In 1662, the world's first pencil factory, shidelou pencil factory, was built in Nuremberg, Germany.

Later, German F. Custer established Faber Custer graphite pencil factory in Nuremberg, which used sulfur and antimony as binder and heated graphite to manufacture lead core, which made a big step forward in the manufacturing technology of graphite pencil rod. French n. J. Kant first adopted the method of washing graphite with water to improve the purity of graphite, and bonded graphite with clay to make pen refill. This method is called Kant method. It has laid the foundation for the pencil industry. Later, the French chemist Comte, after repeated tests, used clay as a reinforcing agent to make the refill more solid and wear-resistant than before. Moreover, this method is applicable to any graphite ore and is still in use today.

There was a carpenter named William Monroe in the United States. He embedded a black lead core in the grooved wooden strip, and then put the two wooden strips together to make the world's first pencil rod.