As a student, you are probably very familiar with stationery. Look inside your pencil case. What do you see? Maybe there are many different types of writing utensils. Have you ever wondered how they're made?
A pencil is a tool many of us use every day. Pencils have a thin lead made of graphite in the middle, and wood on the outside. To start off with, the pencil factory uses blocks of strong wood. A cutting wheel makes thin grooves in the blocks for the lead to go in. Another machine fills the grooves with glue that will hold the lead. It also provides some cushion, so the lead is less likely to break. Now, the blocks are all on a conveyor belt. Every other block is pushed out to go onto a different belt. On one belt, the blocks are rolled under a big wheel that lays the lead onto the glue.
This lead is made of graphite and clay baked at more than 800°C! Now, the other blocks are flipped over and put on top of these blocks with lead. These blocks have basically become lead sandwiches! The sandwiches are squeezed tightly for one hour to let the glue dry. Now, the blocks are sliced to separate them into individual pencils. The pencils are tested to make sure they are strong enough. Next, they are painted. They are painted with four layers to cover the wood fully. Most pencils go through a machine where the tip is squeezed and an eraser is attached. Finally, the pencils are sharpened.
Many people like colouring with crayons. How are crayons made? The first step is to mix paraffin wax and pigments together. When that is done, the mixture is poured into a crayon-shaped mold. Once the mixture cools and hardens, we have our crayon. These crayons are ejected from the mold, then they go into a machine. One part of the machine holds the crayons stationary. Another part wraps a paper label around them. That's how crayons are made.
You might prefer using markers to colour. Or maybe you like to use highlighter markers for your notes. The bright fluorescent colours are designed to grab our attention. Be careful, some markers have indelible ink. You will not be able to wash them off your clothes and other surfaces. To start making these markers, clear and coloured plastic is put in a container. The plastic is melted and pushed into pen molds. Now we have the pen barrels.
Next, the ink reservoir is added to the pen barrels. Then a back-end plug seals off the end of the marker. To get the marker colours just right, a chemist carefully mixes some dye. The mixture cannot be too thick or too thin. Once the ink is perfect, it is injected into the pen barrels. Then a machine inserts the nibs into the barrels. The last step is to snap on a cap to prevent the markers from drying.
Next time you pick up a writing utensil, you will know exactly how they were made!