-pencils?
~WHERE LEAD PENCILS COME FROM~
The lead-pencil so generally used today is not, as its name would
imply, made from lead, but from graphite. It derives its name from
the fact that prior to the time when pencils were made from graphite,
metallic lead was employed for the purpose. Graphite was first used
in pencils after the discovery in 1565 of the famous Cumberland mine
in England. This graphite was of remarkable purity and could be used
without further treatment by cutting it into thin slabs and encasing
them in wood.
Who Made the First Lead-pencils in America?
For two centuries England enjoyed practically a monopoly of the
lead-pencil industry. In the eighteenth century, however, the
lead-pencil industry had found its way into Germany. In 1761, Caspar
Faber, in the village of Stein, near the ancient city of Nuremberg,
Bavaria, started in a modest way the manufacture of lead-pencils, and
Nuremberg became and remained the center of the lead-pencil industry
for more than a century. For five generations Faber’s descendants made
lead-pencils. Up to the present day they have continued to devote
their interest and energy to the development and perfection of pencil
making. Eberhard Faber, a great-grandson of Caspar Faber, immigrated
to this country, and, in 1849, established himself in New York City.
In 1861, when the war tariff first went into effect, he erected his
own pencil factory in New York City, and thus became the pioneer of
the lead-pencil industry in this country. Since then four other firms
have established pencil factories here. Wages, as compared to those
paid in Germany, were very high, and Eberhard Faber realized the
necessity of creating labor-saving machinery to overcome this handicap.
Many automatic machines were invented which greatly simplified the
methods of pencil making and improved the product. To-day American
manufacturers supply nine-tenths of the home demand and have largely
entered into the competition of the world’s markets.
What Are Lead-pencils Made of?
The principal raw materials that enter into the making of a
lead-pencil are graphite, clay, cedar and rubber. Although graphite
occurs in comparatively abundant quantities in many localities, it is
rarely of sufficient purity to be available for pencil making. Oxides
of iron, silicates and other impurities are found in the ore, all of
which must be carefully separated to insure a smooth, serviceable
material. The graphites found in Eastern Siberia, Mexico, Bohemia and
Ceylon are principally used by manufacturers.
Pictures by courtesy Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.