[otherme123]

> Like 6H to 9H. You'll get a much lighter line to erase later. It'll also hold a finer point for longer.

With 6H you get lighter line, but only in colour. It can be actually harder to erase, because you naturally tend to push the pencil harder to see it, thus denting the paper and leaving the graphite at the bottom of a groove where the eraser cannot lift it. Those harder leads have great amounts of clay that very easily scratch the paper.

I go on the opposite direction, being my favorite lead a 4B: you need very low pressure to leave visible marks, that you can erase very easily with a kneaded eraser.

You are right that a 6H will hold the tip for way longer. Only if I don't need to remove the marks I would use the harder leads.

[mauvehaus]

You definitely have to let the tool do the work with the harder lead for that exact reason. I'm typically going for really faint lines, and I don't erase or ink anyway. I usually get into the groove trap when I'm going over my lines to darken them with a softer pencil, which suggests I should go softer still.