Beginners Syndrome

I have an old electric Panasonic sharpener in the shop.

The way to get a really fime point on a pencil, either mechanical or wood, is to do as old time negative retouchers did...

1. get about 1/2" or more of lead out

1. fold over a small piece of fine - #320, say - wet or dry paper

2. insert lead at fold, press down on paper at either side of the lead

1. move lead in and out of the paper, turning from time to time

A bit of a pain but you will wind up with a point like a needle. Fragile though :(

Draftsmans' lead pointer works in a similar manner, only more convenient.

Is the Panasonic a mechanical pencil sharpener ? wow.

I have a nice eraser motor drive system. Great in the shop.

Mart> >> krw wrote in

No, standard electric.

I have an electric eraser from my drawing days. I keep a plastic eraser on hand for the shop.

I've always worn an apron in my shop, but out side, doing carpentry work, I always used a tool belt that holds nails, hammers, and other stuff I rarely use in the shop.

This Rockler design is the best I've had, the pockets are just right, and it has the wide, over the shoulder cross back harness instead of the over the neck one that digs into your neck. This makes it much more comfy, but a bit harder to put on.

The Rockler Cabinet makers mechanical pencil comes with a sharpener. The sharpener only sharpens the lead. It has a little hole that the lead just fits in, and a twist or two and the point is needle sharp.

Also, when I said I've read people complain that the point breaks when you drop the pencil, I didn't mean the lead. Of course the lead will break if you drop it on the point, I meant they are saying the screw on nib, or whatever you call it, will break. I haven't dropped mine yet, and will try to make a _point_ not to drop it, for whatever good that will do. I still highly recommend this pencil to any woodworker, particularly in a cabinet making environment.

If there's any kind of drafting supply house nearby they'll have good ones for the same price or less. Blick Art Supply lists all-metal Koh- I-Noor for 8 bucks. You should be able to pick up a Staedtler at Staples.

They are indeed hard to break. When I was finally allowed to use tools, I was advised to purchase a heavy duty canvas waist type apron. It held my t ape, a ton of nails, had a pencil slot, and room for my tri square. My ham mer was slipped in behind one of the ties, and then later, one of the guys showed me how to make a hanger from heavy wire.

Leather tool bags followed, and my "teacher" advised me that if I didn't ha ve my bags on (with tools at the ready) then I must be a laborer, so he wou ld make me sweep or carry wood. So I wore my bags ALL the time.

Now I have two sets of bags I wear. One for trim work to hold the necessar ies for that work, and another set for demo/framing/siding/cornice.

Never became one with a baker style apron, and have tried more than once. Creature of habit, I guess.

Robert

Leather tool bags you wear are what carpenters, electricians and whatnot wear working on a construction site. Cabinetmakers working inside in a cabinet shop generally wear "baker style" aprons, designed specifically for the wood shop. I reckon some are cross-dressers, but it would be somewhat rare I'd think to see the roles reversed. Perhaps a carpenter building built-ins on site might wear a cabinet makers apron, particularly if that was his main job.

I did numerous searches over the years for cabinet makers pencils and Rockler, amazing enough, seemed to be one of the few hits I got. At your suggestion I looked at the Koh-I-Noor at Blick and looked at Staples and they didn't have anything close that I could see. I think .9mm lead was the thickest I found, Rockler is over 2x that, but sharpens to a needle point.

The Rocker is not only good, with 2mm lead, it looks, and feels heavy duty, and like it belongs in a Cabinet shop. I believe that is exactly the purpose it was designed for, and imo, and about everyone that reviewed it, they nailed it. It is the right tool for the job.

I'm betting David Rees would vehemently disagree :-/

(Shot on location at The Woodwright's School, Pittsboro NC)

To kind of get back to the subject, an apron for that tool buyer made of kevlar of course.

I have some old drafting pencils. I use regular pencils, knife cuts, and these.

I say smaller than the rockler since my memory had those at 3mm last time I looked, not 2mm.

Don't look for "pencil". Look for "lead holder".

Leads available (note--"Turquoise" is the brand name, not the color):

Sharpener:

This is all old-school pre-CAD drafting equipment.

At a drafting supply store 2mm mechanical pencils are pretty common, basically a regular sized wood pencil led.

With the right feel they are pretty hard to beat when using one all day long and using up a lead or two each week.

In the shop I only make slight 1/4" marks with an occasional line for a jigsaw or bandsaw cut so free wooden ones are what I use. I have 5~6

LOL, I had forgotten about that video.

That is my sharpener! and a few of the pencils look like some of mine too.