How Pencils Are Made — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00year roughly 2 billion low-tech pencils
2. 0:03are sold in the U.S and 14 billion are
3. 0:06sold worldwide so how do they do it the
4. 0:09Journey of a pencil begins with the
5. 0:11procurement of essential raw materials
6. 0:13the primary components of a pencil are
7. 0:15graphite clay and wood
8. 0:18graphite a naturally occurring form of
9. 0:20carbon is extracted from lines worldwide
10. 0:23the highest quality graphite known as
11. 0:26vein graphite comes from Sri Lanka and
12. 0:29Madagascar simultaneously the clay
13. 0:32required for the pencil's core is
14. 0:34collected from deposits and queries
15. 0:37this Clay is crucial in determining the
16. 0:39pencil's hardness and the Darkness of
17. 0:42the lead in addition to graphite and
18. 0:44Clay Wood plays a pivotal role in pencil
19. 0:47construction the most commonly used wood
20. 0:49is Cedar more specifically California
21. 0:52Cedar the choice would for many years
22. 0:55Cedar has a pleasant odor does not warp
23. 0:58or lose its shape and is readily
24. 1:00available pencil manufacturers often
25. 1:02rely on sustainable forestry practices
26. 1:04to ensure the responsible sourcing of
27. 1:07wood once the raw materials are obtained
28. 1:10the pencil cores preparation begins
29. 1:12first the graphite and Clay are ground
30. 1:15into fine powders separately the ratio
31. 1:18of graphite to Clay determines the
32. 1:20pencil's lead hardness with higher
33. 1:22graphite content producing softer leads
34. 1:24and vice versa next the powdered
35. 1:27graphite and Clay are mixed together
36. 1:29with water to form a homogeneous paste
37. 1:32the paste undergoes a refining process
38. 1:34to ensure uniformity the mixture is the
39. 1:37been extruded through a machine to shape
40. 1:39it into long thin rods these rods are
41. 1:43cut into lengths corresponding to the
42. 1:45pencil's final size the process of
43. 1:47mixing graphite with Clay can be traced
44. 1:49back to a chemist named Nicholas Jacques
45. 1:52Conte interestingly his Discovery came
46. 1:55as a result of the graphite shortage in
47. 1:57the late 18th century Conte discovered
48. 2:00that when powdered graphite powdered
49. 2:02clay and water were mixed molded and
50. 2:04baked the finished product wrote as
51. 2:07smoothly as pure graphite The Invention
52. 2:09was so revolutionary that it's still
53. 2:12used in pencil production to this date
54. 2:14the next step in pencil manufacturing is
55. 2:17the encasing process where the prepared
56. 2:19graphite cores are encased in wooden
57. 2:21slats these slats are typically made
58. 2:24from Cedar Wood the cedar usually
59. 2:26arrives at the factory already dried
60. 2:28stained and waxed to prevent warping
61. 2:31logs are then sawed into narrow strips
62. 2:34called slats these are about 7 0.25
63. 2:38inches long .25 inches thick and 2.75
64. 2:42inches wide
65. 2:43slats are then placed into a feeder and
66. 2:46dropped one by one onto a conveyor belt
67. 2:49which moves them along at a constant
68. 2:51rate One By One The slats pass under a
69. 2:55giant cutting wheel this wheel carves
70. 2:57grooves into the slats that will become
71. 2:59the channel in the middle that holds the
72. 3:01lead continuing along the conveyor belt
73. 3:03half of the slats are coated with a
74. 3:05layer of glue and the cut graphite is
75. 3:08laid in the grooves of these slats the
76. 3:10slats without glue and without graphite
77. 3:13in the grooves are placed on another
78. 3:15belt that carries them to a machine that
79. 3:17picks them up and turns them over so
80. 3:19they're laying on the belt with the
81. 3:21grooves facing down the two conveyor
82. 3:23belts then meet and each unglued slat is
83. 3:26placed over a slat with glue and
84. 3:28graphite forming a sandwich after the
85. 3:31sandwiches have been removed from the
86. 3:33conveyor belt they are placed into a
87. 3:35metal clamp and squeezed by a hydraulic
88. 3:37press and left clamped together until
89. 3:39the glue is dry once bonded the pencils
90. 3:43go through shaping machines these
91. 3:45machines cut the pencil slats into their
92. 3:47iconic hexagonal shape which is the most
93. 3:50popular due to its ergonomic design and
94. 3:52resistance to Rolling off surfaces this
95. 3:55is done in two steps first the upper
96. 3:58cutter of the machine forms three sides
97. 4:00on top then its lower cutter shapes
98. 4:03three sides on the bottom as soon as the
99. 4:05bottom sides form the pencils separate
100. 4:08after shaping the pencils undergo
101. 4:10sanding to smoothen their surfaces this
102. 4:13step helps to remove any imperfections
103. 4:15and provides a comfortable grip for
104. 4:17users the pencils are then coated with a
105. 4:19protective layer to improve durability
106. 4:21and appearance a lacquer or enamel
107. 4:24coating is applied and the pencils are
108. 4:26dried and Polished to achieve a smooth
109. 4:28finish sometimes pencils may receive
110. 4:31additional treatments such as a heat
111. 4:33treatment to enhance their strength and
112. 4:35resistance to breakage many pencils come
113. 4:38equipped with erasers at one end making
114. 4:40them versatile tools for riding and
115. 4:42correcting mistakes the erasers are
116. 4:45typically made of synthetic rubber or a
117. 4:47combination of rubber and other
118. 4:49materials
119. 4:50the idea of attaching an eraser to a
120. 4:52pencil is traced to Hyman W lippman an
121. 4:55American whose 1858 U.S patent was
122. 4:58bought by Joseph reckendorfer in 1872
123. 5:01for a reported one hundred thousand
124. 5:04dollars
125. 5:05a process of making an eraser starts
126. 5:07with putting a batch of rubber into a
127. 5:09mill the rubber passes repeatedly
128. 5:11between large heated rollers additives
129. 5:14including pigments fillers and
130. 5:16Vulcanizing agents are thrown in between
131. 5:18the rollers the mixture is Blended
132. 5:21thoroughly to ensure uniform
133. 5:22distribution of the ingredients
134. 5:24loganization is a critical process in
135. 5:27eraser manufacturing it typically occurs
136. 5:30in specialized machines known as
137. 5:32vulcanization presses or vulcanizers
138. 5:35these machines are designed to apply
139. 5:37heat and pressure to the rubber compound
140. 5:39allowing the cross linking of polymer
141. 5:42chains and transforming the raw rubber
142. 5:45material into a more durable and
143. 5:47resilient form on top of making it more
144. 5:49elastic and resilient vulcanization also
145. 5:52helps make the rubber more effective in
146. 5:54erasing pencil marks to make plugs which
147. 5:57will be attached to the pencils an
148. 5:58extrusion process is usually used the
149. 6:01mixture in the form of a soft solid is
150. 6:04forced through a dye to form a long
151. 6:06cylinder the cylinder is repeatedly cut
152. 6:09as it emerges forming plugs to attach
153. 6:12the Eraser a ferrule a metal or plastic
154. 6:15piece is inserted at the opposite end of
155. 6:17the Eraser and the assembly is fixed
156. 6:20onto the pencil this process may involve
157. 6:22some automated steps but certain pencil
158. 6:24rules are still assembled manually
159. 6:26pencils are often initially packaged in
160. 6:29bulk quantities for distribution to
161. 6:31retailers wholesalers and stationary
162. 6:34suppliers bulk packaging typically
163. 6:36involves packing large quantities of
164. 6:38pencils into sturdy cardboard boxes the
165. 6:41boxes are designed to accommodate
166. 6:43various pencil sizes and can hold
167. 6:45hundreds or even thousands of pencils
168. 6:47for pencils intended for direct sale to
169. 6:49Consumers retail packaging is used
170. 6:52retail packaging typically includes
171. 6:54individual pencil sets or packs the
172. 6:57pencils are neatly arranged and secured
173. 6:59inside a cardboard plastic or blister
174. 7:01pack the packaging may also include
175. 7:03branding product information and barcode
176. 7:06labels for easy scanning at the point of
177. 7:08sale
178. 7:09because they travel along a conveyor
179. 7:11belt during the manufacturing process
180. 7:13pencils are thoroughly scrutinized
181. 7:15before they're distributed to the public
182. 7:17workers are trained to discard pencils
183. 7:20that appear dysfunctional and a select
184. 7:22number are sharpened and tested when the
185. 7:24process is complete a common problem is
186. 7:27that the glue of the sandwich is
187. 7:28sometimes don't adhere but this nuisance
188. 7:31is usually caught when the sandwiches
189. 7:33are being cut even with the world going
190. 7:35electronic the pencil industry continues
191. 7:38to steadily grow the global market size
192. 7:40of the pencil industry currently sits at
193. 7:4315.95 billion dollars but experts
194. 7:46predict the market will grow by seven
195. 7:48percent by 2028
196. 7:50[Music]