Official Luthiers Forum!

I've been using regular white coloring pencils to mark dark wood but remember seeing a while ago some type of light grey pencil designed specifically for this purpose....the bummer is I can't remember where

Anyone knows what I am talking about?

I'm not to crazy about what I am using now....

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I use the colored gel pens that i've stolen from my kids. They are glittery and sit up on top of the surface (don't soak in).
Sorry I don't know about the grey pencil you speak of.

I don't know about the grey pencils either, but a white china marker works great. It's also waxy so it stays on top of the wood and is a breeze to see.

John

I am like Paul, I use white or silver gel pens. The fine 5mm for most cut marking and the regular 7mm for general labeling. The gel ink stays on the surface layer with out penetrating or bleeding. Also Sharpie has out a new fine, medium and broad tip in metalic silver for dark material marking but I would be worried about bledding below the surface with a Sharpie

I`ve been using a piece of white slate that welders use for marking steel on the walnut that I`m building with. Quite a bit like chalk, but hangs on better. Goes away no problem.

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Another vote for silver gel pens here.

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

[QUOTE=MichaelP] I am like Paul, I use white or silver gel pens. The fine 5mm for most cut marking and the regular 7mm for general labeling. The gel ink stays on the surface layer with out penetrating or bleeding. Also Sharpie has out a new fine, medium and broad tip in metalic silver for dark material marking but I would be worried about bledding below the surface with a Sharpie[/QUOTE]

Whoa, 5mm and 7mm tipped gel pens! AWESEOME

*ahem*

Sorry, joke had to be made. That's about 3/16" and 9/32" thick

Anyway, more seriously, yeah, I use .5 and .7mm gel pens for marking dark woods as well.

I stole the teenager white drawing pen . Bah ! He doesn't use it anymore, he's got a girlfriend now and better things to do i guess

I believe the pencils you speak of are "Prismacolor Metallic silver" pencils by Sanford. I use them for tracing cut inlays on any dark wood prior to routing.
They have a product #, PC949 and item # 03375.

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Paul Bordeaux
http://www.bordeauxinlay.com

I use the Prismacolor Sanford #753 Verithin metallic silver (same thing as 1bordeax perhaps?). The lead seems harder than the white pencils I had been using, so it makes a bit of a finer line.

I was just looking at an art forum, and someone suggested that the crayola and pentech colored pencils have a harder lead than the Prismacolor. Crayola makes a set of metallic pencils, might be worth a shot.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

yep your right .5 $.7 oh well at least I could see the line with out my glasses

I use white pencils I stole from my kid's pencil coloring set. I think I'll try the gel pens.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I got a nice .5mm mechanical pencil with yellow leads from a quilting supply place on the web once. I don't remember which web site, but googling for quilting supplies might get you there.

I use that a lot, also use a silver gel pen sometimes, or a marking knife sometimes, depending on the situation.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

[QUOTE=SteveS] I think I'll try the gel pens.[/QUOTE]

me too.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

The Prismacolor Sanford Verithin metallic silver is what I was looking for!
But I think I'll also give the gel pens a try!

Thanks a lot!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I've had similar problems with marking leather for sewing; looking for a black line on dark brown leather can strain my eyes. I like the gel pen idea. We have a ton of them that the kids have apparently outgrown.

When my daughter was in eighth grade, she did her Algebra homework in orange gel pen one day. Man, it was hard to read! She asked her teacher if it was OK to use that pen and got an emphatic NO in response.

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John Cavanaugh
Saint Paul, MN
"What could possibly go wrong?"