Graphite pencil hardness grading and typical applications
Tone and grade designations
Character Application examples
Europe USA RUS
9B – –
8B – –
for artistic purposes:
7B – –
extremely soft,
black sketches
6B – – studies
drafts
5B – –
4B – –
3B – –
2B – 2М soft freehand drawing
writing (restricted)
B #1 M
HB #2 TM
medium writing
F #2½ *
– linear drawing
H #3 T
technical drawing
hard
mathematical
2H #4 2T drawing
3H – –
technical detailed
4H – – very hard plans
graphical
representations
5H – –
6H – –
for special purposes:
7H – –
extremely hard,
light grey lithography
8H – –
cartography
xylography
9H – –
*
Also seen as 22/4 , 24/8 , 2.5, 25/10
Koh-i-noor offers twenty grades from 10H to 8B for its 1500 series.[72] Mitsubishi Pencil offers twenty-two grades from 10H to
10B for its Hi-uni range.[73] Derwent produces twenty grades from 9H to 9B for its graphic pencils. [74] Staedtler produces 24
from 10H to 12B for its Mars Lumograph pencils.[75]
Numbers as designation were first used by Conté and later by John Thoreau, father of Henry David Thoreau, in the 19th
century.[76] Although Conté/Thoreau's equivalence table is widely accepted,[citation needed] not all manufacturers follow it; for
example, Faber-Castell uses a different equivalence table in its Grip 2001 pencils: 1 = 2B, 2 = B, 2½ = HB, 3 = H, 4 = 2H.
Pencil hardness test
Graded pencils can be used for a rapid test that provides relative ratings for a series of coated panels but can't be used to
compare the pencil hardness of different coatings. This test defines a "pencil hardness" of a coating as the grade of the
hardest pencil that does not permanently mark the coating when pressed firmly against it at a 45 degree angle. [77][78] For
standardized measurements, there are Mohs hardness testing pencils on the market.
External colour and shape of pencils
A typical yellow no. 2 pencil
The majority of pencils made in the US are painted yellow.[79] According to Henry Petroski,[80] this tradition began in 1890
when the L. & C. Hardtmuth Company of Austria-Hungary introduced their Koh-I-Noor brand, named after the famous
diamond. It was intended to be the world's best and most expensive pencil, and at a time when most pencils were either
painted in dark colours or not at all, the Koh-I-Noor was yellow. As well as simply being distinctive, the colour may have
been inspired by the Austro-Hungarian flag; it was also suggestive of the Orient at a time when the best-quality graphite
came from Siberia. Other companies then copied the yellow colour so that their pencils would be associated with this high-
quality brand, and chose brand names with explicit Oriental references, such as Mikado (renamed Mirado) [81][82] and Mongol.[83]
[84]
Not all countries use yellow pencils. German and Brazilian pencils, for example, are often green, blue or black, based on the
trademark colours of Faber-Castell, a major German stationery company which has plants in those countries. In southern
European countries, pencils tend to be dark red or black with yellow lines, while in Australia, they are red with black bands at
one end. In India, the most common pencil colour scheme was dark red with black lines, and pencils with a large number of
colour schemes are produced.[citation needed]
Pencils are commonly round, hexagonal, or sometimes triangular in section. Carpenters' pencils are typically oval or
rectangular, so they cannot easily roll away during work.
Notable pencil users
Thomas Edison had his pencils specially made by Eagle Pencil. Each pencil was three inches long, was thicker
than standard pencils and had softer graphite than was normally available. [33]
Charles Fraser-Smith During World War II, Fraser-Smith worked for the Ministry of Supply, fabricating equipment
nicknamed "Q-devices" (after Q-ships) for SOE agents operating in occupied Europe. In 1942, Charles Fraser-Smith,
who worked in MI9, arrived at the Cumberland pencil factory, he had an idea to create a secret map and compass
pencil. These were given to Lancaster Bomber airmen and were made secretly under the Official Secrets Act, in
Keswick.[85]
Vladimir Nabokov rewrote everything he had ever published, usually several times, in pencil. [33]
John Steinbeck was an obsessive pencil user and is said[by whom?] to have used as many as 60 a day. His novel East
of Eden took more than 300 pencils to write.[33]
Vincent van Gogh used only Faber pencils as they were "superior to Carpenters pencils, a capital black and most
agreeable".[33][86]
Johnny Carson regularly played with pencils at his Tonight Show desk. These pencils were specially made with
erasers at both ends to avoid on-set accidents.[87]
Roald Dahl used only pencils with yellow casing to write his books. He had 6 sharpened pencils ready at the
beginning of each day and only when all 6 pencils became unusable did he resharpen them. [88]
