Talk:Pencil lead

Pencils are called lead pencils due to the fact that in the roman times they used lead to write and draw with but it was poisonouse so then over the years they changed the pencil lead into graphite and clay.so then it was not poisonouse and harmfull to people.

But there's no way that's true. This article and the talk:lead discussion seem to disagree anyway..

I hope that someone can put in a scale of hardness. I don't like the text description but I am in a hurry. :-)

I've heard that when graphite was discovered (under a tree?) people most likely mistook it for lead due to the color. this is rather ridiculous but it's at least notable as a misconception.. if indeed.. it has any.. uhh.. So on another note, the description of mechanical pencils isn't fully accurate, since many are front-loading (even if none are designed that way)

Lead was the normal drawing material until Conté invented the graphite pencil; a lead was the name of the lead cylinder within its holder and therefore became the name of the graphite cylinder within the wood.--MWAK 18:38, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Lead Hardness

softest to hardest, are:

6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H

Duplication[edit]

This page is largely a duplication of information at Pencil, except that the Pencil actually goes into considerably more detail... merge-fodder? 81.86.133.45 21:26, 19 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. I'll put the tags on. Thryduulf 15:10, 2 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

If it's going to be merged, then get it done... I'm sure nobody will object. haz (user talk) 20:50, 22 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The point is we need a separate article on the use of lead "leads" as the dominant drawing material until the late 18th century. So the two articles shouldn't be merged: this article should have its proper content!--MWAK 09:34, 20 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming 'H' does stand for 'hard' and 'B' for 'black', does anyone have any idea what 'F' grade pencil lead stands for? Jameshfisher 17:43, 17 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

But is that assumption correct? I've always assumed that, Hardmuth being German, H meant Härte, B stood for Blei and F for fein.--MWAK 08:32, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]