Why is a Carpenter's Pencil Flat? And Other Stuff

have you ever wondered why a carpenter's pencil is square and flat well I got to tell you this if you think it's because it just looks cool and rests perfectly behind your ear well there are some things that our carpenter's pencil can do that just might surprise you [Music] hi everybody I'm Leah of CJ and shrill and if this is your first time here I just want to say welcome now we're a home-improvement channel where beginners are welcome as well we welcome everybody here now today's video has to do with this guy right here it's a carpenter's pencil and if you think that it's square so that rest you know perfectly behind the ear well you would be incorrect I want to show you a number of things that a carpenter's pencil can do to just might surprise you now this may be a little obvious but a number two pencil will roll on you but a carpenter's pencil is flat so that when you're working on an incline it stays put now here's the thing with a carpenter's pencil the dimensions it's deliberate it's not random it's actually well thought out because your pencil believe it or not can be used as a measuring device so a carpenter's pencil measures across exactly a half of an inch and the thickness of a carpenter's pencil is a quarter of an inch so why does that matter well here's the thing I'm working outside of building a deck and I want to space my planks a quarter inch apart I got to tell you this chances are I've got my carpenter's pencil right there it's the perfect spacer and so I'm able to space my planks quarter inch apart consistently with this pencil so here I have a number two pencil okay and it can only be sharpened one way and that is to a point and a center point so carpenter's pencil is different because there's only one way to sharpen a number two but a carpenter's pencil there's a few different ways and depending upon how you're going to use the pencil kinda directs you on how to sharpen it now this pencil here has been sharpened to be used as a scribe tool that's right I said a scribe I'm gonna set it down next to the number two and if you notice the number two the letters just straight ahead but with the scribe pencil cuz that's how I use this one the pencil lead is going a little bit off to the side you can't do that with a number two you can only do that with a carpenter's pencil so I got my carpenters pencil sharpened to scribe now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take this board here and I'm gonna scribe this board to this box there's a gap down here that closes up toward the top so what I'm gonna do is i'm going to take my carpenters pencil and it's gonna ride this box but also scribe okay so there we go there's my scribe line right there now if you notice I've sharpened this carpenter's pencil a little different and it has a very blunt edge and once you see how blunt this edge is can you see that so let's say that I need to mark a brick okay and I grab a number two pencil line well what I will tell you is this this pencil isn't designed to mark on stone or bridge or anything like that because well did you see what happened here I'm gonna strike on line again it's already dull but I'm gonna strike another one and already I don't have a lead okay now a carpenter's pencil on the other hand it's meant just for material like this I can mark all day long ready look still got it mark it again still got mark it again still I still have a led there I'm just marking a brick here and I can mark all day long on a brick and it's not going to chew the latter way like on that number two and I sharpen my pencil with a utility knife and do the flat side and I take off a nice chunk all right just like that and I do it again until I hit bled and I use my thumb all right now I've got my let expose there and I'm just gonna you just want to sharpen it a little bit cuz I want a nice sharp edge so I get nice and sharp so what you want to get it to a point no now once you see how sharp that point is you don't want to mark something with this notice how I got a nice fine line there it's no different than if I were to use a number two pencil watch now this number two pencil is a little darker but this line is much more narrow so yeah it's a nice beefy lead but you can get a nice fine line with a carpenter's pencil now it takes a little practice to get it perfect but you know pencils are really cheap so grab a couple pencils and just Whittle away so let me just give you one other tip that I use I always carry two carpenters pencils when I'm working outside and the reason for it is well it's that spacer thing but beyond that I always sharpen both ends and that way I have two pencils that can do four different kind of marking tasks this of course is the scribe this down here is blunt okay so keep that in mind so who knew right that a carpenter's pencil had so many cool uses right now listen if you like our videos can I encourage you to subscribe and ring that notification bell because every time we upload a new video you'll be the first one to find out this is Leah saying you can do this see you next time

Channel: seejanedrill

Views: 6,175,255

Rating: 4.8221364 out of 5

Keywords: carpenter's pencil, carpenter pencil, carpenters pencil, carpenter's pencil tricks, seejanedrill, see Jane Drill, Leah, master carpenter, carpenter tips, mechanical pencil, laddie pencil, laddy pencil, carpenter pencil uses, how to sharpen a carpenter's pencil, why is a carpenter's pencil flat?, how is a carpenter's pencil used?

Id: GAsSOnU0jqk

Length: 6min 54sec (414 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 28 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/gubbygub]

hey this lady's video taught me about the wiggly bit of a tape measure

[u/h0FX86]

I’m not a carpenter and watched the whole video. Oddly satisfied.

[u/Ordinary_Rabbit]

She's really engaging.

Good video.

[u/[deleted]]

Now this is quality content.

[u/NKevros]

I watched a bunch of her videos when redoing a room in my basement, even stuff that didn't have anything to do with the drywall work I was planning. Leah is awesome.

[u/Elvis_Take_The_Wheel]

Shout out to all my fellow children of carpenters...anyone else have to do their math homework with one of these bulky bastards because it was the only pencil you could find?

[u/tirabuixo]

I see we have the same Youtube video recommendations, /u/Itsjorgehernandez .

[u/fasterfind]

I found a woman like her, I'd know she's a keeper. Jane Can Drill is my favorite woman on Youtube. Smart, practical, knows a lot. You know for sure this is a productive person that gets shit done and has a great attitude.

She's a role model. If I ever have kids, I want them to watch her show when they hit the age that they could appreciate learning some of this stuff. The world needs more people like this, talking about all topics.

[u/nocontroll]

I always thought it was because it won't roll away