logical deduction - How do I arrange pencils so they all touch each other?

How do you arrange 6 pencils so that each one touches the other five? And what about 7 or 8?

Answer

You need 2 layers. First arrange 2 pencils that spread outwards touching by the erasers, like a V, then slide one with the pencil tip in between. Then you can repeat the process with 3 more, sideways, laying on the original, this achieves 6:

You can also achieve an arrangement of 7 by making 3 V's of 2, an arranging them like a ninja star (not really sure how else to explain it) you may need to tie them with the V's because 1 pencil has to be on the other, it could be tough to balance. This is 6, you can add one more, upright to achieve a 7th:

I believe 8 may be impossible.

Note: The matchstick version, and images, can be found here;

http://brainden.com/forum/index.php/topic/148-touch/

I did not use it for the first solution, I found that myself (really proud) but it's where the second answer came from.