Pencils and erasers

[Stephen Tashiro]

Some thoughts and questions about pencils and erasers:

My favorite type of pencil is the California Republic brand "Palimino". The right hardness for a pencil seems to vary with temperature and humidity, but under most conditons, I prefer their "B". The Musgrave brand pencils make nice lines but they are a hexagonal shape with too sharp a ridge to be comfortable to hold. I'd like to try the Pentel brand "Mark Sheet" pencil that is sold in Japan as a test-taking pencil. However, I haven't seen this pencil for sale in any online site I trust. Anyone know of a source for it?

Erasers on pencils used to work in the days before my paper supply became printer and copier paper. I've yet to find a pencil with a good eraser for that type of paper. I find that an artists "kneaded eraser" works well. Anyone know of a brand of pencil with an eraser that works on such paper?

[Larry Edgerton]

I noticed pencils have gone to the dogs.

Currently I am using Ticonderoga #2's. I go through too many for anything special. This pencil is less prone to breakage, eraser works fairly well, and it will sharpen. Half of the pencils on the market will not sharpen well, and if damp, forget it. The ones of man made body material bend so easy that the lead is always broken, especially after being behind your ear and picking up moisture.

In the shop I use drafting pencils.

[Dan Hintz]

I read that there is a matching eraser for the Mark Sheet, named (appropriately enough) the Pentel Mark Sheet Eraser.

Here's one supplier that ships to the US:
http://en.item.rakuten.com/bunkidou-shop/cbmsthb/

Also try:
http://bundoki.com/ (in Japanese)

Other manufacturers make "Mark Sheet" pencils...

[Tom Winship]

Us older guys sometimes use the phrase "a Big Chief tablet and a #2 pencil" when discussing our computer, how we learned to write, etc. Is this deja vu all over again?

[Chuck Wintle]

STAEDTLER makes a line of pencils and erasers

[Lee Schierer]

I have a half a dozen Pentel .7 mm mechanical drafting pencils in my shop, equipped with HB lead and vinyl erasers. I can usually find one or two of them. The elves that mess up my shop seem to hide most of them while making their mess.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/public/WtV9ZN_rAX-bgT8T6GiGlUrKaaqx8fxwmuEZ3uV5wvinKJSCs_j-M7mYvilKPOR5RIlUW0BTeJxaHTyfK9aPXQCHfHalyy36nonBwD 6Gfcr_uyLUU6k_UDSgVdkpE6AhxZrzTY6eGj_iFuX34SnY3_fC O2nWkgB_fPSTBb28dxo5uyxo5uNraYeBzoGQWDEjx39R4yRczd 1c

[John Coloccia]

STAEDTLER makes a line of pencils and erasers

Staedtler erasers just tear up laser printer paper like any other gum type eraser, but Staedtler is what I normally use. I have their drafting pencil for precision marking, but even THAT is made poorly these days. The pencil gets stuck in the sharpener before it bottoms out, making sharpening a frustrating experience. Seems like the world has forgotten how to build everything.

For general marking, I use Zebra .5mm pencils of regular wooden pencils. Wooden pencils from the office supply store are JUNK. I buy mine through artists supply stores, but even those can be JUNK. The whole situation is extremely frustrating, and I'm glad someone else started this thread. I don't think I could bring myself to starting a thread about pencils! :)

[Zach England]

I use Lee Valley pencils or a mechanical pencil for woodworking.

But the other day I was doing some framing, which I loathe doing. I got some "carpenters' pencils"--the flat kind you sharpen with a utility knife--at Lowes and I had to cut through half a pencil with my utility knife before I could make a usable point on it.The lead inside was cracked and there were gaps between the lead and the wood. I figured it was defective, threw it away and took out another from the package, but it had the same problem. I had to take out one of my Lee Valley pencils.

It was very frustrating. Has the quality standard of tools available at everyday hardware stores gone down so far that I cannot get a stupid pencil that works?

[Rod Sheridan]

Zach, yes the quality has fallen off the graph because we purchase on price, not performance.

I have the Lee Valley mechanical carpenters pencil, it works very well, far better than the wood pencils which I find are only suitable for kindling..........Regards, Rod.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=65237&cat=1,42936,43509&ap=1

[Belinda Barfield]

I love my Papermate Clearpoint 0.7 mm. I was a Pentel girl. The Clearpoint is a larger barrel and comfort grip that I really like, as well as a nice fat eraser. The tiny eraser on the Pentel was one thing I never liked.

[Joe Angrisani]

...yes the quality has fallen off the graph because we purchase on price, not performance.

Yep. We've done it to ourselves. No one else to blame, and I'm not just talking pencils.

[Ted Calver]

Pentel mechanical pencils are my favorite. I don't even bother with the erasers because they are so small. Instead, I keep an artists eraser close by....but if you never make any mistakes, they last forever. I like to make my own bodies so they fit in my hand. Here are a few:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?134713-Pencils&highlight=

[David Helm]

I use Lee Valley pencils or a mechanical pencil for woodworking.

But the other day I was doing some framing, which I loathe doing. I got some "carpenters' pencils"--the flat kind you sharpen with a utility knife--at Lowes and I had to cut through half a pencil with my utility knife before I could make a usable point on it.The lead inside was cracked and there were gaps between the lead and the wood. I figured it was defective, threw it away and took out another from the package, but it had the same problem. I had to take out one of my Lee Valley pencils.


It was very frustrating. Has the quality standard of tools available at everyday hardware stores gone down so far that I cannot get a stupid pencil that works?
Stay away from the BORG pencils. I still get, and use, carpenter pencils for free from my LOCAL lumber yard that work very well. I have never, ever paid money for a carpenter pencil. . . . and these pencils sharpen very easily with a utility knife.

[Jim Rimmer]

I'm glad someone else started this thread. I don't think I could bring myself to starting a thread about pencils! :)

No offense aimed at anyone but sometimes the threads here just amaze me. TS tops that are .002" out of flatness, how to cut this or that piece of wood to .010" accuracy. And now pencils? Yikes. I guess they are important to some folks depending on what you are doing. But for marking in the shop... Wow! :D I get lots of good info here so I'm not knocking the importance of any topic but to me, a pencil is a pencil and I use whatever I can find at the time. In the old paper and pencil drafting days I was a lot more particular but not now.

[John Coloccia]

No offense aimed at anyone but sometimes the threads here just amaze me. TS tops that are .002" out of flatness, how to cut this or that piece of wood to .010" accuracy. And now pencils? Yikes. I guess they are important to some folks depending on what you are doing. But for marking in the shop... Wow! :D I get lots of good info here so I'm not knocking the importance of any topic but to me, a pencil is a pencil and I use whatever I can find at the time. In the old paper and pencil drafting days I was a lot more particular but not now.

I would be sunk if I couldn't work wood to better than .01" accuracy. My fretwire is about .04". If I'm off by .01 from one end of the fingerboard to another, I've lost 25% of my fret. If I'm off +/- .01", I've potentially lost 50%!

1/32" (or about .03") is the difference between what someone would consider a normal neck width and a "fat" neck width. Working to .01" accuracy is really not an option.

Some of us work in thousandth of an inch. Yes, I know wood moves but

1) it moves in predictable ways if you carefully select your wood and pay attention to orientation
2) that's all the more reason to be as precise as you can to compensate for the inevitable movement of the wood

I wouldn't build a kitchen cabinet to that level of precision but not all of use are building kitchen cabinets. Anyhow, this is just a different perspective as to why some of us are working to levels of precision most people would consider overkill.

[Greg Portland]

Tech-Matic or Fixpencil lead holders is what I prefer. The 2mm or 3mm size with metal bodies hold up to a lot of abuse & have built-in sharpeners (pointers). Note that 3mm leads are THICK, they're great for marking wood.


Erasers on pencils used to work in the days before my paper supply became printer and copier paper. I've yet to find a pencil with a good eraser for that type of paper.Most copy paper is very light (thin). Better quality stuff (heavier weight / thicker) will stand up to more erasing. As mentioned above, the Staedtler Mars erasers are very nice on -good- paper. Art gum or kneaded erasers are more gentle; I'd try the gum eraser 1st.

[Matt Day]

I normally use Zebra M301 0.5 mechanical pencils and Staedtler white eraser, which I've found to work well. I just found some Papermate Flexgrip Elite 0.5 mechanical pencils at the office and I really like the feel in my hand better than the Zebra, they're a little smaller diameter. It's got a bigger eraser too, more like an old school wooden pencil, but I still always have a seperate eraser around.