Best Drawing Pencils for Drafting: Based on Hardness ( HB, 2B, 2H, 4H, 4B, etc)

Drawing pencils made from graphite are commonly used in drafting tasks. Drawing pencils may be hard, medium, or soft and are used for different purposes.

✔ Hard Pencils are used where extreme accuracy is required, especially when working on graphs, diagrams, and charts. E.g., 2H pencil, 4H pencil, 6H pencil, etc.

✔ Medium Pencils are used for general-purpose work in drawing. E.g., HB Pencil

✔ Soft Pencils are too soft to be used in mechanical drafting. They are beneficial for the artwork of various kinds. E.g., 2B Pencil, 4B Pencil, 6B Pencil, etc.

1. Types of Drawing Pencils Based on Hardness

We use graphite pencils for drafting. So hardness of graphite pencil is discussed below.

Before moving to the hardness of pencil, we must know the following:

~ B stands for Black, and it shows softness.

~ H stands for Hard, and it shows hardness.

~ HB stands for Hard Black, and it shows medium-hard.

~ F stands for Firm.

The 20 degrees of graphite drawing pencil hardness are 9B, 8B, 7B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H and 9H (( Wikipedia: Hardness of Pencil )) .

a. HB Pencil  

~ HB indicates Hard Black. It means that it is medium-hard.

~ It is mainly used type of pencil used by students for writing purposes.

~ It is also suitable for making general drawings.

b. B Pencil  

~ B stands for Black, and it shows softness.

~ B pencil is similar to HB pencil but slightly softer than HB.

~ It is used for All Common Drawing and Writing.

c. 2B Pencil   

~ It is two times softer than a B pencil. It means it is two times bolder than a B pencil.

~ It is also used for All Common Drawing and Writing.

d. 3B to 9B Pencil   

~ Number before B represents the times of boldness compared to B pencil.

~ These pencils are commonly utilized in Artistic and pictorial drawing.

e. H Pencil   

~ H stands for Hard, and it shows hardness.

~ H pencil is similar to HB pencil but a little harder than HB.

~ It is used for All Common Drawing and Writing.

f. 2H to 9H Pencil   

~ Number before H represents the times of hardness compared to H pencil.

~ These pencils are commonly utilized in Technical drawing.