The Life Cycle of a Pencil
Harry and Dominic
Design
• The pencil is a small wooden writing utensil with
an rubber eraser at one end and a stick of graphite
in the center. The materials used to make it are
wood, aluminum or brass, glue, rubber, and
graphite, and usually paint. The graphite may be
mixed with clay to soften it. It was most likely not
expected to last long, since they are sold in
packages of about 12.
Materials Acquisition
• For a pencil, first the wood is from timber, or trees.
Secondly, the graphite is mined from places like
Finland and Italy. If needed to soften the graphite,
clay is mined all around the world, even some
places in the United States of America. Rubber
comes from a milky white liquid that some trees
excrete instead of sap as usual. The metal,
aluminum, is mined usually in Australia.
Pencil Materials Processing/Manufacturing
Graphite
Graphite can be made into the stick in the middle in two different ways. The first is when
the graphite and a waxy mixture are forced through a mold, creating a spaghetti-like string.
The string is then cut into precise measurements, then dried in ovens.
In the second method, the graphite and a clay mixture is poured into a machine, a billet
press. There is then a ram placed just over the press. The ram comes down, and out
comes a hard cylinder, called a billet.
Wood Casing
The cedar will usually arrive at the factory already pre-dried, stained, and waxed to
avoid warping. Next, logs are sawed into thin strips, called slats. They are all about 7.25
inches long, and about .25 inches thick. They are then put on a feeder, then dropped one
at a time onto a conveyor belt which is always moving along at a constant rate.
After that, the slats are planed to give them a flat surface. Next, they pass under a
cutting head that makes parallel circular grooves in the wood-one half as deep as the
graphite is thick-along the length of each wooden slat. Continuing their journey along the
conveyor belt, half the slats are covered in a layer of glue, and cut graphite is laid in the
clue-covered slats.
The slats with neither glue nor graphite on them are continued down another conveyor
belt, where they will be picked up and turned over so that the grooves are facing down.
When the two belts meet, the slats without glue drop on the ones without, and they form a
sandwich. When the sandwiches have been removed from the conveyor belt, they are
clamped together, and will stay that way until the glue dries. When the glue has dried, the
ends are trimmed of excess glue.
Materials Processing/Manufacturing Cont.
Shaping the pencil
Next comes shaping, the step in which those 'Sandwiches' become pencils. The
sandwiches are then placed on a conveyor belt with cutters coming from the top and the
bottom of the belt. The cutters above cut the top half, while the ones on the bottom cut the
bottom half and separates the pencils when they are completely cut. The majoraty of all
pencils is hexagonal to keep them from rolling off the conveyor. A single sandwich will
hold enough for six to nine pencils.
Finishing Steps
After pencils have been cut, they are moved to sanders that will make them smooth,
like the ones you get fresh out of a box. Varnish is then applied to their surface, then
dried. This is done with varnishing machines, that dip the pencils in a pot of varnish, then
feed them through a felt disc to remove excess varnish. This process is done many times
until the wanted color is achieved. The pencil will then receive a final coat.
The pencils are then sent on yet another conveyor belt, this time another shaping
one. It will ensure not only that no excess varnish has accumulated on the end of the
pencil, but also that they are all the same length.
Finally, the erasers are attached. They are held in place by a thin metal binding called
a ferrule. The ferrule is either attached by a coating of glue of small metal prongs. The
ferrule is first attached on to the pencil, then the eraser is clamped inside. The final step
is when the company logo is stamped on. The pencil is complete!
Packaging
• The hexagonal shape of the pencils allows them to
be tightly packed together to reduce packaging
demand and empty space. The packaging is made
of cardboard. Cardboard is made from wood from
pine trees. The wood is then shredded to a pulp
and sent to a paper machine where the pulp is
pressed and rolled until it is sent to corrugating
plants to be made into cardboard. Corn starch glue
is used to bond the flattened pulp to liner sheets.
After a few more steps, bold designs are applied
then it is shaped into a thin container to hold the
pencils.
Distribution
• Pencils are not distributed individually, but instead
in packs of 12, give or take a bit. They are often
made in China or Vietnam, as quite a few products
are, but that probability is actually about the same
for every continent, with the obvious exception of
Antarctica. Penguins don't make pencils.
Use
• A pencil is used by writing on a piece of paper, or drawing on
paper, along with hundreds and hundreds of other ways,
both practical and impractical, including but not limited to
darts. A pencil is slowly becoming obsolete because of our
rapidly increasing technology. However, millions of people
still use both technology and pencils, like the creators of this
presentation.
Reuse/Recycling
• The greatest thing about pencils is that they have uses
for everybody, artists, authors, and even office workers
alike. Also, pencils can be sharpened until they're
roughly the size of your thumbnail, so they can last
years if used wisely! And another bonus is that when
you buy a whole pack of pencils, if one breaks, who
cares? You have 11 more at your disposal to do
whatever you please. There are also many decorative
uses for a broken pencil. For example, you can get
some colorful duct tape and then even the least artistic
of people could create a pencil-flower! Unfortunately,
nothing is forever, so even the most scarcely used
pencil has to be disposed of, as seen in the next slide.
Disposal
• The most heartbreaking part of owning a pencil is the deathAKA the disposal. Fortunately if they're sharpened to the last
tiny bit, they will have served a good purpose. Pencils, like
all items don't last forever, and eventually end up in a
landfill. Unfortunately from this point, there is nothing you
can do about it. Pencils cannot be recycled, so buying a
mechanical pencil or a pen is a smart decision.
Bibliography
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Pencil.html