Graphite Pencil Degrees of Hardness Explained (2024)

FAQs

Graphite Pencil Degrees of Hardness Explained? ›

The "grade" or "hardness" of the pencil indicates the ratio of graphite to clay. The more graphite that is in a pencil, the softer it is. This means that it's darker, smoother, smudgier and doesn't hold as sharp of a point. The more clay that is in a pencil, the harder it is.

The 19 degrees of graphite pencil hardness are: 14B, 12B, 10B, 8B, 7B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, and 6H. Graphite pencils with hardness degrees of 3B to 8B are ideal for artistic, pictorial drawing with their very soft to extra soft, very black graphite.

(The "H" stands for "hard".) "B" pencils feature softer graphite. (The "B" stands for "black".) The number found in front of the letter reveals just how soft or hard the pencil is. In other words, a "4H" pencil is harder than a "2H" pencil while a "4B" pencil is softer than a "2B" pencil.

2B pencils are better suited to students with faint handwriting that is difficult to read as the lead is thicker and darker. HB pencils are a better choice for students who apply too much pressure as the lead is harder and lighter, making it more difficult to smudge.

A #2 pencil is the same as an HB, with lower numbers for softer pencils and higher numbers for harder. This numbered system only covers a range from B to 2H - enough to cover most office use, but not enough range for drawing and sketching.

For simple sketching, the HB pencil is probably the most popular, with artists also favoring the H and the B pencils. For preliminary sketches that will be used as a guide for a painting or illustration, the lighter 2H–4H pencils are ideal.

The higher the number, the harder the lead and, therefore, the lighter your mark will be. For example, a “2H” means that your pencil has a hard lead which makes it suitable for drawing light lines or writing lightly. On the other hand, if you want bolder lines, you should choose a softer lead like “4B” or “6B”.

All three of these pencil styles include special features that make Ticonderoga The World's Best Pencil^®. They're constructed of premium wood from responsibly managed forests and engineered to sharpen easily with minimal breakage.

2B is much softer and won't stay sharp, but it is smoother. It can produce variation between light and dark with different levels of pressure. It's good for filling in dark areas, like shadows and facial contours. You can see the different ways we use graphite drawing pencils here.

2 and/or HB pencils are widely considered to be the ideal lead grade for writing (and they're required for many standardized tests), which makes this Golden Bear pencil a perfect choice for elementary school and beyond.

What does f stand for in pencils? ›

The F pencil grade means Fine. This pencil is hard which means that it maintains a fine point. What makes a pencil grade harder or softer? The core of a graphite pencil is a mix of graphite and clay filler.

A mechanical pencil or clutch pencil is a pencil with a replaceable and mechanically extendable solid pigment core called a "lead" /ˈlɛd/. The lead, often made of graphite, is not bonded to the outer casing, and the user can mechanically extend it as its point is worn away from use.

The hardness of minerals is compared using the Mohs Hardness Scale, a relative scale numbered 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest). Graphite is very soft and has a hardness of 1 to 2 on this scale.

9H is the lightest and hardest graphite pencil. So a B6 is softer and darker than a B2. An 6H is harder and lighter than a 2H and much harder and lighter than a HB or a B pencil. Sometimes you can find an F pencil which is a slightly harder version of HB, meaning you can sharpen it to an even finer point.

On the Mohs scale, a pencil lead has a hardness of 1; a fingernail has hardness 2.5; a copper penny, about 3.5; a knife blade, 5.5; window glass, 5.5; steel file, 6.5. Using these ordinary materials of known hardness can be a simple way to approximate the position of a mineral on the scale.

GRAPHITE SCALE COMPARISONS

Generally, an HB grade about the middle of the scale is considered to be equivalent to a #2 pencil using the U.S. numbering system. In reality however, there is no specific industry standard for the darkness of the mark to be left within the HB or any other hardness grade scale.