The next step in the evolution of the pencil came in the late 1500s, when graphite rods were placed inside wood sleeves that were glued together. This made pencils easier to use. Pencils got ...

Creating different hardness' to pencils was discovered by Nicholas Jacques Conté. Mixing powdered graphite with clay and forming the mixture into rods that were then fired in a kiln. By varying ...

Today, pencils are everywhere ... He mixed cheap graphite with wet clay, which was then sculpted into a rod-like shape and baked.

Discover how specialized machinery turns wood into pencil shapes and how the lead is crafted by mixing graphite with rubber to ensure smooth writing. Watch as the lead is carefully inserted into ...

Happy 158th birthday to the pencil with attached eraser! It was on March 30, 1858, that Hymen L. Lipman received a patent for his remarkable invention — a tube of wood with graphite at one end ...

1. There is no risk of lead poisoning if you stab yourself (or someone else) with a pencil because it contains no lead — just a mixture of clay and graphite. Still, pencil wounds carry a risk of ...

and ocular trauma in a younger age group has been known to happen with graphite lead in pencils. Pencil injury has been documented to produce an ocular foreign body when the broken lead is lodged ...