White colored marking pencil, pen???

[Barry Dudley]

I have not been to this forum in quite a while but I bet someone here can answer my question. Is there some type of pencil or pen that can be used to make precise layout line on dark woods like rosewood or bubinga? I use .5mm pencil on lighter colored woods but my old eyes are have a heck of a time seeing pencil on Rosewood, Bubinga, Cocobolo etc.
I have tried several type of roller ink pens but they don't mark very well.

[Doug Shaker]

I go to an art supply store and buy both a white pencil and a silver pencil and use whichever shows up best on the wood in question.

[Alan Carruth]

I've gotten both white and silver gel pens from the local fabric/craft store that work well. They mark best on a freshly sanded or scraped surface. I'd get both kinds; sometimes one works much better than the other, for no reason I can fathom.

[Barry Dudley]

Thanks Alan, I'll give that a try. I've tried white, silver,gold, yellow, red and blue pencils and they don't work very well.

[Waddy Thomson]

+1 on fabric marking pencils. Points break easily though so be gentle.

[Dennis Duross]

I've tried both white and silver colored pencils, but the lead is too soft, so it's hard to get a good, crisp line. Now I just lay down some tape and mark on the tape. 3M makes a low-tack white tape. The low-tack can be problematic sometimes, so I often just use drafting or masking tape.

[Rodger Knox]

+1 on the gel pens. I've used silver and gold, I think I got them at a grocery store. I've got several other colors, but the silver and gold show up best.

[Craig Bumgarner]

I use welder's soapstone sticks. Sharpens easily with the Dragon rasp that is always handy. Easy to wipe off when done with it. Not as crisp as a pencil line, so I use it for roughing in and then a pencil line for fine cut.

[Kerry Werry]

You can also buy "welder's pencils" which appear to be the soapstone in pencil form, perhaps a bit softer//

KLW

I use welder's soapstone sticks. Sharpens easily with the Dragon rasp that is always handy. Easy to wipe off when done with it. Not as crisp as a pencil line, so I use it for roughing in and then a pencil line for fine cut.

[Patrick Hanna]

Hey, Barry,
These other suggestions might be just the thing for you. I haven't tried them, but after reading this, I probably will. In the meantime, there is a white wax pencil available in a lot of art stores that might work for you. The brand name is "Verithin". This pencil has a harder wax than the usual Prismacolor pencils that we usually see. I am not sure it will be your cup of tea, but it might be worth one pencil to try. Please let us know what you choose. Lots of people out here will be interested in your results.
Patrick

[Trevor Gore]

When you've finished, make sure you get all the white/silver off your wood. You'd be amazed how it has a knack of reappearing under a couple of coats of lacquer...

[Mario Proulx]

For a very precise layout line on dark woods, use a scratch awl or marking knife to lightly score the wood, and rub a bit of talc or white chalk into the line...

For lower precision markings, a white pastel pencil from an art or craft store works great, as do wax(IE:China) pencils, and even chalk. Sharpie makes a silver marker that works great, but it is -very- permanent and even penetrates into the wood a little ways.

I've never had any luck getting the gold or silver pens to work well.

But most of the time, just a regular pencil line works fine enough for rough cuts, especially with a low-angle light which I have fixed to my bandsaw.

[Alan Carruth]

Mario wrote:
"I've never had any luck getting the gold or silver pens to work well."

I admit they can be tricky.

One thing that really seems to matter is the 'surface energy' of the thing you're trying to mark on. This is particularly true if the wood has any sort of oil in it: if it's not freshly sanded or scraped the things just won't work. All it takes is a light hit with a scraper to get then started usually.

I've had more trouble with the white pens than the silver ones. It's too bad; often the silver marks are only really visible when the light hits then just right, and usually the light on my bandsaw doesn't. I've also had individual pens that worked much better than others: sometimes they're sloppy, for example, leaving a wide line of liquid that smears. Like the little girl with the little curl:"When she was good she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was horrid".

[Larry Davis]

I've used charcoal pencils from craft stores for over 10 years . Comes in white or black and marks well over naptha even. Tried most everything before discovering charcoal. Believe manufacture's name is "General" Walmart has them also in three packs. One white and two black

[David King]

The white artist pencils are variable. The best ones are the true "watercolor" pencils that have much more pigment and cost more. Since my local Utrecht has just been subsumed by Dick Blick I haven't had time to familiarize myself with the new brands yet. It looks like the Derwent Inktense pencils are the ones to try at Dick Blick.

[Dave Haddon]

Hi,new to the forum,but saw this old post.
Everybody,I've known,has always painted ebony and any other dark wood with white,quick drying paint,would be acrylic or poster/children's paint,these days.....mark with pencil or scribe...cut,then rub off. I thought everybody did it this way.Can't think of anything easier,for bridges and inlays.

[Miguel Addon]

I´ve been using dermographic pencils which come in white or yellow color for marking dark woods. These pencils are common used in laboratories for marking in glass.
Regards: Miguel from Buenos Aires , Argentina

[Harmon Gladding]

To prevent dulling of the pencil point, drafters rotate the pencil as they draw it along, holding it at a low angle.

[Larry Davis]

I've used white charcoal sketch pencils for years. Only white pencil I use. "General" brand at craft stores or Walmart. Same size as a standard pencil.

[Mario Proulx]

Larry!! Long time, no see....

I've used those, too, but can never find them sold individually; only in sets with other colors. Do you find them individually?