pencil hardness

Definition

Non-standard but well-accepted measure of the hardness of pencil leads (made of different proportions of graphite and clay), commonly ranging from 6B (maximum graphite, hence softest) to 6H (least amount of graphite, hence the hardest) with HB (roughly equal amounts of graphite and clay, hence medium soft/hard) in the middle. Pencil hardness is used in indicating the toughness of surface coatings by testing which number pencil-lead can scratch it.