So wird’s gemacht

Aus „A Text­book on Orna­men­tal Design. Geo­me­tri­cal Dra­wing, Free­hand Dra­wing, His­to­ric Orna­ment“ (1901):

The pen­cil should be shar­pe­ned as shown at A, Fig. 14. Cut the wood away as to leave about ½ or ⅜ of an inch of the lead pro­jec­ting; then shar­pen it flat by rub­bing it against a fine file or a piece of fine emery cloth or sand­pa­per that has been fas­tened to a flat stick. Grind it to a sharp edge like a knife blade, and round the cor­ners very slightly, as shown in the figure. If shar­pe­ned to a round point, as shown in B, the point will wear away very quickly and make broad lines; when so shar­pe­ned it is dif­fi­cult to draw a line exactly through a point. The lead for the com­pas­ses should be shar­pe­ned in the same man­ner as the pen­ciil, but should have its width nar­rower. Be sure that the com­pass lead is so secu­red that, when cir­cles are struck in eit­her direc­tion, but one line will be drawn with the same radius and center.