The various types of pencils are differentiated on the basis of their nature, hardness and the shades of the lead used to make the given pencils.

Pencils are marked on the basis of a European system called ‘the degree scale’, wherein a HB pencil has a medium range lead and the F pencil has a fine point, which is harder than a HB pencil.

The main difference between the HB and B pencil is that the HB pencil is a medium range lead, whereas B pencil has a softer lead.