Younger folk might be better off with 0.9mm or thicker as they are stronger again. Basically 0.5mm is fine writing, 0.7mm is a little wider and stronger also good for normal writing. The 0.5mm has got nothing to do with the pencil lead hardness or darkness, it’s how wide the lead is. 05, you’re working in millimetres not thousandths of an inch. It’s the diameter of the lead, in millimetres, and its 0.5mm not. 05mm or 0.7mm thing on mechanical pencils? Amendment - broken link removed March 2018. Ummm, what colour ink? Gel or ballpoint? Is a fountain pen OK?Īddition: 29 August 2010 - here's a link to Pentel USA's blog where they guarantee their HB mechanical pencil as suitable for SAT bubble scan tests, etc. 2 pencil” is about as precise as saying “Write with ink”. Hey, here’s an idea, ask them what a “Standard Number 2” pencil is? Ummmm, a pencil with Number 2 written on it?īottom line, saying “Use a No. Well, other than “Standard Number 2” pencils. That’s right, according to that search, BIC mechanical pencils are the only pencils approved by Scantron themselves. The only specific result was BIC #2 MECHANICAL PENCILS. I went to the Scantron website and searched for “approved pencils”. Hey, here’s an idea, you know the wooden #2 pencil you got especially for the test, just like the teacher instructed? Well why don’t you ask the manufacturer to show you their approval for Scantron tests? Here’s a link to BIC mechanical pencils being tested and approved for Scantron tests. But as well as being too light, too dark and reflective can be a problem too. The point is, there is absolutely no set of rules to define what a Number 2 pencil is, anything near enough is good enough, be it mechanical, woodcase, called a number 2, or a HB, or a B, or a 2 ½, or a whatever. The machine isn’t that smart – it doesn’t know you used a mechanical pencil, it just sees a reasonably dark pencil blob and is happy. It probably also has to have a fairly distinct edge, a sharp change from white paper to dark pencil mark. You have to make a mark for the machine to read, but any reasonably dark pencil will do. So you are kind of saying it’s all kind of rubbish? If they say anything else and the machine doesn’t read it properly you’ll probably ring a lawyer, so they just repeat the same old mantra and feel safe. 2 pencil” just like they have for decades they feel safe, because that’s what everyone says, and always has said, and it’s always been OK in the past. Basically they haven’t got any idea either, but if the say “Must use a No. Why do they say I have to use a No 2 pencil for those scantron bubble tests? Just like the metric and imperial measurement systems - some industries and some parts of the world say No 2 pencil and others say HB pencil. Why are wooden pencils called #2 and mechanical pencils are called HB? There’s no standardised definition of No 2 or of HB but they are both the same thing – the ordinary everyday writing grade.

No 2 and HB are both lead hardness grade scale measurements. One manufacturer’s idea of #2 can be quite different from another’s, there is a big range of lead hardness, darkness, etc that are all called Number 2. The manufacturer just makes what they think is their ordinary everyday writing grade pencil and calls it No 2. #2 just means it’s their standard writing grade normal hardness / darkness pencil. There are no rules, standards, test methods, etc to define it. I personally believe all this to be true, from having used a pencil or two over the years and from the accumulated wisdom of commenter’s on this and other blogs, but nothings certain apart from death and taxes. I think this is all covered in various other posts on this blog, but I’m going to try and be a helpful guy and put it all in one place, all nice and succinct. She’s been crying ever since she got home from school.” Well hopefully this posting will let you dry those tears and sleep easy. Then there are the emails from the parents of weeping children – “My daughter had one of those fill in the bubble tests at school today and she used a mechanical pencil, but they were supposed to use a #2 pencil, and now she’s terrified the machine isn't going to read her paper properly and she’s going to fail. I get a fair few hits from people searching with terms like those above. Is HB mechanical pencil the same as No 2 pencil?Ĭan I use a HB mechanical pencil on an OMR Bubble Scantron test? #2 Pencils, HB, 0.5, Scantron Bubble OMR Tests and all that stuff.

Bic pencils