# Pencils for marking out on wood



## oceanobsession (3 Jan 2014)

Thought I would invest in a few pencils on ebay the oval type, then I bought the correct sharpener, well what a wast of money, rubbish
im thinking I should have bought a normal pencil with hard led . any suggestions


----------



## giantbeat (3 Jan 2014)

oceanobsession":12a9601j said:


> Thought I would invest in a few pencils on ebay the oval type, then I bought the correct sharpener, well what a wast of money, rubbish
> im thinking I should have bought a normal pencil with hard led . any suggestions



i like the oval ones as they don't roll of the bench when i pop em down, unfortunately you can get 10 x the amount of normal pencils for their price, so last time i needed pencils, i ended up with 12 boxes of 10 HB's for £5 delivered.... now if a pencil ends up on the floor or under a bench i don't even bother looking for it... i just grab a new one       ... living the dream!!!


----------



## Harbo (3 Jan 2014)

Don't buy hard leads as they will cut into the wood too much - HBs are plenty hard enough. 

I use normal school type wooden ones and cheap propelling ones - nothing special.

Rod


----------



## hansonread (3 Jan 2014)

There are 3 pencils you must have in your workshop. I promise you wont ever regret it!

The first 2 are technically the same thing just with different thickness leads. one in .5 and one in .3 mechanical means no sharpener needed but makesure you throw away the HB lead in them and replace for 2H. (i have a third .3 with a B lead in blue in it to for marking on realy soft white wood but thats just a personal preferance)
http://www.artifolk.co.uk/catalog/produ ... tAodcAsAVw

The third is one of these, again in 2H just for general use, and because of the harder lead, it requires far less sharpening which I do with a Swan Morton scapul with a 10A blade. Which just so happens to be the marking knife I use for all my other marking out needs. 
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=staed ... 890%3B1540

Make sure you don't EVER buy scapul blades from 'hobby' shops or woodworking stores. a pack of 100 blades and handle should never ever cost you more than about 15 quid. I have seen a handle and 2 blades retail for 25 quid plus before! 

Art shops are you best bet, failing that ebay. Trust me on the 10A blade though!


----------



## oceanobsession (4 Jan 2014)

Thanks just ordered some pencils Staedtler 110 Tradition 2H Pencil Cedar Wood .


----------



## carlb40 (4 Jan 2014)

hansonread":x1wzt75q said:


> Make sure you don't EVER buy scapul blades from 'hobby' shops or woodworking stores. a pack of 100 blades and handle should never ever cost you more than about 15 quid. I have seen a handle and 2 blades retail for 25 quid plus before!
> 
> Art shops are you best bet, failing that ebay. Trust me on the 10A blade though!



Have to agree, i have just bought a pack of 25 10a blades for £2.99 inc delivery from ebay (my favourite shop. )


----------



## RogerP (4 Jan 2014)

100 x 10a Swann-Morton blades for less than a tenner (inc. delivery). 

http://preview.tinyurl.com/p9mtkvc


----------



## Phil Pascoe (4 Jan 2014)

As I type this, I have in front of me a box of 50 black biros, and a box of 50 pencils. Life is too short to spend time looking for them.


----------



## jasonB (4 Jan 2014)

I find the oval ones are not good quality, the rectangular Rexel "Blackedge" are far better, the blue painted soft is best.

Having said that I only use them for marking out sawn stock or layout on walls as they are too thick for much else. Normal HB pencil for PAR general carpentry and 0.5mm HB for cabinet work


----------



## Rhossydd (4 Jan 2014)

Normal cheap HB for most things here too, plus the non-round ones don't fit into compasses.

Last year's 'find of the year' was a white artist's pencil. It's absolutely brilliant for marking up on darker woods, Walnut/oak/Mahogany etc and dirty sawn boards are easily marked up for ripping.
Not cheap at near two quid each, but SO much better than trying to follow almost invisible black lead lines.


----------



## DTR (4 Jan 2014)

I bought a pack of red oval pencils a few years back and have been using those since with no real complaints. Although I recently rediscovered a propelling pencil that was bought for me when I was an engineering apprentice, so I've been using that as of late. 



Rhossydd":2mifzdgx said:


> Last year's 'find of the year' was a white artist's pencil. It's absolutely brilliant for marking up on darker woods, Walnut/oak/Mahogany etc and dirty sawn boards are easily marked up for ripping.



Brilliant! I'll have to pinch one from Doris when she's not looking...


----------



## MMUK (4 Jan 2014)

I love the bright orange Bahco carpenter's pencils, I just can't lose them. Just sharpen with a Stanley knife


----------



## carlb40 (4 Jan 2014)

RogerP":1g47xmr0 said:


> 100 x 10a Swann-Morton blades for less than a tenner (inc. delivery).
> 
> http://preview.tinyurl.com/p9mtkvc


I only needed a few for veneering, ( have a marking knife for other purposes) hence only ordering 25. 100 are cheaper than your link on ebay


----------



## Eric The Viking (4 Jan 2014)

Soft pencils (B or 2B) and a marking knife, and a wheel gauge. 

Before I bought a Pfeil I used one of my penknives. It sounds silly, but you need to know where it will cut (it's not a good idea to dig into the edge of a rule or square). The Pfeil is either-handed (useful) and quite easy to keep honed (important).

Soft pencils don't mark the wood as much - if you're marking with a pencil it's either because you want it clearer or you want to erase the mark later. HBs are just about OK, but anything harder leaves a dent in softwood. I do use a sharpener, but I learned to sharpen fast with a single sided razor blade years ago, and so prefer to sharpen with a knife if one is handy (not the Pfeil!). You can make a thin wedge-shaped tip which is stronger than a sharp point.

Also useful: cheap permanent pens from Asda in black blue and red - they write on plastic and various sticky tapes well. Chinagraph pencils (old habit from tape editing) they're not cheap but come in bright colours including white and yellow, and work well on smooth surfaces. Handy for the router table, but the colour rubs off easily, and they don't sharpen to a point. Remove with alcohol.


----------

