<p>H and B relate to the hardness or softness of the pencil's graphite. &quot;H&quot; stands for &quot;hard&quot; and &quot;B&quot; stands for &quot;black&quot; with &quot;F&quot; right in the middle between HB and H... though, the source of the lettering seems to be debatable according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification" rel="noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> - H stands for &quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor_Hardtmuth" rel="noreferrer">Hardtmuth</a>&quot; (the surname of the owner of an art supply company) and B stands for &quot;Budweis&quot;, the town the pencil company was relocated to but &quot;hard&quot; and &quot;black&quot; are probably more useful to remember.</p>
<p>A &quot;number 2 pencil&quot; as we (in the US) are often told to use for filling out multiple choice answers on Scantron sheets, is right in the middle, the equivalent of &quot;HB&quot;... though, according to <a href="http://pencils.com/hb-graphite-grading-scale/" rel="noreferrer">this site</a>, there's no &quot;industry standard&quot; so one company's HB may not be the same as another's. This is also explained in the Wikipedia article linked above, which notes that on some scales, the US equivalent of HB is a #2 pencil, while other manufacturers use the equivalent HB=2½.</p>
<p>As a general explanation of the differences between the grades, pencils.com shows the following image:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/c8J8T.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/c8J8T.jpg" alt="Lead hardness/softness" /></a></p>
<p>As you can see in the image, the higher the H value, the lighter the result but the finer the point, while at the other end, the higher the B value, the darker the blackness of the graphite and wider the point.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jetpens.com/blog/picking-the-perfect-pencil-hardness-grade/pt/475" rel="noreferrer">This site</a> has some great guidance on what the benefits of each are:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>H leads are extremely smudge-resistant and give cleaner lines, making them useful for things such as outlines, technical drawings, light sketches, and even watercolors. Left-handed pencil users can also take advantage of smudge-resistant H leads. On the downside, hard leads tend to be scratchy, especially as you move up the scale.</p>
<p>B leads are smooth to write and draw with. They smudge easily, but are readily erased. They're perfect for pencil drawings as artists can take advantage of the brush-like expressions, especially in the higher B grades. Animators in particular enjoy using 10B over animator paper because it writes like butter, creating nice, quick, heavy lines with no friction.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-21T21:25:47.800Z
But what's the difference between "HB=2" and "HB=2.5" as shown in the OP's image? How come there's more than one kind of HB?
Rand al'Thor
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-21T22:24:54.767Z
@Randal'Thor No clue. The numbers may not even relate to HB... they could be the width of the graphite inside the pencil, for example... I can't see the brand so I don't have a way of doing any additional research... but that's not what the question was asking about. The content of the question only relates to the H or HB or B parts.
Catija
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-21T22:32:54.967Z
Looks like it relates to there being more than one system for classifying the pencil's grade and the note above that not all HB pencils are equal to each other... One system has HB=2 and the other system has HB=2.5 where HB is a Worldwide rating and the 2 or 2.5 is a US-specific system that is where we get the "use a #2 pencil on this test"... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification
Catija
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-28T08:37:08.400Z
@Catija I'm using Faber Castell. Since I can't afford all grades, I'm just buying 3 grades. I've already bought HB and 8B and now I need one more: either 4B or 5B. But I can't make a decision. That's why I came here searching a lot of things online. So if you know, is there any big difference between 4B and 5B? Like 5B will break easier than 4B?
Vikas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-28T15:16:36.533Z
@Vikas That looks like a question of its own. :)
Catija
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-28T15:25:51.900Z
@Catija actually I had almost composed it but not posted. I got some opinions and suggestions in this site's room chat, but still it would have been better if I could get more opinions from more people. So thing is, I didn't post because I feared it might get closed as opinion based. But I have done some research on it. It's just not like a question 'which is better'. So do you think I should post it?
Vikas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-28T15:31:14.087Z
@Vikas The question you want to ask isn't "which is better" it's "what is the difference between the two so that I can make the decision about which makes sense to add to my toolbox" or "Are these two different enough that which I choose will be a big difference in my situation". Talk about how you're planning to use the pencils (style of art, etc) and what you have already - opinion questions aren't always bad if they're thoroughly framed.
Catija
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-28T15:40:29.987Z
@Catija yeah, I'll ask it that way only. I've already thought about it. Okay then I'll post it soon. Thanks.
Vikas
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-27T22:19:25.270Z
Awesome answer! Thank you so much! :D
Zizouz212
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-27T21:38:32.013Z
2016-05-21T22:42:55.057Z
2020-06-18T08:35:49.040Z
Catija
<p>Pencils seem to have different types:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/btzCQ.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/btzCQ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>From what I've seen, there's a few types:</p>

<ul>
<li>HB</li>
<li>2HB</li>
<li>B</li>
</ul>

<p>and so on.</p>

<p>What's the difference between all the different pencils? When do I use one or the other?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-31T01:48:09.093Z
"The 305 is a decidedly darker lead than the 306." - http://www.penciltalk.org/2007/08/stabilo-schwan-305-and-306-pencils
jkd
<pencils>
Differences between HB pencils
Zizouz212
# Differences between HB pencils

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-27)

Pencils seem to have different types:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/btzCQ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/btzCQ.jpg)

From what I've seen, there's a few types:

* HB
* 2HB
* B

and so on.

What's the difference between all the different pencils? When do I use one or the other?

**Tags:** pencils

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "The 305 is a decidedly darker lead than the 306." - http://www.penciltalk.org/2007/08/stabilo-schwan-305-and-306-pencils  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-04-27. Score: 22 | Accepted answer

H and B relate to the hardness or softness of the pencil's graphite. "H" stands for "hard" and "B" stands for "black" with "F" right in the middle between HB and H... though, the source of the lettering seems to be debatable according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification) - H stands for "[Hardtmuth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor_Hardtmuth)" (the surname of the owner of an art supply company) and B stands for "Budweis", the town the pencil company was relocated to but "hard" and "black" are probably more useful to remember.

A "number 2 pencil" as we (in the US) are often told to use for filling out multiple choice answers on Scantron sheets, is right in the middle, the equivalent of "HB"... though, according to [this site](http://pencils.com/hb-graphite-grading-scale/), there's no "industry standard" so one company's HB may not be the same as another's. This is also explained in the Wikipedia article linked above, which notes that on some scales, the US equivalent of HB is a #2 pencil, while other manufacturers use the equivalent HB=2½.

As a general explanation of the differences between the grades, pencils.com shows the following image:

[![Lead hardness/softness](https://i.sstatic.net/c8J8T.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/c8J8T.jpg)

As you can see in the image, the higher the H value, the lighter the result but the finer the point, while at the other end, the higher the B value, the darker the blackness of the graphite and wider the point.

[This site](http://www.jetpens.com/blog/picking-the-perfect-pencil-hardness-grade/pt/475) has some great guidance on what the benefits of each are:

> H leads are extremely smudge-resistant and give cleaner lines, making them useful for things such as outlines, technical drawings, light sketches, and even watercolors. Left-handed pencil users can also take advantage of smudge-resistant H leads. On the downside, hard leads tend to be scratchy, especially as you move up the scale.
>
> B leads are smooth to write and draw with. They smudge easily, but are readily erased. They're perfect for pencil drawings as artists can take advantage of the brush-like expressions, especially in the higher B grades. Animators in particular enjoy using 10B over animator paper because it writes like butter, creating nice, quick, heavy lines with no friction.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Awesome answer! Thank you so much! :D  
> **username_3**: But what's the difference between "HB=2" and "HB=2.5" as shown in the OP's image? How come there's more than one kind of HB?  
> **username_2**: @Randal'Thor No clue. The numbers may not even relate to HB... they could be the width of the graphite inside the pencil, for example... I can't see the brand so I don't have a way of doing any additional research... but that's not what the question was asking about. The content of the question only relates to the H or HB or B parts.  
> **username_2**: Looks like it relates to there being more than one system for classifying the pencil's grade and the note above that not all HB pencils are equal to each other... One system has HB=2 and the other system has HB=2.5 where HB is a Worldwide rating and the 2 or 2.5 is a US-specific system that is where we get the "use a #2 pencil on this test"... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification  
> **username_4**: @username_2 I'm using Faber Castell. Since I can't afford all grades, I'm just buying 3 grades. I've already bought HB and 8B and now I need one more: either 4B or 5B. But I can't make a decision. That's why I came here searching a lot of things online. So if you know, is there any big difference between 4B and 5B? Like 5B will break easier than 4B?  
> **username_2**: @username_4 That looks like a question of its own. :)  
> **username_4**: @username_2 actually I had almost composed it but not posted. I got some opinions and suggestions in this site's room chat, but still it would have been better if I could get more opinions from more people. So thing is, I didn't post because I feared it might get closed as opinion based. But I have done some research on it. It's just not like a question 'which is better'. So do you think I should post it?  
> **username_2**: @username_4 The question you want to ask isn't "which is better" it's "what is the difference between the two so that I can make the decision about which makes sense to add to my toolbox" or "Are these two different enough that which I choose will be a big difference in my situation". Talk about how you're planning to use the pencils (style of art, etc) and what you have already - opinion questions aren't always bad if they're thoroughly framed.  
> **username_4**: @username_2 yeah, I'll ask it that way only. I've already thought about it. Okay then I'll post it soon. Thanks.  

---

