Photo 1: Part of the Cumberland Pencil Museum
Photo 1: Part of the Cumberland Pencil Museum |
We woke up on Tuesday to <100 foot visibility, so we had a leisurely breakfast and read for a while waiting for the fog to lift. We were thankful that we had taken the boat tours of the lake on Monday when we could see the countryside. When it was (relatively) safe to go back out on the road, we drove about 20 miles up over the pass and down into Keswick, home of the Pencil Museum(!) |
 Photo 2: An automatic-feed milling machine. Slats of California redwood get their grooves. |
According to the story, naturally occurring graphite was discovered early in the 15th century and a cottage industry started up making pencils from the stuff. (Coal and diamond are the two other natural forms of carbon.) When the local natural graphite ran out in the 18th century, they started importing raw materials from all over the globe. The Pencil Museum is on the site of the Cumberland Pencil Co. and includes lots of little interesting bits of information about the making of pencils. |
 Photo 3: Colored leads ("strips") being glued between the grooved slats. |
After the pencil museum, we made our way through the pouring rain to a bakery/restaurant in Keswick for lunch and then visited some of the shops along the main street, most particularly, a discount book shop. The weather cleared up by the time we left Keswick and proceeded back to Ambleside over the pass. The view from the road was spectacular. |
 Photo 4: Glued flats are milled and separated into raw pencils.  |
 Photo 5: Pencils are "extruded" through a paint bath. Some pencils get more than 12 coats! |