Each of us from an early age, being engaged in creativity, or on school lessons faced with such an object as a pencil. Most often, people treat it as something ordinary, as a simple and useful thing. But few people thought about how complicated the technological process of its production is.

By the way, in the production of a pencil, it goes through 83 technological operations, 107 types of raw materials and materials are used in its manufacture, and the production cycle is 11 days. If you still look at all this from the side of the whole product line, then a complex well-established production with careful planning and control is drawn.

In order to see with our own eyes the production process of pencils, we go to the Moscow factory named after Krasin. This is the oldest pencil production in Russia. The factory was founded in 1926 with the support of the government. The main task of the government was to eliminate illiteracy in the country, and for this it was necessary to make stationery available. After the collapse Soviet Union The Krasin factory remained the only pencil manufacturer in the CIS with a full production cycle. This means that everything is produced at the factory - from the stylus to the final product - pencils. Let's take a closer look at the pencil manufacturing process.
For the production of pencils, the factory receives specially processed and stacked linden boards. But before they are used, it is necessary to make writing rods.

Let's move on to the workshop for the manufacture of pencil rods. Writing rods are made from a mixture of clay and graphite. The preparation of the necessary mixture begins with such technological installations, where clay is crushed. The crushed clay is sent by conveyor to the next production site.

In the next section, special mills are installed, where the clay is more finely ground and mixed with water.

Installations for the preparation of a mixture of clay with graphite. Here, the mixture for future rods gets rid of impurities and is prepared for further processing.

It should be noted that only natural substances are used in the production of leads, which allows us to consider the production environmentally friendly. Installation for pressing the mixture. Rods are obtained from the semi-finished products obtained. There is practically no waste in production, as they reuse it.

At this production site, the rods themselves are already obtained, but in order for them to get into the pencil, a number of technological operations will be carried out on them.

The very technology of obtaining rods is reminiscent of extrusion. Carefully prepared and mixed mass is squeezed out through a special stamp with holes.

After that, blanks for writing rods are placed in a special container.

And dried in the closet for 16 hours.

After that, the rods are carefully sorted by hand.

This is how the workplace for sorting rods looks like. This is a very difficult and painstaking work. Cats sleep behind a table lamp.

After sorting, the rods are calcined in a special cabinet. The annealing temperature ranges from 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius and directly affects the final properties of the rod. The hardness of the pencil depends on the temperature, which has 17 gradations - from 7H to 8V.

After annealing, the rods are filled with fat under special pressure and temperature. This is necessary to give them the necessary writing properties: the intensity of the line, the ease of sliding, the quality of sharpening, the ease of erasing with an eraser. Depending on the required core hardness value, lard, confectionery fat or even beeswax and carnauba wax can be used.
Output product of the rod production area.

After that, the rods go to the assembly. Here on such machines, planks for pencils are prepared. Grooves are cut into them for the installation of writing rods.

The cutting part of the machine grinds grooves in planks.

The boards automatically enter such a clip.

After that, on another machine, the rods are placed in pre-prepared boards.

After laying, the halves of the boards are glued together with PVA glue, and they are left to dry under pressure. The essence of this operation is that the rod itself is not glued to the planks. Its diameter is larger than the diameter of the groove, and in order for the structure to close, a press is needed. The rod, on the other hand, will be held in the wood not due to glue, but due to the tension of the wooden shell (prestressing specially created in this way in the design of the pencil).

After drying, the workpiece is sawn with special cutters into individual pencils.

Pencils are gradually sawn over several processing cycles.

The output is ready-made, but not colored pencils.

Already at this stage, the shape of the pencil is laid due to the type of profile of the cutting cutter.

Next, on special lines, the surface of the pencil is primed. When painting pencils, enamels made at the factory are used. These enamels are made from components that are safe for humans.

Line for painting pencils.

I think that in stores we have seen gift pencils painted with colorful stains many times. It turns out that in order to color them like that, a whole specially developed technology is used. Here is a small snippet of the painting process.

When visiting the paint shop, I happened to see a batch of pencils for delivery to the government of the Russian Federation of a new sample. The tip of the pencil symbolizes our national flag. Pencils dry in a special technological framework. The regularity of the rows looks very unusual and attracts.

After painting, the pencils are stacked in batches for shipment to the next sections of the factory.

It is a great pleasure to look at thousands of pencils colored according to the factory's proprietary technology. This is a very unusual sight.

Technological surface finishing line.

Stamp storage cabinet. Here are stored stamps for the entire range of products.

If necessary, before packing, pencils are sharpened on a special machine. The photo shows the intermediate stage of sharpening.
I was amazed by the speed of the machine. Pencils fell into the tray in a continuous stream. I immediately remembered all my personal unsuccessful attempts to sharpen pencils. From these memories, this machine began to inspire even more respect.

The factory also produces such interesting oval-shaped pencils used in construction and repair.

Arrays of stored pencils look very unusual and attractive. You won't see this anywhere else.

At the packaging area, the pencils are sorted and packaged by hand. Here reigns special atmosphere. People work quietly and silently. Many employees have continuous work experience in the factory for more than 40 years.

The factory has its own equipped laboratory, where products are tested throughout the entire production cycle and new production technologies are developed. In the picture - Amsler's device for determining the resistance to breakage of writing rods.

Before leaving, I went into a room with demonstration stands for the factory's products. The emblem of the factory causes some kind of nostalgia. After all, these pencils are familiar to each of us since childhood.
The factory produces several product lines. Professional series of pencils for artists, decorators and designers.

Samples of pencils supplied to the government of the Russian Federation. For the design of the pencils, a drawing was chosen to match the color of standard malachite tableware for employees of the government of the Russian Federation. But besides this, they also have other differences from ordinary pencils: firstly, their shape is made with maximum consideration for the ergonomics of an adult’s hand, and besides, they use a special “lumograph” type rod for making notes in the margins and in the diary, it is not smeared by hand , but erases well with an eraser without damaging the paper.

Engineering drawing pencils:

Original souvenir products of the factory.

The visit to the factory was very exciting and informative. It was very interesting for me to see how much original technology and labor is invested in the manufacture of what would seem to be such simple object like a pencil.

I want to express my deep gratitude to the chief production technologist Marina for her help and explanation of the production processes. At the end of the visit to the factory, its management presented the editors with their branded pencils, including those supplied to the government of the Russian Federation.

A short video on how pencils are made.

Drawing is a fun and rewarding activity for all ages. And one of the most any artistic materials of any child is pencils. But few of us know how pencils are made, what kind of wood is used for this purpose. It is noteworthy that the creation of these stationery is carried out in each factory in its own way. The editors of the site conducted their investigation and will tell the story of the appearance of the pencil and the technology of its manufacture.

History of the pencil began about 300 years ago, when a new mineral, graphite, was used instead of lead. But it is very soft, and therefore clay was added to the graphite mass. From this, the graphite rod became harder and stronger. The more clay, the harder the pencil. Therefore, there are different types of pencils: hard, medium and soft.

But graphite also gets very dirty, so he got "clothes". She became wooden. It turns out that not every tree is suitable for making a pencil body. You need a tree that is easy to plan and cut, but it should not shaggy. Siberian cedar turned out to be ideal for this purpose.

Fat and glue are also mixed into the graphite mass. This is to make the graphite slide over the paper more easily and leave a saturated mark. So, about two hundred years ago, the pencil became similar to what we are used to seeing.

How pencils were made

Pencils were then made by hand. A mixture of graphite, clay, fat, soot and glue diluted with water was poured into a hole in a wooden stick and evaporated in a special way. One pencil was made in about five days, and it was very expensive. In Russia, the production of a pencil was organized by Mikhail Lomonosov in the Arkhangelsk province.

The pencil has been constantly improved. A round pencil rolls off the table, so they came up with a hexagonal pencil. Then, for convenience, an eraser was placed at the top of the pencil. Colored pencils appeared, in which instead of graphite, chalk with a special glue (kaolin) and a dye is used in the leads.

People continued to look for material to replace wood. So there were pencils in a plastic frame. A mechanical pencil in a metal case was invented. Now wax pencils are also produced.

From the beginning of creation to the finished product, a pencil goes through 83 technological operations, 107 types of raw materials and materials are used in its manufacture, and the production cycle is 11 days.

What wood are pencils made from today?

In most cases, they are made from alder and linden, of which there are a huge number on the territory of Russia. Alder is not the most durable material, but it has a uniform structure, which simplifies the processing process and preserves the natural natural color. As for linden, it meets all operational requirements, and therefore is used in the production of both cheap and expensive pencils. Due to its good viscosity, the material holds the lead firmly. A unique material for creating pencils is cedar, which is widely used in factories in Russia. It is noteworthy that not healthy wood is used, but specimens that no longer give nuts.

Stem: what is the basis

The production of pencils is carried out using a special core. Graphite lead consists of three components - graphite, soot and silt, to which organic binders are often added. Moreover, graphite, including colored graphite, is a constant component, since it is the stylus that leaves a trace on paper. The rods are created from a carefully prepared mass, which has a certain temperature and humidity. The kneaded dough is shaped by a special press, then passed through equipment with holes, which makes the mass look like noodles. These noodles are formed into cylinders from which rods are extruded. It remains only to ignite them in special crucibles. Then the rods are fired, and after it fat is performed: the formed pores are filled with fat, stearin or wax under pressure and at a certain temperature.

How are colored pencils made?

Here, again, the core, which is made from pigments, fillers, fattening components and a binder, has a fundamental difference. The production process of the rod is as follows:

The manufactured rods are placed in special grooves on the plank and covered with a second plank;

Both boards are glued with PVA glue, while the rod should not stick;

The ends of the glued boards are aligned;

Preparation is performed, that is, the addition of fat to an already existing mixture.

It is noteworthy that the production of pencils is carried out taking into account the consumer properties of products. So, cheap pencils are made from wood of not the highest quality, exactly the same - not the highest quality - and the shell. But the pencils that are used for artistic purposes are made from high-quality wood, which has a double sizing. Depending on what the pencil is made of, its sharpening will also be performed. It is believed that neat chips are obtained if the products are made of pine, linden or cedar wood. In addition, it is important that the lead is glued with high quality - such a pencil will not break even if it falls.

What should be the shell?

The simplicity and beauty of the pencil depends on the shell. Since pencils are made of wood, it must meet the following requirements: softness, strength and lightness.

During operation, the shell should

Do not break or crumble, like the whole body;

Do not exfoliate under the influence of natural factors;

Have a beautiful cut - smooth and shiny;

Be resistant to moisture.

What equipment is used?

The production of pencils is carried out using a variety of equipment. For example, the purification of clay, from which a graphite rod will subsequently be created, requires special mills and crushers. Processing of the mixed dough is carried out on a screw press, where the rod itself is formed from the dough by rollers with three different gaps. For the same purpose, a die with holes is used. Drying of wooden blanks is carried out in drying cabinets, where the products are subjected to rotation for 16 hours. With good drying, the wood acquires a moisture level of a maximum of 0.5%. As for colored pencils, they are not subjected to heat treatment due to the presence of fillers, dyes and fattening components in them. On a special machine, pencils are trimmed in length.

How pencils are made

Drying plays an important role in the production process. . It is carried out in special wells using machines, and the planks are stacked so that drying is as efficient as possible. In these wells, drying is carried out for about 72 hours, then the boards are sorted: all cracked or ugly products are rejected. The selected blanks are ennobled with paraffin, calibrated, that is, special grooves are cut on them, where the rods will be located.

Now a milling line is used, on which the blocks are divided into pencils. Depending on the shape of the knives used at this stage, the pencils are either round, or faceted, or oval. An important role is played by the fastening of the stylus in a wooden case: this must be done firmly and reliably, which reduces the risk of the elements of the stylus falling out. The elastic adhesive used for bonding makes the lead stronger.

Modern pencils and colored pencils come in a huge variety of designs and colors. Since pencils are made in the factory, they pay close attention to each stage of production.

Coloring is one of the important stages, since it must meet a number of requirements. Extrusion is used to finish the surface, and the end face is finished by dipping. In the first case, the pencil passes through the primer, where at the end of the conveyor it is turned over to apply the next layer. Thus, a uniform coating is obtained.

There are two large pencil factories in Russia. Pencil factory them. Krasina in Moscow― the first state enterprise in Russia for the production of pencils in a wood shell. The factory was founded in 1926. For more than 72 years, it has been the largest manufacturer of stationery.

Siberian pencil factory in Tomsk. In 1912, the tsarist government organized a factory in Tomsk, which sawed cedar board for the production of all pencils produced in Russia. In 2003, the factory significantly increased its range of products and introduced new brands of pencils known for their quality to the market. « Siberian cedar"and" Russian pencil» with good consumer characteristics. Pencils of new brands have taken a worthy place among inexpensive domestic-made pencils made from Russian environmentally friendly materials.

In 2004 the pencil factory was sold to a Czech company KOH-I-NOOR. Investments came to the factory, and new opportunities appeared for distributing products not only in the domestic, but also in the global stationery market.

There are two main types of pencils - plain and colored. A simple pencil has a graphite lead and writes, depending on the hardness of the graphite, in gray - from light to almost black. Simple pencils differ in lead hardness, which is indicated by the letters M (or B in the English version) - soft and T (or H) - hard. Normal - a hard-soft pencil is marked with the letters TM or NI (sometimes it is also indicated with the letter F). This marking is applied to the body of the pencil. If the pencil is not marked in any way, it means that it is hard-soft. Colored pencils also come in several types: classic colored (one-sided and double-sided), wax, pastel, watercolor, etc.

Despite the fact that the graphite pencil is popularly called “simple”, the technology for its production is much more complicated than the technology for the manufacture of colored pencils, since, unlike the latter, it requires additional firing.

stylus simple pencils is made from white clay - kaolin and graphite, and the core of colored pencils consists of kaolin with colored pigments. Moreover, the pigments themselves can be both synthetic and natural. The stylus, which includes natural ingredients, is more convenient to use, provides soft application, gives bright saturated colors that do not fade even under direct sunlight. Special emulsions are added to the lead of watercolor pencils, which dissolve upon contact with water, creating a uniform layer of paint on paper - the so-called watercolor effect.

Pastel pencil leads are made by pressing natural pigments and linseed oil. And the composition of the stylus of wax pencils as an astringent includes, as the name implies, wax. It creates a strong hold on the lead, leaves a wide oily trail and provides a better glide on the paper.

The production process of wood-sheathed pencils is fully automated and consists of several stages: the manufacture of the stylus, the boards, the joining of the components and the processing of the workpieces. First of all, the lead of future pencils is made from a mixture of clay and graphite. The proportions of the components at the stage of mixing graphite and clay determine the hardness of the future lead. The more graphite is added to the lead, the softer its structure will be. If kaolin predominates in the lead, the pencil will be harder.

Clay is pre-cleaned. To do this, the raw material is first crushed in crushers, then mixed with warm water in special mills. Clay diluted in water is poured with liquid glass to get rid of impurities - sand, etc. Then graphite is added to the clay, according to the recipe, and a binder, which is boiled from starch.

The core mass must be at a certain temperature and humidity. The slightest deviation from the norm will lead to damage to the raw materials. For example, if the mixture dries out, it will become too hard, which can cause damage to the equipment. Carefully kneaded "dough" of graphite and clay falls into a screw press. There it is molded through rollers with three different gaps. As a result of this procedure, the mass is crushed, becomes homogeneous, air bubbles and excess moisture are removed from it. The thickness of the dough with each re-processing gradually decreases - from 1 mm to 0.25 mm.

Then the mass is passed through a die with holes, after which it turns into the so-called "noodles". It is formed into cylinders, from which a rod of the required length and diameter is squeezed out on a press. The rods must be dried. This is carried out in drying cabinets with continuous rotation for 15-16 hours. The moisture content of the finished rod should not exceed 0.5%. After drying, the rods are calcined in special crucibles in a furnace. During the firing process, the binder is burned out in the core, and the sintered clay forms the skeleton of the stylus.

In addition to the ratio of clay, the degree of hardness of the finished pencil is also affected by the temperature and duration of firing, as well as the components that make up the so-called fattening bath. The firing of the lead, depending on the desired gradation, is carried out at a temperature of 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius. After firing, the rods are placed in a special fat bath. As a result of this operation, the pores that have formed in the graphite after the binder has been burned out are filled with fat, stearin or wax under pressure at a certain temperature.

Sometimes edible and confectionery fats, as well as additional binders (for example, based on starch), can be used as raw materials. The choice of substance that is used for fatliquoring depends on the hardness of the rod. For example, confectionery fat is used for soft lead pencils, and wax is used for hard lead. Stearin for fatliquoring is used for the manufacture of leads of intermediate hardness (for example, hard-soft). Rods of large diameters are produced on vertical masonry presses.

Colored pencil leads are made somewhat differently. They include pigments, fillers, binders and fattening agents. Clay (kaolin) is the main raw material. Pigments, astringents and, in some cases, fat additives are added to it. Each manufacturer has its own recipe for making leads, which is kept a big secret. Many factories use other additives, including dyes, natural fillers, waxes, and cellulose-based binders.

After mixing all the components, the mixture is extruded using a press, and the rods of the desired diameter are obtained at the output. They are cut into pieces of a predetermined length and then dried at room temperature. As we mentioned above, only graphite rods are hardened. Leads for colored pencils are not heat treated, as under the influence of high temperature, color pigments are destroyed (if we are talking about components of natural origin) or significantly change color (this applies, first of all, to inorganic components).

At the step of adding fat, which gives a color mark and keeps the colored particles on the paper, two different technologies can be used: the so-called cold or hot "preparation". With cold preparation, fat is added to the mixture during mixing of the components. As a rule, this technology is used in the production of inexpensive medium-quality pencils, the lead of which consists of organic pigments, which, in turn, are contraindicated in high temperatures.

Hot preparation is carried out immediately after the drying of the rods. As a result of this procedure, the leads are wetted in hot fat. This method is used in the production of quality art (especially watercolor) pencils. The composition of such a bath is one of the main trade secrets of the factory, but, in any case, it contains high quality organic fats (for example, coconut or sunflower oil).

All colored pencils are conditionally divided into school (high-quality, inexpensive and cheap) and art. The latter are of the highest quality and good coloring properties. But, in any case, regardless of the price category, the rods of both simple and colored pencils must go through several stages of quality control, unless, of course, the manufacturing company cares about its reputation.

Simultaneously with the production of rods, pencil cases are also produced. The pencil body is made from various tree species, which determines the quality of the finished product. So, for example, wood of an alder and a poplar is considered low-quality. In order to achieve a satisfactory body quality, this material requires expensive processing, which can not be afforded by small producers who choose such wood. Linden wood is considered satisfactory in quality. It is used most often for the production of inexpensive school pencils. The wood of pine, jelutong and cedar (Siberian and Californian) is considered high quality, expensive and is used for the production of special art pencils.

The process of manufacturing a wooden case for a pencil consists of several steps. First of all, you will need ready-made bars of wood. They end along the length of future pencils with allowances for machining and shrinkage. Wooden blanks are sawn into individual boards on a multi-saw machine and impregnated with paraffin in autoclaves to improve the mechanical properties of the finished product. The thickness of each plank is half the thickness of the finished product. During steam treatment, resins are removed from the planks, and the wood acquires a light brown color with a pink tint.

After that, the boards are dried in the "wells", where they are folded using a machine. The laying method used makes it possible to increase the area of ​​the plank that is in contact with hot steam. On the one hand, this optimizes the production process, and on the other hand, it allows you to remove moisture from the raw materials as much as possible. "Wells" are moved to drying rooms, where they stay for 72 hours. Then the boards are taken out and sorted. During sorting, rejects are removed (split blanks, incorrectly sawn boards, etc.). The boards impregnated with various compositions and dried are sorted and calibrated by size.

Grooves or grooves for the stylus are made on each board, and then PVA glue is applied evenly on it. After that, the pencil is assembled: a lead is inserted into one of the two boards, and then it is covered with a second board. In this case, the rod itself is not glued to the board, but is held due to the tension of the “shell”.

Since the diameter of the rod is slightly larger than the diameter of the groove, the correct compression of the plank in a special device - a clamp, where pencils are glued together, is of great importance. According to the production technology, for pencils of a certain size and type, a different pressing pressure is used. Deviation from the recommended indicators leads to a large number of rejects: pencils simply break under pressure.

The resulting blocks enter the milling line, where they are divided into pencils using knives. The type of knife determines the shape of the future pencil - faceted, oval or round. Then almost finished pencils are sent for sorting on a conveyor belt. Sorters check each pencil, identifying and seizing defective products.

The workpieces obtained as a result of crimping are sawn along the length of the pencil, leveled, sanded, primed and covered with paint and varnish. The surface of the pencil is opened with paint and varnish by drawing (extrusion), and its ends - by dipping. In the first case, the pencil is passed through the primer. First, it moves in one direction while applying varnish or paint, and then at the other end of the conveyor it turns over and comes back. This helps create an even and even coverage.

Dark-colored pencils are covered with paint at least five layers, and varnish - four. In light colors, the pencil is painted with at least seven layers of paint and four varnishes. But ideally, in order for the surface of the pencil to be even, without smudges and “burrs”, the total number of layers of varnish should be at least seven to eight (the more layers, the more expensive the finished product). The maximum number of layers is 18.

The so-called dipping machine is used to color the ends of the pencils. With its help, the frame with pencils is gently lowered into the paint tank. But in some cases, paint and varnish are not required. For example, cedar-bodied pencils go on sale without additional wood treatment. It is believed that the very texture of the tree is quite beautiful and does not require painting and varnishing. The designation of the lead hardness is applied to the pencil by impact hot stamping using colored foil tape.

Pencils are sold in two types - sharpened and unsharpened. Products of the first type are packed into boxes exclusively by hand, and the second - manually and with the help of special automatic and semi-automatic equipment. On a semi-automatic machine, you can pack about 15 thousand pencils per shift, on an automatic machine - more than ten times more. The machines pack boxes of six or twelve pencils each. The capacity of the pencil packing machine is 350-550 packs per hour on average.

So, the quality and, consequently, the cost of the finished product is affected by the exact observance of the technological process in the production of the stylus and body and during assembly. The core of the pencil should be located strictly in the center of the body. If the centering of the stylus is broken, then when sharpening it will be cut off unevenly and it will be impossible to draw with such a pencil.

When sharpening a pencil, the type of wood used is also important. Poor quality material crumbles, and linden, pine or cedar wood gives even, neat chips when sharpening the product. Great importance has a high-quality double gluing of the stylus. It protects the rod from deformation inside the housing. Such a pencil is not afraid of falling even from a great height. The "rule of eight layers" provides not only the aesthetic appearance of the product made of alder, linden or poplar, but also protects against splinters. And, of course, the safety of the materials used in the production is of particular importance - from wood to paint and varnish. In particular, only safe water-based varnish is used for the production of pencils.

The total cost of the necessary equipment for the production of pencils and colored pencils starts from 2.5 million rubles. This is how much the cheapest used line will cost (most likely, in an incomplete configuration). Add to this the cost of renting production premises (at least 50 square meters for a small production), paying utility bills, and salaries to employees.

To work in the production of pencils, the following specialists will be needed: a calibrator of tablets, a sharpener of pencils, rods and sticks, a picker of pencils and rods, a pencil dyer, a printing machine operator, an operator of an automatic white pencil production line, a graphite rod burner, an operator of pencil assembly machines, a rolling line operator , operator of dispersion mixers for the preparation of core mass, pencil finisher on an automatic machine, pencil block presser, core presser, pencil board impregnator, core impregnator, pencil mass grinder, core unwinder, core thread cutter, mixer, sorter in the production of pencils, core dryer, blender , grinder of rods, stamper of pencils. Of course, the exact number and types of specialists that will be required to work at the factory depend on the size of production, the assortment, the technologies used and the budget.

Finished products are sold, as a rule, through wholesale companies. The produced batches of pencils are too large, so it is impractical for manufacturers to work directly with retail chains.

It is difficult to name the exact payback period for the pencil manufacturing business. First of all, they depend on the volume of production and the initial start-up capital. In addition, during the first time, all profits will most likely be invested in promoting their products on the market, since competition among manufacturers of pencils and colored pencils is very high (especially among Western manufacturers, with which domestic factories cannot yet compete in terms of the quality of their products). their products). The minimum payback period, according to some data, is from 2-3 years (for a small enterprise).

Lilia Sysoeva
- portal of business plans and guidelines

Hi all brains! In today's project, we will make a simple pencil with our own hands using a cutting machine and a router. In this way, you will get rid of unnecessary wooden blanks and feel like a real master.

Step 1: Cutting out the pencil blanks

Cut two thin strips of wood from your favorite wood. The size doesn't matter as we will determine the exact size in the final steps of the project.

Step 2: Grooving

Using the v-bit of the router, cut a small groove in each piece. It is needed to hold the pencil lead.

Step 3: Choosing Leads

Drawing slates can be purchased online, such as Amazon.

Step 4: Bonding

Add a large amount of wood glue to each half of the blank and insert the lead into the groove.

Step 5: Clamping

Pull the resulting workpiece with a clamp and let dry for at least one hour.

Step 6: Trim to Size

Now cut your pencil to the correct size. I took the finished pencil and made the necessary measurements of all sides.

Step 7: Cut to Length

Cut the pencil to length. See the attached photo of this process.

Step 8: Sanding

Using a block with glued sandpaper and two pieces of wood joined at a 120° angle, I sanded my pencil at the required angles to create a hexagonal shape.

Step 9: Finish processing

Optionally add a protective layer of polyurethane for an unsurpassed appearance your pencil.

Step 10: Coloring

Optionally dip the tip of the pencil into white paint for a decorative finish.

Step 11: Sharpening Your Pencil

Now you can sharpen the finished simple pencil.

Please note that different types of wood require a different approach to the manufacture and processing of a pencil.

The pencil has become an absolutely indispensable thing in human life. Starting from kindergarten, he accompanies a person at school, university, at home and in the office. Finally, it is simply necessary when solving crossword puzzles.

The total cost of a complete set of necessary equipment, which is required in order to organize a medium-sized production of pencils, starts at two million rubles.

How much does a used line in a complete set cost? To this must be added the cost of renting a production facility, which for a small workshop should have an area of ​​​​at least fifty square meters, as well as the purchase of raw materials, wages of workers and utility costs.

It is rather difficult to name the exact payback periods for such a business as the production of pencils. First of all, they depend on the volume of products produced and on the starting (initial) capital.

In addition, during the initial time, all profits are most often invested in promotion on the market, since competition among companies that produce not only simple, but also colored pencils is quite high, especially among Western factories, with which domestic ones compete little due to high quality. the products they produce. However, many experts say that the minimum payback period for small businesses is two or three years.

Technology

The production of pencils is carried out according to the following technologies. Previously, the wooden blank is carefully sanded, then the body is primed four times, since a decrease in the number of passes leads to insufficient surface smoothness. The primer, filling all the irregularities in the tree, provides it with strength for subsequent painting. Then the hull is painted.

Savings at each stage of the technological process, although it reduces the cost of produced pencils, however, leads to a deterioration in their quality. In addition, the environmental friendliness of the final product is also important, depending on the composition of the varnish covering the body of the product. It is known that children, and sometimes adults, are very fond of chewing writing instruments. Therefore, the varnish must be water-based and not contain harmful chemical solvents.

What materials are needed

For the manufacture of simple pencils, not only the composition of the lead - clay and graphite - is of no small importance. It also affects the quality of the wood. How the pencil is made depends on how the finished product will subsequently look, and how easy it will be sharpened. The cheapest goods, intended for undemanding buyers, are made from alder. The wood of such pencils is both unsightly in appearance, and has a gray color, and does not hold the lead very firmly.

Wood

The most common type of wood, which fully satisfies all the requirements for raw materials when the production of pencils is organized, is linden.

In addition, it grows almost everywhere and is a sufficiently viscous material to hold the rod tightly.

A higher quality and, accordingly, more expensive pencil is a product made from pine, cedar, and also a tropical jelutong tree, production characteristics which are very high. But the most valuable is the raw material from California cedar. Stationery made from this tree is very expensive and is considered prestigious.

stylus

First, a pencil core is made from clay with graphite. It is the proportions of these components that determine the hardness of the lead. Moreover, the more graphite, the softer the structure will be. And vice versa, if there is a lot of kaolin in the lead, the composition of simple pencils will turn out to be more solid.

It is very important how the stationery is sharpened. A neat and even chip is ensured by the quality of the wood. At the same time, it is very important that the rod is located in the center of the body, because if this technology the production of pencils is disrupted, the lead is cut unevenly during sharpening.

In addition, to prevent the stem from breaking if pencils are dropped, many office supply manufacturers use what is known as SV lead sizing. In this case, it breaks only at the sharpened tip, and not inside the case.

Paint stage

This third and also very important element in production does not allow less than seven layers of pencil coloring, otherwise the wood will become covered with burrs. Well-known companies that are serious about the quality of their products usually start with twelve layers. Whereas the production of high-priced pencils involves coloring up to eighteen, sometimes up to twenty times. Then this stationery will have a high gloss and literally a mirror surface.

Equipment

Equipment for the production of pencils is diverse. Clay cleaning requires a crusher and special mills. Clay diluted in water is poured with liquid glass to rid it of impurities, including sand. Then, according to the recipe, graphite and a binder, which is made from starch, are added to it. The core mass must have a certain temperature and humidity. The slightest deviation leads to deterioration of raw materials.

The carefully beaten “dough”, kneaded with graphite and clay, is sent to a screw press, where it is formed using rollers with three different gaps. As a result, the mass is crushed, becoming homogeneous. Air bubbles with excess moisture are removed from it. The thickness of the dough after re-processing is gradually reduced from one to 0.25 millimeters.

Then the mass is passed through a die with holes, where it turns into a kind of "noodles" - into cylinders, from which the press already squeezes out a rod with the required length and diameter. The rods are thoroughly dried in drying ovens, where continuous rotation takes place for fifteen or sixteen hours. The humidity of the finished element should not be more than half a percent. After drying, they are calcined already in the oven in special crucibles.

Colour pencils

Colored pencil leads are made somewhat differently. They contain pigments, as well as fillers with binders and fattening agents. Clay or kaolin is the main raw material.

Each more or less large manufacturer has its own recipe for making leads, which is kept a great secret. Many additive factories use dyes and waxes, as well as natural cellulose-based fillers and binders.

The cores of colored pencils do not undergo heat treatment, since color pigments can be destroyed under the influence of high temperatures.

At the stage when fat is added, which gives a color mark and keeps it on paper, two different technologies are used: the so-called hot or cold “preparation”.

In the first case, it is carried out immediately after drying, while the leads are moistened in hot fat. Most often, this technology is used in the production of high-quality watercolor pencils.

With cold preparation, fat is added to the mixture. As a rule, this method is used when the production of medium quality pencils with lead from organic pigments is established.