Pencil Theory Flashcards
If the number is higher, the lead density is…
Harder and the markings are lighter
If the number is lower, the lead density is…
lighter and the markings are darker
What were early pencils made of?
filling a wooden shaft with raw graphite.
The hardness of the graphite depended on the quality.
Who developed the current style of making pencils
Nicholas-Jacques Conte (1755-1805)
a painter, chemist, physicist, balloonist, inventor
When was the current style of making pencils developed.
1794
What did the style of pencil making become known as?
The Conte Process
What did the Conte Process entail.
Mixing powered graphite with finely ground clay. The mixture is then shaped into a long cylinder and baked in an oven.
The more clay that is added versus graphite the __ the pencil lead.
Harder
When did conte patent the method and what was it called.
January, 1795.
Patent number 32.
How did conte measure hardness of the pencil.
With numbers
The process made its way __ __, Each company came up with its __ __ for how their product should be labelled.
World Wide, Own standards
B is used for __ leads, B stands for__
Soft, Black
H is for __ leads, H stands for __
Harder, Hard
Europeans decided to use letters instead of numbers, For varying grades, they would add more __, thus BB was __ __, and HH was __ __ and HHH was __ __.
very soft, very hard, extra hard.
They later switched to a combination of __ and __.
letters and numbers
