10 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



THE USES OF GRAPHITE 



Contrary to the popular conception, the manufacture of lead 

 pencils requires but a comparatively small amount of graphite, only 

 about 5 per cent of the total being such material. This form of 

 graphite is the amorphous variety. Other uses to which this form 

 of material is put include electrodes for electric furnaces, dry 

 batteries, electrotyping, paints, inks and numerous other purposes. 

 A considerable amount of natural amorphous graphite is now sup- 

 planted by artificial material manufactured from coal by the heat 

 of the electric furnace. 



But we are more especially concerned with the crystalline or 

 flake variety of graphite which nature alone seems able to produce. 

 It is important to make a distinction between the two classes. 



A great share of the flake graphite is manufactured into crucibles 

 used in the production of crucible steels, brass and similar alloys. It 

 has generally been held that Ceylon graphite alone was suitable, but 

 the present shortage has resulted in the employment of domestic 

 materials, at least in part mixed with foreign graphite and found to 

 answer the purpose fairly well. The crucible manufacturers are 

 today experiencing difficulty in maintaining their former quality as 

 well as in meeting the market demands in quantity. This state of 

 affairs is accounted for by the different characters possessed by the 

 Ceylon and domestic materials and especially by the failure to 

 secure a perfect substitute for the German clay used as binder. In 

 1916 the average crucible, it was said, was capable of withstanding 

 only about half as many heats as the prewar articles. While this 

 condition has been greatly improved, still the present crucibles do 

 not equal the former in quality. 



Stoppers used in closing poring holes in the huge steel ladles 

 that receive the charges from furnaces, retorts and certain chemical 

 wares are composed of graphite. . 



Second to refractory articles in consuming a large share of the 

 supply is stove polish. The small-sized flakes (the intermediate 

 grades) of the graphite mills are employed for that purpose. 

 Graphite is being used more and more for lubrication, either in a 

 dry condition as in textile mills where oil would soil the cloth, or 

 added to lubricating oils and greases. In the latter form it is being 

 extensively used in automobile lubrication. 



The fine dust is used in metal paints and, when mixed with talc 

 etc., is used as a facing to foundry molds. 



