Perfect Pencil
I’m always just a quick spin away from having a sharp point.
One tool every carpenter needs is a pencil. I use one all day long for taking notes, sketching layouts, and marking cuts. One day I was at a tool demo, and I saw the instructor had a gray-and-green mechanical pencil with a small holster. I asked about it, and by the next week I owned a $12 Pica-Dry mechanical pencil.
On the job site, I would sometimes lose multiple pencils a day. I never lose the pica because it has a storage tube that I clip onto my pocket. Some of its other advantages include the larger lead that works great for marking on wood, concrete, paper, and more. It has a sharpener built into the tip of the storage tube, so I’m always just a quick spin away from having a sharp point. The tip, unlike a normal pencil, is long and narrow, so marking holes and templates is easy and accurate. Pica also makes several types of lead in different colors and hardnesses; my personal favorite is the standard-color H lead because it holds a sharp tip longer. One disadvantage is that you can’t take the pencil apart to clean the mechanicals, so over time it starts to act up. But overall, this is a quality tool.
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