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Mark Llobrera

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How Pencils Are Made

You ever read/view something, say to yourself, “That would make a good blog post,” and totally forget to bookmark it? After my colleague Katie mentioned that the Philadelphia Museum of Art had a pencil bar, I told her I had just seen a post with behind-the-scenes videos of pencils being made.

Except: I didn’t have the link anywhere in my Pinboard, and my browser history didn’t turn up any hits. Turns out:

The music on the Faber-Castell video is a bit … much, but I am fascinated by the multi-stage process. The Derwent video is (as noted by Jason Kottke) less slick, but it’s also more soothing as a result.

Some related bits ’n bobs:

My friend Henry and I were discussing note-taking tools, and he mentioned that he’d been using some of the Blackwing line. I’ve always preferred a pen, but I’m starting to think I should give pencils a try.