Mechanical pencil leads

[GH85Carrera]

OK, I have a question that I need the Pelican brain trust to help me with.

My dad uses a Faber-Castle TK-Fine Executive 0.7 mechanical pencil to do his cross word puzzles. He tried to find refils locally and had no luck.

My question is what is the difference between the HB. B, 2H & H leads? I can GUESS that the H & 2H is Hard and real hard, but that is a pure guess.

Here is a link to Amazon.com and the leads available from them.

Amazon.com: Faber-Castell Super-Polymer Leads 0.7mm: Office Products

Which ones should I get for him to do cross word puzzles?

[slodave]

Here's a handy pdf.

http://www.pentel.com/images/uploads/Difference_in_Hardness_REVISED.pdf

[Peterfrans]

H is hard (higher nr harder)
B is soft (higher nr softer)
HB is standard

[vash]

I like HB.

[pete3799]

Wait......your trying to put lead in his pencil?
Try the little blue pills.

[kanadary]

The softer the lead, the darker it writes with the same pressure

[GH85Carrera]

Thanks, Now I just need to find a local store that will sell one pack of 12. I don't need to invest in $26 like the Amazon store wants. That is a bit much for a pencil lead.

[vash]

you want me to mail you some? i have many many half containers full..

[70SATMan]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Thanks, Now I just need to find a local store that will sell one pack of 12. I don't need to invest in $26 like the Amazon store wants. That is a bit much for a pencil lead.

Find an art supply store...

[Mericet]

HB is the same as #2 pencil. Art stores as suggested above. I have also seen them in Hobby Lobby.

[steve911]

OfficeMax, Staples etc. also carry them.

[Rufblackbird]

Originally Posted by Mericet

HB is the same as #2 pencil. Art stores as suggested above. I have also seen them in Hobby Lobby.

yup, but I used to use 2B only since it was slightly darker and I felt HB was a bit too light. darker but smears easier as well.

[MFAFF]

For a newprint crossword then a B is what you need...
2B will be too soft...

HB will go straight thro..

[URY914]

The different leads provide for narrow lines and wider lines. Not necessary darker and lighter. It is about "line weight". HB is softer lead for a wider line.

I spent years on a drafting table, pre-CAD.

[GH85Carrera]

There is a professional art supply store two blocks from my office. I ponied up a whole dollar to buy a pack of leads. They are Pentel brand leads but I can't imaging a 0.7 mm lead will not work in a Faber-Castle.

I looked on Amazon and they only sell 12 packs of 12! I don't need a gross of them. With shipping it was $26 bucks. Dad is 82 he would never live long enough to use half of that many. Oh and the real kicker was they wanted 2 to 3 weeks to deliver them. My one dollar investment should get him through a lot of crosswords.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

OK, I have a question that I need the Pelican brain trust to help me with.

My dad uses a Faber-Castle TK-Fine Executive 0.7 mechanical pencil to do his cross word puzzles. He tried to find refils locally and had no luck.

My question is what is the difference between the HB. B, 2H & H leads? I can GUESS that the H & 2H is Hard and real hard, but that is a pure guess.

Here is a link to Amazon.com and the leads available from them.

Amazon.com: Faber-Castell Super-Polymer Leads 0.7mm: Office Products

Which ones should I get for him to do cross word puzzles?

From my drafting days:

HB - very dark, soft used in borders of line drawings
H - dark, harder than HB, used in outline of objects
2H - harder yet, I used this for lettering
3H, 4H, 5H increased hardness and lightness Easily erasable to. Used for center lines, hidden lines, construction lines. I also used 3H to create boundary lines for lettering.

Using a 3H or higher pencil on newspaper will simply tear the paper. HB will smear lettering, especially for guys like me who are left-handed,

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

OK, I have a question that I need the Pelican brain trust to help me with.

My dad uses a Faber-Castle TK-Fine Executive 0.7 mechanical pencil to do his cross word puzzles. He tried to find refils locally and had no luck.

My question is what is the difference between the HB. B, 2H & H leads? I can GUESS that the H & 2H is Hard and real hard, but that is a pure guess.

Here is a link to Amazon.com and the leads available from them.

Amazon.com: Faber-Castell Super-Polymer Leads 0.7mm: Office Products

Which ones should I get for him to do cross word puzzles?

From my drafting days:

HB - very dark, soft used in borders of line drawings
H - dark, harder than HB, used in outline of objects
2H - harder yet, I used this for lettering
3H, 4H, 5H increased hardness and lightness, easily erasable to. Used for center lines, hidden lines, construction lines. I also used 3H to create boundary lines for lettering.

Using a 3H or higher pencil on newspaper will simply tear the paper. HB will smear lettering, especially for guys like me who are left-handed,

[MFAFF]

Originally Posted by jcommin

From my drafting days:

HB - very dark, soft used in borders of line drawings
H - dark, harder than HB, used in outline of objects
2H - harder yet, I used this for lettering
3H, 4H, 5H increased hardness and lightness Easily erasable to. Used for center lines, hidden lines, construction lines. I also used 3H to create boundary lines for lettering.

Using a 3H or higher pencil on newspaper will simply tear the paper. HB will smear lettering, especially for guys like me who are left-handed,

Very interesting....
HB viewed as a 'soft' lead..
I use a 0.9mm everyday...a B or 2B normally is what I use, the HB is just too damned hard to provide a decent line and variation of line weight/width etc...

Different perspectives...

[Tim Hancock]

I used .5 (black pentel), .7 (blue Pentel) and .9 (yellow pentel) mechanical pencils for years prior to Autocad working as a special machine designer. Pretty sure I used HB in all of them. IIRC I used .9mm for actual part lines, .7 for lettering/hidden lines and .5 for center lines/dimension lines. We always were drawing on vellum and then typically would run blueprints for the shop to build from.

For all other note taking/writing, I used the .7 Pentel.