Ben there, done that
Leave marks in number two
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The ability to transcribe and share information has impacted the progression of technology and society immeasurably. So much of our daily lives revolve around reading and writing, thus most of us learn these skills from a very early age. I still vividly remember the practice sheets of paper with the dotted line running down the center of two solid ones to help guide my letters as I formed them. In my hand, a small trusty yellow hexagonal writing instrument sharpened to a point bearing the number two scraped its way across the surface to form a somewhat sloppy letter. I would wager you would have similar memories. Pencils, of course, are the writing implement of choice for students, who are glad to put the eraser to use to correct mistakes. Roughly two billion pencils are sold in the US every year, or six per person. While pencils come in a wide array of designs, shapes, and colors, the classic hexagonal yellow #2 pencil is still the most common. But let me ask you this, in a sea of #2 pencils, have you ever seen a #3 or even a #1, for that matter?
Using chunks of soft lead to make markings on objects has been on-going for thousands of years. Over the course of the Middle Ages, rough chunks of lead were refined into various forms resembling a stylus or pen. However, once graphite deposits were discovered in Bavaria, graphite quickly replaced lead as the choice medium for writing implements. Graphite created much darker markings than lead and required less pressure while writing. However, the softer nature of graphite created a mess on the user’s hands plus snapped easily, as well. To remedy this problem, writers started using string wrappings and later, wood casings around the graphite cores. Finally, in the late 1700s, a scientist serving in the Napoleonic army named Nicholas-Jacques Conte perfected the modern process for creating pencils. This modern process utilized a mixture of clay and graphite which was heated to extreme temperatures to create a lead that was both resistant to breakage and left a solid mark.
However, the introduction of the #2 would come about in the 1800s in the US. When creating pencil leads with the modern process, the ratio of clay to graphite would affect the darkness of the markings the pencil would make. More graphite resulted in softer leads that made darker markings, while more clay produced a harder lead that left lighter marks. John Thoreau and his son Henry David Thoreau (yes, the author) established a factory to produce pencils and created a numbering system for the different leads they were producing. The system went from #0 to #4 with the numbers increasing with the hardness of the lead. The #2 quickly emerged as the happy medium of the 5 levels and became popular as a good all-around pencil. While this designation still remains stamped on many pencils it has been supplemented by a larger European scale which is also featured prominently on many #2 pencils.
On most #2 pencils, right next to the number 2 is another set of two letters, “HB.” This denotes the place of the pencil on the European scale – a scale also heavily used in the art world. The European scale uses two letters: “H” for hard and “B” for black. These letters are often combined with a number to indicate how far to one extreme or the other the pencil is. For example, a 9B pencil is extremely dark and soft while a 9H is very light and hard. As the numbers of each scale descend, they eventually meet at HB which is the middle point of the scale and corresponds to #2 on the US system. Now, if the two match up, why is the European scale preferred? The European scale extends further than the American one. The softest US #0 pencil is only a 2B and the hardest #4 only reaches 2H. With some manufacturers allocating as far as 12 numbers in each direction of the HB scale, the US system falls short of being able to fully represent the wide spectrum of pencils available today. Nevertheless, I hope manufacturers never remove the #2 markings from pencils-something feels so right using a pencil adorned with it!
The ability to transcribe and share information has impacted the progression of technology and society immeasurably. So much of our daily lives revolve around reading and writing, thus most of us learn these skills from a very early age. I still vividly remember the practice sheets of paper with the dotted line running down the center of two solid ones to help guide my letters as I formed them. In my hand, a small trusty yellow hexagonal writing instrument sharpened to a point bearing the number two scraped its way across the surface to form a somewhat sloppy letter. I would wager you would have similar memories. Pencils, of course, are the writing implement of choice for students, who are glad to put the eraser to use to correct mistakes. Roughly two billion pencils are sold in the US every year, or six per person. While pencils come in a wide array of designs, shapes, and colors, the classic hexagonal yellow #2 pencil is still the most common. But let me ask you this, in a sea of #2 pencils, have you ever seen a #3 or even a #1, for that matter?
Using chunks of soft lead to make markings on objects has been on-going for thousands of years. Over the course of the Middle Ages, rough chunks of lead were refined into various forms resembling a stylus or pen. However, once graphite deposits were discovered in Bavaria, graphite quickly replaced lead as the choice medium for writing implements. Graphite created much darker markings than lead and required less pressure while writing. However, the softer nature of graphite created a mess on the user’s hands plus snapped easily, as well. To remedy this problem, writers started using string wrappings and later, wood casings around the graphite cores. Finally, in the late 1700s, a scientist serving in the Napoleonic army named Nicholas-Jacques Conte perfected the modern process for creating pencils. This modern process utilized a mixture of clay and graphite which was heated to extreme temperatures to create a lead that was both resistant to breakage and left a solid mark.
However, the introduction of the #2 would come about in the 1800s in the US. When creating pencil leads with the modern process, the ratio of clay to graphite would affect the darkness of the markings the pencil would make. More graphite resulted in softer leads that made darker markings, while more clay produced a harder lead that left lighter marks. John Thoreau and his son Henry David Thoreau (yes, the author) established a factory to produce pencils and created a numbering system for the different leads they were producing. The system went from #0 to #4 with the numbers increasing with the hardness of the lead. The #2 quickly emerged as the happy medium of the 5 levels and became popular as a good all-around pencil. While this designation still remains stamped on many pencils it has been supplemented by a larger European scale which is also featured prominently on many #2 pencils.
On most #2 pencils, right next to the number 2 is another set of two letters, “HB.” This denotes the place of the pencil on the European scale – a scale also heavily used in the art world. The European scale uses two letters: “H” for hard and “B” for black. These letters are often combined with a number to indicate how far to one extreme or the other the pencil is. For example, a 9B pencil is extremely dark and soft while a 9H is very light and hard. As the numbers of each scale descend, they eventually meet at HB which is the middle point of the scale and corresponds to #2 on the US system. Now, if the two match up, why is the European scale preferred? The European scale extends further than the American one. The softest US #0 pencil is only a 2B and the hardest #4 only reaches 2H. With some manufacturers allocating as far as 12 numbers in each direction of the HB scale, the US system falls short of being able to fully represent the wide spectrum of pencils available today. Nevertheless, I hope manufacturers never remove the #2 markings from pencils-something feels so right using a pencil adorned with it!
