These high quality graphite pencils glide smoothly over the paper. They are highly break-resistant and easy to erase. The entire length of the graphite pencil lead is bonded to the wood to help prevent breakage, especially when sharpening. They're available from Staedtler in finely differentiated degrees from especially soft (8B) to extra hard (6H). Soft leads are best suited to sketching and blending. Harder pencils excel for their ability to hold sharp points, and are used for straight line and detail work. Pencils are pre-sharpened.