Art Supply "Advice" from a Nobody - Dongxu Woodless Pencils

[wayfaringwordhack]

 I bought a 6-pack of Dongxu-Art Black Woodless Graphite Pencils, opting to try them out rather than a more expensive (and already-known-to-me) brand.  I regret my decision.  I don't really like the way they lay the graphite down, but I have had worse.  My biggest gripe with them is how breakable they are.  I dropped one and it snapped.  Ok, I thought, that one is on me.  But yesterday, I was holding a paper against a window, and using the sunlight like a light-table to do a reverse tracing on some fancy lettering for my Jack and the Beanstalk cover. 

I was not applying excessive pressure, and the pencil just snapped in half in my hand.

:(

Not happy.

Comments

[asakiyume]

What does "woodless" mean in this context. Are they pencils that are only the graphite?

[wayfaringwordhack]

Yes, they are a solid stick of graphite. There is a super thin plastic film over them that is printed with the brand name and the soft- or hardness of the graphite.

[asakiyume]

Now you’ve got me wondering how wooden pencils get the graphite down the middle—I know people have been making them that way since at least Thoreau’s time. I guess the answer is one internet query away…

[wayfaringwordhack]

Did you make your query of the Internet Oracle? ;)

[asakiyume]

I did! And I found out that pencils are made by sandwiching the graphite between two wood halves. this 5 minute video shows how they're made in a modern factory, and Wikipedia and other pages gave good explanations for the process in the past.

[wayfaringwordhack]

That was my thought because I have actually seen videos of it (and having had several pencils fall apart along those lines over the years), but then, in my tiredness, I began to doubt myself. :P