(Edit: Original title was ‘‘Why no F leads for any diameter other than 0.5 and 2.0?’’ and I realized I forgot about rectangular leads.)
KIN does produce at least 0.7 and 0.9 F leads.
But for the majority of 0.7, 0.9 and 1.3, as well as the entirety of 0.3 and 0.4, while leads as hard as (at least) 2H, as soft as 4B, and every non-F hardness in between are widely available, no one seems to offer leads in F.
(In contrast, everyone offers 0.5 F leads which makes me even more confused.)
Is F in those diameters simply too niche or is there something I’m missing?
I have no idea why F isn’t offered in more sizes. Maybe not enough sales in the past? I’ve mostly used HB most of my life, although I loved using a wood #1 pencil in high school. I really need to put some of the softer leads in a pencil to try out.
I have 0.3 Pentel Hi-Polymer For Pro in 3H, which they discontinued. Nowadays they only make 0.3 leads up to 2H, which i think they stopped making 3H and 4H because of declining sales. But even back when they were making 0.3 leads up to 4H, they still didn’t make them in F. In fact, I failed to find any 0.3 F leads on the internet, which is why I think I’m missing something.
Just for the record, as it is a true oddity, I found two more lead in F hardness degree worth mentioning, both coming from the Faber-Castell company, and dating back to at least the 50’s, possibly earlier:
• Product code 9045 is a “ribbon-shaped“, flat lead slate specifically designed for full-scale lofting drawings (dimensions are 60x3x0.45mm); it was available in various degrees, including “F”, and was recommended for use with the TK-9600 twistaction holders.
• Product code 9040 is a different “ribbon-shaped“, flat lead slate specifically designed for full-scale lofting drawings (dimensions are 100x3x0.45mm, so it is longer); it was available in various degrees, including “F”, and was recommended for use with the TK-9400-FL holders.
Both the lead cores and the associated pencils are worth a look, and could be considered as candidates for expressive calligraphy (on top of their intended, technical use), even though they are now a decidedly outdated relic of the past: in the pencil-world, they are a niche within a niche.
I am unsure whether other pencils for lofting, such as the Mifa Constructor, came with some “F” lead; I doubt it, but who knows? What I know is that the F lead was more widespread in the past, and a general contraction in the available range made it disappear from the full selection.
As for the 0.3, I confirm I have never seen any 0.3 lead in F — same goes for 0.2 and 0.4mm diameters.
(The whole idea that flat lead for lofting came in at least three different sizes and variants — long & short by F.C., extra-short and compact by Mifa — really says something about the Imperial Age of Pencils, and how the technological development has shrunken the arena.)
