Best $7.50 I've Spent in the Shop...

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

black pencil is good, but what about white color or any other color I can use to mark a wood?
I like the idea to use white chalk but hand and fingers become white in a few minutes.
Do you, guys, have any idea where I can buy these kind of pencils?

[Stephen Edwards]

Like a few other folks have said that they do, I keep sharp pencils all over the shop. A normal shop session for me begins by gathering every pencil in sight and sharpening them to a fine point the old fashioned way, with my pocket knife! My prefered pencil is #2 lead in solid wood. I do not like the composite pencils at all.

[Tony Joyce]

Here you go on the white pencils! Eleventh from top #20055

http://www.markingpendepot.com/index...ROD&ProdID=141

Most any kind of marking device you could want.

Tony Joyce

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

thanks Tony

[Bill Huber]

If you can believe this, I only have two pencils in my shop that I use. One is a .5mm and the other is a .7mm Pentel mechanical pencils, I have about 4 boxes of lead in the drawer and that should last me for a few years.

I have had both of these for about 6 years and for some reason they don't get lost. I have even made one move in this time and they are both still there.

[Karl Brogger]

Mechanical pencils are the only way to fly in my book. I buy the .7mm BIC pencils. I have no idea what they cost, but I buy 2-3, of the 20 count packages a couple times of year.

[Alan See]

I've gotta give Per an "amen" on the Ticonderogas! Nice feel in the hand, the lead doesn't fall apart, and the eraser is THE BEST! Unfortunately, I've turned my 5th grade son into something of a pencil snob.

Alan

[Peter Quinn]

I have some lumber crayons I got at the borg in blue, yellow and orange for marking rough lumber of different shades, and some white artist pencils I picked up at an arts and crafts store for more careful layout on dark wood where standard pencil lines are hard to read.

Now if I could just remember where I put these they might become useful to me!

[Ed Gerken]

My wife has cut me off her pencil supply, I've lost too many. Even my stubby white-painted one I've had for several years has walked off somewhere.

In a pinch, I'll use a nail or screw and scribe a quick line. Even a thumbnail indented in softwood will tag the measurement so you can go find the errant pencil. In rough carpentry, I'll sometimes go "just past the sliver and before the knot."

-Ed

[Per Swenson]

I know, I know its Sunday night and I'm

still talkin pencils. Some social life hunh?

Any way, all day long I am back and forth up and down

on a job or at the shop.

You could find me just by following the trail of pencils

till you got to the obnoxious loudmouth.

In order to both keep my sanity and a least one pencil by the end of the day,

I wrap a small rubber band around them.

They don't fall out of pockets, roll off tables and you can tell them

apart in a pouch full of drivers,bits and similar cylindrical objects

that accumulate in like places.

Not to mention I know its mine.

(for those who work with others, ya know what I'm talkin about.)

Per

[Harley Reasons]

I take one of those retractable work "ID" card/badge holders and I've found a pencil stays in the little snap-loop at the end nicely. All I do is pull it out, make a mark, let the pencil go and it's dangling from my belt when I need it next. Simple and easy.

At the HD BORG we have retractable pencil holders. It is a round retractable with a clip that different sizes of pencils with fit into including a flat carpenters pencil. I think the cost on it is $1.99. I have one that is really handy when I'm not wearing my carpenter overalls with the pencil pocket on the bib.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, I did a similar thing a few years ago. I just started on the second pack of three.

[Craig D Peltier]

I only keep like 10 in the shop. Reason being the erasers dry out and dont erase. Keep the rest in the house till needed. One or two on TS and rest on the benches.Always one around. I also put a mcfeelys stainless steel mini sharpener sitting on my TS fence for easy sharpening. It alos clips on to your belt.

[Rob Will]

Pencils are about the only thing I can find for my shop that are USA made. IMHO, Chinese pencils do not compare in quality.

Office Depot, Staples, Walgreen's etc. sell both.

I may not always be able to find or afford USA made machine tools but I can cough up an extra buck to buy decent pencils!

Rob

[Ted Jay]

FWIW, back in the dark ages, when engineers and draftsmen actually drew plans on paper, mechanical pencil lead was available from #1-#6. The #6 was hard enough to stab someone, the #1 soft enough to write on toilet paper.

thnx, jack vines

I have about twenty of the old "lead holders" from the manual drafting days and about 60 or so lead boxes full of lead from "B"(soft) to "8H"(hard as a nail). It's a shame to not use them. So thanks for that little reminder. Think I'll break them out and use them in the shop, rather than let them go to waste.
Ted