Skip to main content
Stesso

Sharpen for Chisel Point

0:03
0:38
152.1K views

At 0:03 in

Why are carpenters pencils flat?

Watch on YouTube

What happens here

The video begins by introducing the flat carpenter's pencil. To prepare the pencil for varied uses, take a utility knife and carefully shave the wood from the pencil tip, exposing the graphite. Then, precisely shape the exposed graphite itself into a chisel point. This specialized sharpening method creates a flat, wide edge for drawing broad marks and a sharp, thin edge for making fine, narrow marks.

Goal: Prepare the carpenter's pencil for varied line widths.

Tools and materials

  • Carpenter's Pencil — The primary tool being sharpened for versatile use
  • Utility Knife — Shaping the wood and graphite of the pencil
  • Work Surface — A stable surface to work on, protecting against knife slips

What they say

Hide

This isn't the only reason this pencil's flat. Watch what happens when I sharpen it. Shape the graphite into a chisel's point and you get two different lines. But, that's not even the biggest difference between these pencils. Look at how much thicker this graphite core is. So, let's test them on something rough. That thick core can handle rough surfaces like concrete, but the graphite isn't even my favorite part. Even the body itself is useful. Need a quick spacer? It's roughly half an inch this way. Or, turn it and it's roughly a quarter inch. But, that flat body can do something

Auto-generated from the video audio.