Carpenter's pencils

[Knot Competent]

I see Rutland are e-mailing an offer on these. They may be fine for carpentry, but totally useless for the sort of woodwork I do. I use ordinary pencils, buy them by the dozen, and go for whatever is bright yellow so I can find them wherever they hide, but I wondered what you guys use?

 

[petermillard]

Staedtler classic black & yellow school pencils for me, though I have a couple of Caran D'ache Fixpencils that I like to use when making work notes and sketches.

 

[merlin]

Staedtler Tradition 2H for everything as they seem to take a fair bit of punishment, the only time I use HB is when the timber is a bit damp.

I always use a Helix sharpener as they give a good point and don't waste much and you can keep one in your pocket.

Merlin

 

[Droogs]

I use Rotring pencils which are great as they are shaped to fit the hand and not roll around on the bench and come in a variety of pencil sizes and lead tones and cost not a lot for the Tikky line. I do have a personal favourite that I was given many years ago while out in the far east and have since found out it was bloody expensive so that's just used for drawing designs. You can get the Tikky here:

http://www.rotring.com/uk/mechanical-pe ... 70498.html

 

[RobinBHM]

I guess carpenters pencils are useful for 1st fix; marking on brick or plaster. No use for carpentry marking out except numbering.

Red Staedtler for me, hb and 2h. I buy them from fleabay where sellers do various options on qty.

 

[Knot Competent]

Hmmm. I guess it's a personal thing, but red doesn't stand out for me,, it's got to be yellow! And with so much junk on my worktop.....

 

[Bm101]

Screwfix pencils. They're free and I'm too incompetent for it to matter yet lol.

 

[gregmcateer]

Screwfix pencils. They're free and I'm too incompetent for it to matter yet lol.

+1 (well, a pocketful, actually) and a fistful from Ikea if I get dragged in there - It feels like my little stand against them :lol:

 

[Monkey Mark]

I use Rotring pencils which are great as they are shaped to fit the hand and not roll around on the bench and come in a variety of pencil sizes and lead tones and cost not a lot for the Tikky line. I do have a personal favourite that I was given many years ago while out in the far east and have since found out it was bloody expensive so that's just used for drawing designs. You can get the Tikky here:

http://www.rotring.com/uk/mechanical-pe ... 70498.html

I quite like the tikky ones. You can get them on auction sites pretty cheap. Not sure if they are original ones or copies.

 

[Selwyn]

Screwfix, ikea and argos!

 

[Steve Maskery]

I don't call this one cheap!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotring-Ticky ... SweW5VJroI

Anyway, I thought proper carpenters' pencils had a flat lead, sharpened to a chisel, for making both fine lines and wide squiggles?

 

[Monkey Mark]

I don't call this one cheap!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotring-Ticky ... SweW5VJroI

Anyway, I thought proper carpenters' pencils had a flat lead, sharpened to a chisel, for making both fine lines and wide squiggles?

Bargain.

 

[Droogs]

lol, I think he may be out of stock and doesn't want to re-list. they are usually around £3 although they have special editions that are around £90

I use .35mm .5mm and 1mm along with the different coloured leads

 

[Monkey Mark]

lol, I think he may be out of stock and doesn't want to re-list. they are usually around £3 although they have special editions that are around £90

I use .35mm .5mm and 1mm along with the different coloured leads

Never knew you could get different colours. Will have to search for some.

 

[John15]

I like to use the 0.5mm HB mechanical pencils but somehow they get lost/accidentally thrown away so I have yellow/red Staedtler on hand but these loose their sharp point almost immediately so constant re-sharpening needed.

John

 

[artie]

I don't call this one cheap!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotring-Ticky ... SweW5VJroI

Anyway, I thought proper carpenters' pencils had a flat lead, sharpened to a chisel, for making both fine lines and wide squiggles?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Automatic-Clu ... SwstxVPK-g

 

[Jelly]

+1 for rotring, their compasses, and pens are also excellent.

I do however like the Derwent "F" drawing pencils as well, good contrast and a fine line.

 

[Knot Competent]

My limited experience with a clutch pencil was that the lead was so thin that any firm pressure at all resulted in it snapping, and I gave it up as a good idea that didn't work in practice. Some of you obviously don't find the same - are the leads thicker these days?

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

The leads come in various gauges - typically 0.5mm and 0.7mm (though I have 0.2mm and 0.3mm too). The lead technology has improved a bit but the main thing is to not have too much poking out of the end. You can also use a softer lead to make a visible mark with less pressure.

There are some improved pencil designs that support the lead better too.

 

[DTR]

the main thing is to not have too much poking out of the end.

+1. For what it's worth I use a 0.5mm pencil, purely because I had one left over from the days when I did engineering drawings.

I also use the red carpenters pencils frequently, I think they still deserve a place in the workshop. Any accurate marking I do with a knife, and these pencils are ok for darkening a knife line. They are also perfect for marking a rough-sawn board.