Do you know why ‘HB’ & a number is written on pencils?

June 16: You must have noticed that wood-pencil most popularly known as pencil has the words ‘HB’ written on them. ‘HB’ pencils are the “normal” and most popular pencils, widely used by students to write.Along with ‘HB’ a number is also written on the pencil. Why are the words ‘HB’ and a number is written on the pencils?

The concept of ‘HB’ originated in Europe. Over there, the words ‘HB’ used to be written on the pencils. The English alphabet ‘H’ stands for ‘hardness’ and ‘B’ means ‘blackness’. That means ‘HB’ pencils will have strong graphite and the colour of the writing will be dark black. Higher the number, more is the darkness in case of B pencils and, lighter the color and harder lead in case of H pencils. Apart from ‘HB’ we have pencils in ‘H and ‘B’ series like H, 2H, 3H….etc and B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B etc.

There are two graphite grading scales used to measure the hardness of a pencil’s graphite core. The first graphite grading scale is a numeric scale. Using this scale, the hardness of the core is often marked on the pencil — look for a number (such as “2” “2-1/2” or “3”). Softer pencils will dull faster than harder leads and require more frequent sharpening.

The second graphite grading scale is known as the HB scale. Most pencil manufacturers outside of the U.S. use this scale, using the letter “H” to indicate a hard pencil. Likewise, a pencil maker might use the letter “B” to designate the blackness of the pencil’s mark, indicating a softer lead. The letter “F” is also used to indicate that the pencil sharpens to a fine point.

Historically, pencil makers also use combinations of letters to tell us about the graphite — a pencil marked “HB” is hard and black, a pencil marked “HH” is very hard, and a pencil marked “BBB” is really, really black! Today, however, most pencils using the HB system are designated by a number such as 2B, 4B or 2H to indicate the degree of hardness. For example, a 4B would be softer than a 2B and a 3H harder than an H.

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. Thus, a #2 or HB pencil from one brand will not necessarily leave the same mark as a #2 or HB pencil from another brand. Most pencil manufacturers set their own internal standards for graphite hardness grades and overall quality of the core, some differences are regional. Finding what works best for your own artistic and writing needs is generally a matter of personal preference and experimentation with different brands of pencils.