Over the years I have tried about every means of marking wood.
I like mechanical pencils because they do not need sharpening and fit with clips in my pocket.
But standard lead sizes break to easy when scribing wood.
For the last year I have been using pencils with 1.3mm lead successfully.
Until recently I could only find versions that were made for kids and the lead and erasers were not replaceable.
I found this set that I really like. They are real mechanical pencils but with 1.3mm lead and standard erasers. They are surprisingly good quality
Here is a bonus: if you want to mark on wood without any permanence try these. However these leads are very fragile. That said not having to try and sand out the marks is worth the frustration of breaking leads.
I have a new favorite pencil.
There are many of these styles on amazon this is just one brand:
I like that they have a strong lead, can reach into holes for marking and the integrated sharpener works really well.
I have more on the order because I want one dedicated to each color. BTW: the yellow is hard to see on wood… maybe that is good. Wish the leads came in white.
The well-known brand is Pica but they are lots more $$$ and these Hiboom ones seem to be holding up fine.
Ohhh. That’s great. It’s still the same kit I used to have when I was in school for myself, erasers, mechanical pencils, and a mechanical Pencil Lead. But I don’t think it can work well for wood marking. I usually use wood crayons, chalk, or a carpenter’s pencil when marking rough planks for cross-cuts before final milling. I try to keep a yellow or white pencil around for better markings on darker wood.
