It is usual to inclose the material constituting the essential part of the pencil in a case of wood, for its protection from breakage, and to prevent its soiling the hands. The wood (generally cedar) is first sawn into thin boards, about half the thickness of the intended pencils; these are then cut into small pieces about 10 in. long by 6 in width, which are placed in the cutting and grooving machine. This machine consists princi pally of two circular saws—one very thin and so set that it will cut through the board; the other revolving within the eighth of an in. of it, so set as only to cut a fine square groove in the wood. Be means of this machine the little boards are cut into straight square sticks, each having a groove on one surface. Into these grooves the little pre pared sticks of black-lead are laid and covered with a similar piece of wood, but not grooved. A workman, who is called the "fastener-up," having glued the inner faces of the two pieces of wood, presses them together and sets them to dry; after which they are passed through the rounding-machine, dressed with a semicircular smoothing-plane, cut at the ends, and then polished by rubbing them with a piece of shark-skin. The last
process is stamping them with the maker's name and the letter which designates their peculiar quality. These letters are II, IIII, IIIIIT, B. BB, BBB, IIB, FS. II signifies hard; repeated twice and thrice, it means harder and very hard. B means black, 1113 hard and so on. FS signifies fine stroke.
Chalk-pencils are made in a similar manner, only that finely-powdered colored chalks. pitch as are used for crayons are substituted for the black-lead. Previous to pressing and cutting the chalk, it is mixed with a little hot melted wax, which gives it softness and adhesiveness.
Slate-pencils for writing on slate are made either by cutting slate into thin sticks and rounding them, or by cutting it into fine square slips, and encasing them in wood, as in the case of black-lead, etc.