The pencil “lead” is actually a mixture of graphite and clay. More clay in the mixture makes the lead harder. A harder lead has a higher number. Pencils are numbered from 1-3 but most people use a ...

Pieces of pencil lead on the floor marked up the new carpeting ... he used to steal pencils before he knew better. “That was my way of living,” he joked. These days he’s a buy-and-hold ...