A batch of graphite has just been delivered to this pencil factory in Germany. Once it’s been thoroughly mixed with clay, it’s ready to go into production, with around 550 pounds of the stuff making ...

Anyone who has ever taken an SAT has had the sacredness of the No. 2 pencil drilled into them. But what makes a No. 2 pencil what it is? What separates it from a No. 1 or No. 4? And what makes a ...

Perhaps we’re biased, but there’s a unique beauty to drawing pencils that isn’t matched by your everyday writing pencil. Usually painted in a pleasing color and embossed with their name and grade, ...

Despite the name, pencils have never been made with lead. They’re made with graphite, a form of carbon. Just where does graphite come from, and why did we decided to write with it? NPR took a look ...

(CBS News) It's 30 days to Christmas, and over the coming weeks we'll be looking at intriguing holiday offerings, large and small. Even in our electronic age, the humble pencil is still very, very big ...

Graphite is a unique element with special qualities beyond its use in pencils. It’s a fantastic conductor of electricity, as well as extremely heat resistant, withstanding temperatures of over 3,000 ...

From Pencils You Should Know: A History of the Ultimate Writing Utensil in 75 Anecdotes by Caroline Weaver (published by Chronicle Books 2020, all images courtesy Chronicle Books) I hadn’t thought of ...

Save this article to read it later. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section. Because they are erasable, pencils are often the first tool creative people use when sketching out a ...