A number 2 pencil, number 2, always number 2. Has anyone ever seen a #1 or #3 pencil? Do they even exist?
I don’t know.
I hope that isn’t on the test.
I remember using #3 and #4 pencils in mechanical drawing classes in high school. They were progressively harder. I also see an occasional #2.5 pencil, just a little harder then we are used to!
Yes, but I haven’t seen one since I was in 8th grade taking drafting classes.
I used a fat #1 pencil in kindergarten.
Yes, they do. I use #3 pencils all the time, have since elementary school. They need sharpening less often and break less often than #2s. There are also #2.5 pencils. Usually one can't find these in stores, but you can order them online from Office Depot or other office-supply stores.
#1 pencils have a very soft, dark lead, and are used mainly for artwork.
yes, they do exist.
The most common pencil is the one most people are familiar with, the HB #2. But for art, pencils run in hardness - softness from 9H to 9B. The hardest (H) pencils produce the most lightest marks and don't require sharpening so often. The softest, the B's, produce the darkest marks and often require sharpening. The softest and darkest is the #9B. For darker marks you use charcoal pencils.
So pencil tones run from 9B - 9H. Most preliminary drawings by artists are usually done with a 2B - 4B. But a 2HB (the school pencil) is also fine to work with.
Dick Blick can help you out here! http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-studio-drawing-pencils/
I assume you've never taken a drafting course? Have you ever heard of google? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification
Yes!
Yes, they do. #1 is a very soft lead; #3 is very hard lead. Dixon Ticonderoga® Pencils Co makes a number of grades.
they do exist. The number has to do with the softness of the lead
Maybe so but I always thought this was a way for school teachers to make their students nervous. For example, right before the exam gets handed out, they will say "...and ensure you use a #2 pencil..."
Immediately, every pupil the room would start fidgeting around and anxiously checking their pencils to make sure they are "#2".
The joke being, of course, that just about every pencil is a number 2 pencil. The teachers just want to add an additional level of anxiety to the proceedings.
Over 50 years ago when I started a new job as a young secretary I was instructed my first task every morning was to place four newly-sharpened #1 pencils on my boss’s desk. No doubt NOW attorneys will begin a complete investigation! He was the best boss I ever had.
I use a Pentel “drafting” pencil—can’t handle dull lead.
Yes they do. Artists use #1. Draftsmen use #3 or higher.