Pencil classifications

[handrawn]

...a #2 pencil...

in case there is confusion, for those outside the USA that's an HB pencil...

[raynerj1]

Thanks for the clarification Steve. It could also be a 2B I think.

[Egg Bramhill]

There doesn't appear to be an accepted cross-over between the 2 standards. See Here

[handrawn]

well there are the odd exceptions granted but its the general rule, some manufacturers are now putting both eg #2HB

also one manufacturer's 'HB' is not guaranteed to be exactly the same as another's - no standardisation in that respect - bit like bitmaps

EDIT: quote from wiki as referenced by Egg:
[some pencils are now made synthetically too of course]