How Pencils Are Made

The history of pencils can be traced back to pre-historic times when chalky rocks and charred sticks were used to draw on surfaces as varied as animal hides and cave walls.

Then, graphite sticks wrapped in string were used for writing purposes. Later, the graphite was inserted into hollowed-out wooden sticks and, thus, the wood-cased pencil was born. Even in our increasingly high-tech world, each year roughly 2 billion low-tech pencils are sold in the U.S. and 14 billion are sold worldwide.

So how are pencils made in factories?