Garglemonster wrote in message ...
I've always wondered why the properties of colored lead can't
be made comparable to black, but I suppose there's a good
reason.

the black stuff is graphite, but the coloured stuff is something else:
pigment and some substrate, wax, clay, chalk, or a combination
thereof.

There used to be Norma 4-color mechanical pencils about 40-50 years
ago; we all had them in medical school to draw those complicated
diagrams. Just found one at an antique sale - memories.

LL