The carpenter pencil – an important tool for remodeling contractors. While we use a carpenter pencil every day, it rarely gets the lime light. Sure, it may not be as thrilling as using power tools, but the carpenter pencil does make our life easier and deserves to be showcased! So, here we go…
- A carpenter pencil is a pencil that has a hexagonal shape with flat sides and no eraser.
- The flat sides keep it from rolling away, even when placed on an inclined surface.
- The earliest known example of a carpenter pencil similar to those used today was found in a German house in the 17th century.
- Carpenter pencils have harder and therefore stronger graphite, so they are suitable for writing on most surfaces, including concrete & stone.
- The non round core allows for thick or thin lines to be drawn, just by rotating the pencil.
- Carpenter pencils are also easier to grip because they have a larger surface area.
- Due to their shape, they are typically sharpened with a knife — either a chisel end (for fine lines) or a flatter end (for textured material surfaces).
Want to learn how to sharpen a carpenter pencil? Click here to watch our video of Dale Gruber explaining how.
