Graphite leads, pencil writing, long-term preservation

[cekt957w]

Hello.

 

I'm new to the community, and happy to be here.

 

I tried searching the forum but I could not find any information on the subject. For context, I like to take notes of everything, and I'm interested in preserving the notes for very long periods of time. From my own research, i understand that graphite has a much higher lightfast rating than that of inks. But not all graphite cores are the same. Pencil hardness is a factor and its additives included in the mix of graphite and clay. I'm not very knowledgeable on this subject, but to me, a hardness of B (more graphite than clay) will outlive a hardness of H (more clay than graphite). Though i may be mistaken. The hardness that I like to write with is H, specifically 2H, 3H, 4H. This is because I like the core to stay sharp for a longer time. An HB, for example, doesn't even last half a an A4 page when I take notes.

 

Some questions off the top of my head...

Does the hardness matter in writing longevity?

Does the way you write matter; pressing down when you write?

Does the type matter, mechanical lead vs wooden pencil?

Do you we have any lightfast ratings on graphite pencils? A quick search online lists color leads, which makes sense because most people are interested in drawings, rather than writing. But I'm interested in graphite.

 

Has anyone ever done some tests, or researched this? At the moment, I'm writing with lead holders, with the Koh-I-Noor K190 2mm leads, but I can't any information on their leads, composition, ratings, nothing.

 

This should be an open discussion, and would appreciate any information, materials, research that you can provide.

 

Thank you.

[Chris1]

An interesting question and I can't claim any expertise other than to say that artists use graphite pencils for their drawings and these last a long time. I suspect that something in the softer and darker range is going to be better, but not so soft that it will smudge badly.

 

If it was me, I'd be looking at a B or 2B from a well-known pencil manufacturer, possibly HB or 3B as extremes in either direction but not an H or 4B as the one is a bit feint and hard, the other dark and soft and possibly prone to smudging. 

 

But I wouldn't be worried about the pencil line fading in the light, at least not for a century or so.

 

I'll be interested to hear other's point of view; as I say, I'm no expert on this.

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

On 3/2/2024 at 6:12 AM, cekt957w said:

This is because I like the core to stay sharp for a longer time. An HB, for example, doesn't even last half a an A4 page when I take notes.

 

 

One solution for this, is to have multiple lead holders loaded with 2H, 3H and 4H leads from multiple manufacturers and experiment with different papers.

 

Have you tried finer leads for lead holders, the size used with vintage lead holder?

 

Many document written in pencil, during previous centuries are still very legible, I don't know what lead hardness was used or, was the most common, in each century,

 

I don't know when the first lead holders were invented, but I have seen some from the Victorian era. 

 

 

It would also be helpful to know where you are located, the location doesn't

 have to be specific, you can share, the continent or the country you live in or be more precise, if you wish, like sharing the name of the nearest big city.

 

Members who live in the same vicinity, can, then, share their experience with the most common leads, leadholders and best paper to use for lead point longevity.

 

You can take a look at the "what pencil are you using today?" thread, that is several years old to get an idea of the general trends for contemporary pencils and lead holders users.

 

 

 

[Claes]

Hi @cekt957w

The softer the grade, the more graphite will be transformed onto the page;

thus the softer the grade, the faster it will wear out.

 

>a hardness of H (more clay than graphite)

 

Nowadays, polymers are used instead of clay.

 

I believe you can still obtain grades from 10B to 10H, at least in wooden pencils,

Some Japanese manufacturers offer additional grades, like HBS (HB soft), and HBH (HB hard),

in their 0.5mm lead.

 

Check Uni's range of Kuru Toga 0.5mm mech pencils, which rotate the lead automatically

each time you press onto the paper, thus keeping the lead relative sharp all the time 🙂

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tim77]

I was interested to learn that the history of the pencil is relatively recent.  Graphite deposits were discovered in the 16th century, but adoption by artists was apparently rather slow.  Some used graphite to mark out paintings in the 18th century but pencil drawings remained rare until the 19th century.

 

Hopefully somebody with more authority on this subject will comment, but I think we can expect that graphite has a lifetime of more than 2 centuries.  Prehistoric drawings used carbon pigment made from burnt bone or vegetable matter, and the carbon remains present today to allow for radioactive dating.

 

[langere]

The ony thing that I can add is that pencil marks stick around for a long time..  However, their legibility appears to taper off more quickly than ink (probably iron gall).

 

I am working right now on a military campaign diary of Francis Burdett O'Connor, who recorded the patriot army marching from Peru into what is now Bolivia in 1824.  He wrote (exceptionally so- - most of his other writings are in ink). His handwriting was never great, but I am having real difficulty deciphering his pencil marks.  I can understand about 70% of his writing, rather than the more than 90% for the other documents.

 

Erick

[txomsy]

May I point out that one of the advantages of graphite is that it can be erased? And smeared with a stomp or your finger?

 

You can still see graphite drafts from Leonardo. But that does not mean you cannot erase them.

 

Artists that want to preserve their drawings use fixative, which comes in two kinds:

 

Workable, meaning that it fixes what you have drawn/written and allows you to draw/write over previous layers without smearing them.

 

Regular fixative, used to provide a preservation layer over the graphite/charcoal/chalk/pastel drawing.

 

And the poor man's fixative, hair spray, which doesn't last or protect so much, may yellow with time, but is cheap and can protect your drawings for some time if not exposed to light too much.

 

Winsor & Newton Artists’ Fixative is among of the most recommended ones.

 

Other than that, all graphites (whether wooden encased, used as bare leads, used in clutches or holders, etc...) will be prone to smudging and to erasing in the appropriate conditions.

[tim77]

Leonardo da Vinci considerably predates the discovery of graphite!  He may have used charcoal (which arguably contains graphite, but is rarely described as such), but more often silverpoint and ink.  Silverpoint is much harder to erase than pencil.

[txomsy]

My bad then. Sorry, that's what happens when I don't check the facts in a hurry.

 

Anyway, most of these dry techniques smear and can be erased with more or least ease. Ensuring preservation is paramount to artists, specially if you want to sell your work and don't want customers to damage it just by handling it.

 

Fixative is your friend.

[Claes]

Leonardo's SIlver point is supposed to be indelible.

BUT: it calls for a special "substrate", i.e. you have to prepare

the surface with a thin coat of chalk/clay &c, to obtain a bit of "tooth".

That "tooth" rips off silver particles, those on the surface oxidize

rapidly. These strokes cannot be erased.

 

A local silver smith gave me two small "lead shaped" fine-silver rods,

one as 2mm, one as 0.9mm, which could be inserted into a common

mech pencil. Certain art suppliers sell full-length 2mm silver "lead",

to be used in FixPencil77 type pens.

 

Here is much more info in case you want to dive down: https://silverpointweb.com/

 

I'll try to locate them in a while, and will show how they behave...

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

[Claes]

In case you want to learn more about pencils, Henry Petroski's 500-page book "The Pencil" is highly recommended.

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

[Estycollector]

What makes the Mitsubishi 9850 and the Palamino Blackwing 602 my favorite is a nice dark script with little or no pressure. 

[Claes]

What is the difference between Mitsubishi's 5850 and 9850? I have only seen the 9850 one.

[Lithium466]

Likely a typo.

[Estycollector]

Sorry, @Claes and @Lithium466. I edited my post. 

[Claes]

Too bad, I was hoping to learn something new :-))))))))))))

[Claes]

Example of silver point writing on a hastily prepared substrate.

I cheated and used Acrylic Gesso, it was faster 🙂

Actually, the substrate ought to be perfectly even, flat and burnished a bit to really obtain the perfect surface.

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

[Graywolf503]

As many others have said above, you may want to consider metalpoint. The ancient Romans used to do some writing and marking with lead metal. Some of the more famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci used to use silver. As noted above, special substrates were prepared that had a rough surface. A good substrate can be purchased today as stone paper.

Cheap versions of these “pencils” can be purchased on Amazon under the name of forever, endless, inkless, infinity, eternal pencils. These pencils use compressed graphite. A quite stylish version that does use metal, the Forever Pininfarina Cambiano Pen, can also be purchased.

 I should note that I own one of the Forever Pininfarina Cambiano Pens. All of these versions of pencils using metal give lighter marks more in the H range, and don't smudge. Indeed if you look at some of the reviews you will see many of the people complain of the lightness of the marks. If you use stone paper more material is laid down as the surface of the paper is rougher and thus the marks are darker.

Many drawings using silver are hundreds of years old and hold up well. They should hold up for your lifetime.

[txomsy]

In addition, remember silver tends to get darker brown with time as it oxidizes. What starts as a light mark may become darker with time.

 

And, remember as well, they were used in Art... and they still are. It may be easier to find a legit, good (and cheaper) silverpoint stylus if you look for them in Art supply stores for artist brands (e.g. Cretacolor).

[Mech-for-i]

May I made an addition , well yes many sketches and drawing last a long time but heed this artist used and uses sealent on top of their paintings and drawings and the top coat sealent is what keeping the drawings and paintings , an archival grade acid free paper as a base and a good firm writing or drawing using today's pencils or mechanical pencils ( aka lead ) can last a long time for sure , but ultimately the graphite on top will simply fade , tear off from the surface leaving only the tinted top fabric surface mark , it will take a very long time or just a short time depending on conditions the actual piece are stored

 

For ages pass , animal based sealent are used such as bee wax , and today we had industrial produced sealent