graphite

Anyone know a source of graphite in common everyday type stuff on industry. I'm looking for a small bar or rod of it, but prefer not to pay to buy it from ebay or chem supplier. I seem to remember its used commonly in a certain item or industry, but can't for the life of me recall the details.

I think brushes in electric motors have graphite in them. Or sold in stores in powder form as lubricant.

i heard lead pencils were graphite

Thanks guys. I actually used a pencil lead as a proof of concept, and it is graphite.

I'm looking for something larger, a rod or bar about the size of a whole pencil would be perfect. I have a bunch of powdered graphite for lube, I wonder if I could press it in a tube on my press. Not sure if it would hold together without a binder or not.

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i remember as a kid, some kids had graphite bats. so maybe check old baseball bats. not sure how much of it is graphite or not.

might check old secondhand rummage shops. I recall some huge pencils from way back, they really weren't made to use but to hang on the wall. The lead in them would be about that size.

Thanks Bear, you just triggered my memory. I think there are bars or rods of it that artists use for doing tracings or shading in pencil type artwork.

I have found vacuum motors have rectangular blocks of graphite in them around 1cm x1cm x5cm. Not sure if this is still a little small for you though.

Aren't the rods in nuclear reactors graphite that absorb electrons?

Check at any art supply store. Here is one that I found on the net really quick. E-bay would probably offer some good pricing as well.

http://www.artsuppliesunlimited.com/arwagrst2.html