What does the "HB" in an HB pencil stand for?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Pencil lead is graded by hardness: a greater percentage of clay results in a harder lead. H (harder), F, HB and B (softer) are pencils of average hardness. Pencils ranging from 2B to 9B are softer still and are used for sketching; 2H to 9H are harder than average. A common American #2 pencil is equivalent to HB.

In order, the leads are (from hardest to softest) 9H | 8H | 7H | 6H | 5H | 4H | 3H | 2H | H | F | HB | B | 2B | 3B | 4B | 5B | 6B | 7B | 8B | 9B.

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Asker's Comment:

Excellent, very concise

Answer 2

Hard Black

Answer 3

hard black

Answer 4

Hard Black

Answer 5

hard black ...and what does the W stand for in Bob W?

Answer 6

It stands for Hard Black

Source(s):

http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Ha…

Answer 7

Besides HB, there are several more ratings, cannot remember them now. I used them for technical drawing many years ago.

Usage depends on whether you want dark or light lines. With the advance in technology, these types of pencils are not popular now.

You may have realized that HB pencils are darker than ordinary pencils when you write with them.

Answer 8

Hard Black - A Medium Grade of Pencil Lead . There are others like 2H , 3H which we used very much in our Geometry Classes in School .

Answer 9

i always thought it was Heber Bartolome

Answer 10

If it's Hard and Black how come HH and BB? (Level 2).

Answer 11

H for Hard, B for black

Answer 12

HB = Hard Black.
5H = Level 5 Hard, (not so dark).
5B = Level 5 Black, (very dark).
So HB is in the middle of the range.

Answer 13

hard black, a medium grade of pencil lead

Source(s):

self knowledge

Answer 14

pencils are made using cut pieces of raw graphite dug from the earth. The hardness or softness of these pencils was dependent on the quality or purity of the graphite

Thus, using a letter designation for varying hardnesses. Softer leads were designated with 'B' (for black), harder leads with 'H' (for hard). Different schemes were used to expand the range of grades, such as 'BB' and 'BBB' for successively softer leads, and 'HH' and 'HHH' for successively harder leads

Answer 15

Thick HB lead is equivalent to a #2 pencil
hard black

Answer 16

Hard Black

Answer 17

hard black

Answer 18

wow thanks for asking that question. I never even realized that I didn't know to ask that question. I learned something today.

Answer 19

i want to kno tht ans