The Best Carpenter Pencils for Writing on Wood

Carpenter Pencils Buying Guide

Carpenter pencils are incredibly handy for DIY projects. This buying guide covers what you should know while you’re shopping for them.

What Are Carpenter Pencils?

Carpenter pencils are pencils used for carpentry and woodworking. They are great for making thick lines that last for days and even weeks at a time. These tools function much like regular pencils and are even sharpened in a similar way, but they are used specifically for making heavy-duty markings and measurements.

Carpenter Pencils vs. Regular Pencils

There are a few similarities and differences between regular pencils and carpenter pencils. For one, regular pencils are much thinner and easier to hold for long writing sessions. The design of a regular pencil makes it comfortable on the fingers no matter how you hold it, with a circular shape that persists on all sides. On the other hand, carpenter pencils have an oval shape that can be a bit awkward to write with at first. The purpose of the oval shape is to prevent the pencil from falling if you place it on a slanted or tilted surface. While a regular pencil would roll down, an oval carpenter pencil stays in place. Then there’s the thickness. Regular pencils vary greatly in thickness, but they’re generally thin enough that you can make legible and readable lines with them. Carpenter pencils, however, do not care nearly as much about legibility. Instead, they offer thicker and bolder lines, which can help you take note of measurements and markings even from afar. Finally, there’s the sharpening method. Most regular pencils have a supporting pencil sharpener that you can use to automatically sharpen the pencil with little to no effort. These pencil sharpeners work because the shape of the regular pencil is cylindrical, meaning that it’s the same shape no matter how you turn the pencil lengthwise.  For carpenter pencils, the sharpening process is a little more involved. You’ll have to manually shave off the wood on the pencil using a knife or similar tool. It does take a bit of time to do and is more dangerous than sharpening regular pencils, but you’re rewarded with a pencil that’s durable and doesn’t roll off the table — which more than makes up for the minor inconvenience of manual sharpening.

Types of Carpenter Pencils

Wooden carpenter pencils

Wooden carpenter pencils are carpenter pencils that need to be manually sharpened. Because they’re made out of wood, they need to be shaved with a sharp tool, and thanks to their oval shape you can’t do it with a traditional pencil sharpener. These carpenter pencils are easy to use and cheap, often sold in packs of three or more.

Mechanical carpenter pencils

Mechanical carpenter pencils use refillable tips to make replacing the lead easy and convenient. The benefit of this design is that you won’t be left with wooden shavings after “sharpening” the pencil. You will need to buy more tips if you want to use the pencil for an extended amount of time, however, and this can cost more than just using a wooden carpenter pencil.

Tips When Sharpening Carpenter Pencils

Be careful

No matter how experienced you may be with woodwork, it’s still a dangerous task to sharpen a carpenter pencil. You’re moving a sharp blade, and while it’s usually pushed away from yourself, it only takes one slip-up to cut yourself or worse. Make careful strokes when cutting to ensure no accidents occur.

Sharpen in the right location

You can sharpen your carpenter pencil in your garage or shack, but that will leave wooden shavings for you to clean. Instead, consider shaving over some plants so that the shavings can decompose into the soil.