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

[Eric DeSilva]

If, like me, you are terminally short of pencils in the shop (I put something down and 10 seconds later have no idea where it is--I think of that as "concentrating hard on another task at hand" as opposed to "alzheimers"), think golf pencils. I picked up a gross of them in an Office Depot for under $7.50. Its going to take me a looong time to lose all of those. And, there's always one pre-sharpened...

[Pat Germain]

Nice idea, Eric. Most golf pencils I've seen are very stubby. Can you get longer examples?

I was also forever losing pencils. And there was never a good place for them in my shop apron. They always poked through the pockets. Then I got the "Ballistic" apron at Woodcraft:

http://woodcraft.com/InhancedImage.aspx?Productid=144833&Size=Large

Notice it has three pencil holders up high. That very minor feature is a very major plus for me. Pencils don't get in the way and I always have one handy.

I actually got this apron because David Marks was wearing one in the class I took. I'm such a geek. ;)

[James Suzda]

If, like me, you are terminally short of pencils in the shop (I put something down and 10 seconds later have no idea where it is--I think of that as "concentrating hard on another task at hand" as opposed to "alzheimers"), think golf pencils. I picked up a gross of them in an Office Depot for under $7.50. Its going to take me a looong time to lose all of those. And, there's always one pre-sharpened...

Well, I personally like a longer pencil in the shop than a golf pencil. I pick up a dozen #2 pencils from the "dollar" store and have enough of them laying around the shop that where ever I reach there is a pencil there.

[Leo Zick]

Nice idea, Eric. Most golf pencils I've seen are very stubby. Can you get longer examples?

I was also forever losing pencils. And there was never a good place for them in my shop apron. They always poked through the pockets. Then I got the "Ballistic" apron at Woodcraft:

http://woodcraft.com/InhancedImage.aspx?Productid=144833&Size=Large

Notice it has three pencil holders up high. That very minor feature is a very major plus for me. Pencils don't get in the way and I always have one handy.

I actually got this apron because David Marks was wearing one in the class I took. I'm such a geek. ;)



those look like they are in the perfect spot to stab me in the stomach every time i bend over. :o

[JayStPeter]

I just go to Staples and pick up 48 packs of standard #2s. Golf pencils seem to small, but I might raid my golf bag and give them a try. My biggest problem is I put them behind my ear and walk out of the shop. The kids take them as soon as they find one upstairs. Every so often I collect them up and take them back down to the shop. Each 48 pack lasts me about 9 months :rolleyes:.

[Per Swenson]

With all due respect for Eric's thriftyness,

A pencil is a huge part of my day.

The best one in our opinion is the Ticonderoga#2

Even better then that is the "My First Pencil" Ticonderoga #2.

This baby rocks. Stands out in a crowd of stuff on a bench,

and is a never ending conversation helper during a dull day.
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Dixon My First Ticonderoga Pencil, #2, Dozen

Teacher-preferred pencil has the distinctive Ticonderoga look with a green and yellow ferrule.

#2 lead
Large, 13/32" diameter, barrel allows for more control in childrens little hands
Top quality latex-free eraser provides clean, easy corrections
PMA certified nontoxic

Per

[Lance Norris]

I use the cheap mechanical pencils you can get @ 5 for $5. I think the mark they make is more accurate than a #2. But they dont mark as dark as a #2, so I have some of them as well.

[Mark Engel]

I wonder if using a golf pencil would help me get a straighter 'slice' from each piece of wood. :rolleyes:

Sorry!

[Dave MacArthur]

Ok, I was only just marginally interested in this thread since I'm always losing my pencils, but after reading Per's post above, now I just HAVE TO HAVE one o' them Ticonderogas!
;)

[Jim O'Dell]

I'd never make it with the golf pencils....no erasers!! :eek: Besides, who ever heard of measure twice, mark once??? :D:D Jim.

[Peter Quinn]

I just raided the local mini golf emporium...uh..please don't tell them it was me. They are probably wondering how one customer played half a round of mini golf and dropped his pencil 250 times? I told them I was real clumbsy!

[Randal Cobb]

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.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Better yet is to wait for the back to school specials when the sell a dozen pencils for a penny or a nickel. I pick up a dozen each year.

[Jack Vines]

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

[Per Swenson]

Here I go again,

sorry I don't mean to thread steal but cheap pencils are never a bargain

when you go to sharpen them.

The secret to a good pencil is Cedar.

You know, like Ticonderoga's and the like.:D

Per

[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?:confused:

[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.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&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!:rolleyes:

[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. :D

[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

[Steven Hardy]

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

Yep...and you can even find made in usa pencils at walmarts !!
To complement the purchase ...a suction cup, hand cranked sharpener works real nice at sticking to my well oiled table saw for batch sharpening a couple dozen at a time.
When they put pointed lead in mechanical pencils, I'll buy a couple !:)

[Brad Townsend]

I've been using golf pencils for years. Unfortunately, I've found they won't write a number lower than 6.

[Larry Fox]

Yep - been using golf pencils for years. Started off using them scuba diving but they only last one dive (they don't like salt water much) so their "shortness" is a benefit there in that you are not wasting an entire pencil.

[Sean Troy]

I wonder if using a golf pencil would help me get a straighter 'slice' from each piece of wood. :rolleyes:

Sorry!
Thats a good one. http://sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Eric DeSilva]

cheap pencils are never a bargain

when you go to sharpen them.
Per

Ah yes, but this presume you aren't so absent-minded--like me--that you never actually get to the point of sharpening them... Maybe the dog eat 'em. Maybe they get sucked up into the vac. Maybe I've got a pencil fairy living in my basement.

Just out of curiousity, anyone else do this? Whenever I mark something with a pencil, its always an approximation of sorts anyway... Look at the ruler and the mark and I'm always mentally thinking to myself "a hair proud of the line," "hair short of the line," "two thirds through the line to the right," etc.

[Denny Rice]

With all due respect for Eric's thriftyness,

A pencil is a huge part of my day.

The best one in our opinion is the Ticonderoga#2

Even better then that is the "My First Pencil" Ticonderoga #2.

This baby rocks. Stands out in a crowd of stuff on a bench,

and is a never ending conversation helper during a dull day.
Back to: Pens, Writing & Correction (http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?&langId=-1&storeId=10001&splCatType=0&catalogId=10051&categoryId=10057) / Wood Pencils (http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?&langId=-1&storeId=10001&splCatType=0&catalogId=10051&categoryId=10215)



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Dixon My First Ticonderoga Pencil, #2, Dozen

Teacher-preferred pencil has the distinctive Ticonderoga look with a green and yellow ferrule.


#2 lead
Large, 13/32" diameter, barrel allows for more control in childrens little hands
Top quality latex-free eraser provides clean, easy corrections
PMA certified nontoxicPer

And most important this pencil is MADE IN THE USA!!! It has a high quaility eraser and a very high quality pencil.