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Thread: Marking on dark wood?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Goleta / Santa Barbara
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    962
    I found the white to be too soft, and have been much happier with red and blue colored pencils.

  2. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    Look also at your task lighting. Tape is excellent but gets tedious. I was amazed at how well a pencil shows up on walnut under bright, direct led lighting.
    I was thinking along the same lines. I have a lot of daylight full-spectrum fluorescent lighting and now some LED lighting. I work with Wenge a lot and just use a normal mechanical pencil. I can't see it from across the room, but certainly at work distance. Also if a tool has a laser line, it shines well on the graphite if it's decently heavy (I typically make three pencil swipes on dark wood).

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lewisville, NC
    Posts
    1,359
    I use this. It works well on any dark wood. It is a thin chalk lead.

    Jim

    https://smile.amazon.com/Bohin-Extra...s+white+pencil

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
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    10,304
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Tobias View Post
    I use this. It works well on any dark wood. It is a thin chalk lead.

    Jim

    https://smile.amazon.com/Bohin-Extra...s+white+pencil
    That's a winner. I bought one. I was a bit concerned by the word "chalk" in the product name. However, I think that's a hiccup in translation. This is a .9 mm mechanical pencil, with white leads. The leads are thin enough to make fine lines on the wood. They are strong enough to not break on rough wood. The white color is easy to see on walnut. And the mechanical pencil aspect means that sharpening a worn lead means just punching the button on the top -- not running around to find the sharpener.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    N CA
    Posts
    1,279
    By trade, I am a pipe fitter/welder. I always seem to have a piece of soapstone laying around or in my pocket. Sharpen it with a file and it shows well on walnut. You can get round or flat SS. I tend to use the flat and sharpen to a point. The round is to fragile.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    North Virginia
    Posts
    341
    I use the Dritz tailor marking pencil. It comes with several 0.9mm ceramic leads in white, green and pink. They are made for marking on fabric but work well on milled lumber. They are a bit delicate for marking rough-sawn lumber, but work well marking smooth lumber - they put down a really fine line.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    On light-colored wood, I make marks with a lead pencil. (.7 mm automatic pencil to be exact) The pencil line is fine enough for accuracy, is dark enough to be easily seen, and the pencil draws a long time without needing sharpening. And the pencil marks can be erased.

    On dark-colored wood like walnut, the dark line of the pencil isn't as visible as I want. I've tried light-colored leads for the .7 mm pencil, but they break all the time. I've tried white chalk, but the line is way too thick. I've tried a white pencil -- the kind with cedar holding the lead -- but it needs sharpening all the time.

    Anybody got a suggestion?
    After reading this thread I bought this, .9mm while chalk lead. Got it yesterday.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004M5BGD4

    I tried it on a half dozen different woods from walnut to some exotics and it is quite visible. Makes a fine enough line. The lead is a lot tougher than I what I was prepared for. The lead didn't break once while experimenting with the pencil.

    JKJ

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    central PA
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    1,774
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    After reading this thread I bought this, .9mm while chalk lead. Got it yesterday.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004M5BGD4

    I tried it on a half dozen different woods from walnut to some exotics and it is quite visible. Makes a fine enough line. The lead is a lot tougher than I what I was prepared for. The lead didn't break once while experimenting with the pencil.

    JKJ
    LOL, Me too John, and mine came yesterday as well although I haven't used it yet. (you know, need something for a project-do without-then order it for next time!)

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Tucson, Arizona
    Posts
    161
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Tobias View Post
    I use this. It works well on any dark wood. It is a thin chalk lead.

    That is the one I use also. Nice thin line. The chalk is a little brittle when marking on a rough surface but it is easy to see.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
    Posts
    3,656
    I use these : https://www.amazon.com/Prismacolor-P.../dp/B0035A12D6

    Silver works better than white for me on in-between shades. They are also great for marking black pneumatic cloth, which is what I first bought them for.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Peters Creek, Alaska
    Posts
    412
    I bought a 0.9mm pencil, with white leads included, at a fabric/sewing supply store. The pencil quit working in pretty short order but the lead fits my Alvin drafting pencil just fine. I order refills on Amazon nowadays.
    Last edited by Brett Luna; 03-07-2018 at 6:44 PM. Reason: minor sp.
    Brett
    Peters Creek, Alaska

    Man is a tool-using animal. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all. — Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

  12. #27
    Try iron workers [welder's] soap stone. Round or flat. Reasonably hard, but sharpens easily. Marks walnut nicely.

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