General Pencil | Semi-Hex 497 | 4B

General's Semi-Hex #497 is the drawing-grade line from General Pencil Company, an American maker founded by Oscar Weissenborn in 1889 and still producing in Jersey City, New Jersey. The graphite core is "Carbo-Welded" to sustained-yield California incense cedar in a rounded-hexagon "Semi-Hex" barrel with a blue lacquer finish, and the line is sold in 12 drawing degrees running from soft 6B for dark shading to hard 4H for fine detail, suited to sketching, shading and illustrating. A companion No. 2 writing version, the #498, is offered in a yellow finish with a pink eraser and silver ferrule for school and office use.

This specimen: Semi-Hex 497 in grade 4B.