A mini review for a....pencil!

[rljatl]

Lee Valley sells this pencil.  One of these should work on steel.

Pica Workshop Pencils & Markers

 

[peter halle]

I can't speak to the white "lead", but the yellow should work.  Waxy crayon type material.  Would need to be careful getting a sharp point though.

Peter

 

[curt boyer]

I use the white to mark steel but it really works great on dark tiles. It doesn't have to be that sharp to mark. Make sure you buy extra leads because they are soft and on steel or tile they'll go fast. I do a lot of dark colored woods and the Pica really shines. In fact I only ever use the white lead in the pencil.
Cheers
Curt

 

[SMJoinery]

Seeing these prices I'm glad I have a pencil "sponsor"!!
UK Guys, next time your near a Howdens pop in and ask for some pencils and they will gladly oblige, they also give away some nice little notebooks with a blank sheet and graph sheet on alternate pages....oh and they sell kitchens and joinery stuff!

 

[richy3333]

Seeing these prices I'm glad I have a pencil "sponsor"!!
UK Guys, next time your near a Howdens pop in and ask for some pencils and they will gladly oblige, they also give away some nice little notebooks with a blank sheet and graph sheet on alternate pages....oh and they sell kitchens and joinery stuff!

And free tapes and high vis vests

 

[charley1968]

I like the pencil for allround work in the house but don't use when i'm woodworking.
While you can get a nice point, i find it cumbersome to keep it that way. Otherwise you will have markings in the 1-2mm range, which i think is too broad. But for marking stuff, drilling a hole, marking areas etc. it's quite good.

 

[NHSP759]

I actually bought mine about six months ago and thoroughly love it.  The pencil fits in all of those small holes to mark up screw alignment.  I bought the extra colored leds but hoenstly have not used them.  I got mine through tool nut.

 

[Harvey]

I was so-so on these, but decided to try them out. They really shone when I volunteered for habitat of humanity doing carpentry & drywall work. In the shop I sill prefer 0.5mm mechanical pencils. I often use Incra rules which are intended for 0.5mm leads. 

 

[epicxt]

I was so-so on these, but decided to try them out. They really shone when I volunteered for habitat of humanity doing carpentry & drywall work. In the shop I sill prefer 0.5mm mechanical pencils. I often use Incra rules which are intended for 0.5mm leads.

Ditto. The picas are great for rough framing. I've been keeping two in my pants for working lately along with my trusty old Pentel .5mm mech pencil. I've got normal lead in one Pica and red lead in the other for working with frozen pressure treated lumber (laying out 4x12 stair stringers off a deck).

Edit: meant to add that the Picas are really easy to grab and put back with winter gloves on.

 

[Sparktrician]

I was so-so on these, but decided to try them out. They really shone when I volunteered for habitat of humanity doing carpentry & drywall work. In the shop I sill prefer 0.5mm mechanical pencils. I often use Incra rules which are intended for 0.5mm leads.

I really like mine.  The 0.5mm leads are too fragile for me.  I found that the 0.9mm pencils do a very respectable job with the Woodpeckers gear. 

 

[Jason Kehl]

I bought a pica for general carpentry use and for about a monthnit was awesome,  then the lead wouldn't advance. I bought another hoping that I had somehow abused or damaged the first one. I got about 6 weeks,  maybe 2 months out of the 2nd one before it wouldn't advance the lead anymore.

No more Pica pencils for me.

 

[Throwback7r]

That seems odd.. I have had mine for a while on a few different job sites. I wonder if your bending it where do you keep the holster?

 

[Jason Kehl]

I kept the holster in a small front "pencil pocket" in Bjornkladers. I am quite sure I didn't bend anything, but maybe with working in the rain and snow somehow the mechanism got fouled up. It's too bad, I really liked it while it worked.

J