The humble No. 2 Pencil

August 8, 2020 – The humble No. 2 Pencil

 

         I have an affinity for Paper Mate’s Sharpwriter #2 USA, mechanical pencils, as I use them exclusively to work my Sudoku puzzles that keep my mind agile.

          But, we are in the Covid19 supply chain nightmare and I’ve dug in all my chests and drawers and I am down to my last two.

         Added to the shopping list I have discovered that they are now, as the Yankee saying goes, as scarce as hen’s teeth.  Over the years I have purchased them at countless stores, but now that I need some, and want some, I am left empty handed.

          So, next, let’s improvise, let us try another brand.  $3.72 for another brand?  Are they crazy?  I never paid that price before.  Now you say – GEE is she cheap.  Not only am I cheap, but they are multi-colored, I have an affection for the yellow Paper Mate noted above, with the soft eraser that works.  I have found that the other brands have this white, waxy eraser that smears rather than erases the graphite.

          What are my humble options?  Well, there are old fashioned, ubiquitous, yellow pencils made out of 100% wood, that give me the No. 2 graphite, but better still, the soft eraser, much needed for my Sudoku worksheets.  Yes, I have to erase occasionally.  In fact, my usual routine is printing off eight sheets, in the large print format, from Websudoku and work them until I get them all accomplished.

          On a good mental health day, I can get eight perfect.  Other, more stressful days, I get about six and two just won’t come together.  I set those to the side, and erase what I have attempted before and start again.  Yes, the eraser, for me is a necessary part of the No. 2 graphite experience.

          In the last of three stores on my circle tour of buying groceries among other things, I have a choice of Ticonderoga Dixon Wooden Pencils, made with sustainable wood sources, [https://weareticonderoga.com/our-story/]  made in the USA.  On their website they say, “Sharpen your mind and ideas with an iconic Ticonderoga.”  That is fine advertising, but this day I found the packet of pencils too pricey as they comment here in the South.

          I opted for the cheap two packs for $1 that were on the School Supply special, I fingered the packages and made certain they were not manufactured in China – made in Vietnam – that was interesting in itself.  I also made sure they had those lovely erasers I like and that the enamel was smooth.  As a side note, I was impressed with the perfect stamping “GRAPHITE No.2 HB” on each as I fingered the package, running my finger tip over the stamping looking for imperfections and found none.

         My theory, if the stamping was quality, then the pencils will be quality and I snapped up two packages and had no choice but to purchase a small battery operated pencil sharpener.  My choice on that item was purple or purple or purple. 

          Why purple of all colors?  I detest purple, I can count the purple items in my home on one hand: a scarf given to me as a joke indicating that I was now old enough to where purple, a bracelet I got in one of those Santa gift exchanges I kept only to wear with the purple scarf, and a purple blouse that is polyester and refuses to wear out which I wear under a neutral sweater so that it is not noticeable.  I highlight the outfit with the above scarf and bracelet and for some unknown reason I am always complimented on my outfit and I usually toss them an eye-roll.  Let me get back to yellow pencils.

          Once I bought the batteries to go in the small pencil sharpener I shook my head and said, self – you saved money on the pencils, but then you outlay money for batteries and sharpener – you are insane, you’ve spent more.

          Okay, but I wanted pencil lead with the erasers.

          Later in the evening, I put the batteries in the small sharpener – the battery door does not latch – I have it taped shut as I am not going back to exchange it, and I sharpened a box of pencils.  Eight pencils, I felt short changed, I thought they always came by the dozen.

          Life sure has changed over the years, 8 in a box instead of 12, hand held battery operated sharpeners that need tape across the bottom to hold the batteries in, but I got the erasers.  I guess the trade off was okay, I guess this is the new normal.

          Then, I started to wonder how pencils are made as I was sharpening eight of them, one at a time.  I could smell the familiar cedar shavings as I emptied the sharpener – ooh, that latch works, things are looking up.

          How do they get the graphite in the pencil?  Possibly the rest of you know this, but I didn’t, pencils are made of two halves of wood that are glued together over the graphite mixed with clay inserts.

          And, lastly, I was reminded of a Toast Master’s meeting where a college professor challenged me with an impromptu question.

          “You are a No. 2 Pencil, tell me about yourself.”

          Trust me, I mentally started with “Um . .” yet spoke for one minute without shaming myself too much.

          Below are a couple of links -

 WebSudoku – has three levels

 https://www.websudoku.com/?level=2

 A curiously interesting video about someone making pencils from wooden pallets as an advertising stunt for Carolina boots.

 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+are+No.+2+pencils+made&qpvt=how+are+No.+2+pencils+made&view=detail&mid=06C5541C5EC2A846029706C5541C5EC2A8460297&&FORM=VRDGAR

 Then, the standard Wikipedia know how.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification