Hello everyone,
I’m wondering what most of you are using for a scribe? I have been looking for one for a LONG time and can’t find any of the inexpensive, very basic pencil scribes. Lee Valley has many but they are all way more $$ than what I am looking for. NONE of the tool shops including Big Orange carry anything like the $6 General Tools version. If only I could find my grade 8 geometry set – I’m sure there was a compass in there.
Any suggestions on where to find one? I have a counter top and vanity top to install next month and would like to have this basic yet elusive tool on hand. I’ve tried e-mailing General Tools several times looking for suppliers in Canada but they haven’t had the courtesy to reply. No luck with ebay either.
Thanks in advance, Mike.
Replies
You're talking about the little pencil holder compass??
Walmart
Office Depot
Two bucks or less.
Ya...the cheap little guy. I tried Office Depot with no luck but will try Walmart and a couple other places. I'm surprised none of the tool suppliers have this - what do the cabinet installers and finish carpenters generally use?
Mike
I too had a problem finding the scribe you are discussing. I think. The wal mart type of scribes like kids use in school would always get out of adjustment. I found the General tools #843/1 to be just what the Dr. ordered.
I found mine at the local hardware store and they are available on line doitbest
GS Wilke
Find a drafting or art supply store and get a decent one.
I've had the same one for 17 years now and it's still holding up well. I think mine cost about $15 when I bought it for a drafting class back in college.
what ever you do DON'T get the accuscribe!!
"keeps the mark parrallel to the surface"
Good for straight lines, but not for curves!!
Mr T
I can't afford to be affordable anymore
<<"what ever you do DON'T get the accuscribe!!">>Is that the plastic one with two legs? I got one from Lee Valley, and I like it a lot. Much easier (than a regular compass) for wall scribing.
I'm doing the same thing...installing my kitchen. I found a pretty nice one at HD for about ten bucks. Its spring loaded. I was kinda surprised to find a decent one there.
BE well and have fun
####
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Due to the nature of kids these days, I have found the new school type compasses are DULL.!!! Blunt points.
I have a few I use depending on what I intend to scribe. A few of the Old sharp pointed school types, a pair of machineist type or woodturners dividers, a Staedler Mars draftsman compass, one of the real BIG Chalk board compasses ( rubber point and a chaalk holder), a Veritaas log scribe with ink pencil..
why just have one? {G}
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Every human choice bows like a slave in submission to the absolute creative will, yet this does not deprive us of freedom or fear of taking responsibility for what we choose
( Mansavi V,(3097-98_)))))>
have you tried a hardware store? I remember when every hardware store carried them at about 29 cents. Probably cost two bucks now.
mike
You got me curious....been using the same ones for 20+ years, so I dug 'em out to check brand name. Hard to make out, but it's either Puleta Company Inc. or Ruleta Company Inc. Googled it, no dice either way.
Recently working with a new partner, I pulled it out to scribe a panel to wall. "What's that thing"...never seen such a thing. He had always used moulding or caulk.
PJ
Whatever you can do or dream you can,
Begin it
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Goethe
You know what they say...'Putty n paint make a carpenter what he aint'
Dammm..talk about dull. The points are GONE..I often use em backwards, let the point do the marking, the pencil the register..I guess you don't? {G}
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Every human choice bows like a slave in submission to the absolute creative will, yet this does not deprive us of freedom or fear of taking responsibility for what we choose
( Mansavi V,(3097-98_)))))>
Dammm..talk about dull. The points are GONE
Doc says I can't have anything sharp.....
PJ
Whatever you can do or dream you can, Begin it Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Goethe
Prove him/her wrong..unlesss yer a blind hemophiliac in a razor blade factory.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Every human choice bows like a slave in submission to the absolute creative will, yet this does not deprive us of freedom or fear of taking responsibility for what we choose
( Mansavi V,(3097-98_)))))>
My grandfather gave me a set of those and I've never used any better. Ruleta Company, INC
New York USAI like the ones that were in the magazine a couple of months ago but these take the cake.
Although I have a nice set of Stanley dividers, I prefer to cut a small piece of scrap to the scribe size I need and use a pencil. A small scrap will follow the wall nicely and I don't have to worry about the dividers (compasses) getting out of perpendicular with the wall or scratching it. Some white masking tape on the piece I'm scribing helps my old eyes and keeps un-wanted marks off the work.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
If there are any of the Ace Hardware stores near you they generally carry an assortment of the General products, that is where I got my scribe. It is one of the pencil holding compass ones with a sharp point.
-Ray
Exactly!
Here's what I use. Inherted from my great granfather who was a carpenter in Norway for the King.
Just kidding. I bought them off Ebay last year for ten bucks. I like the antique look. As far as finding the General tools ones they're everywhere when you aren't looking for them. Just keep looking.
Who Dares Wins.
ive been scribing c'tops for over 20 years, see counteract in the archives, all i use is a pencil and a shim
check the maximum gap, and select a shim scrap to match
caulking is not a piece of trim
Thanks for all the replies and ideas (I like Steve's alot). I saw the General Tools scribe in the Dec/Jan FHB and thought it would be perfect for the job. The point on the one I currently own is angled in towards the pencil near the bottom so when trying to scribe along a wall - there is no point to follow the surface. More of a terrible compass than a scribe I guess.
Mike