Turned 2 (and a half) carpenter pencils with a 2mm lead .
A couple of 'firsts' for me today. I ,after ordering and waiting for bushings, thinking I already had them was able to turn 2 of PSIs Carpenter Pencils. I hade recently bought the kits in an order from Exotic Blanks. As a person who uses a pencil everyday I'm always on a search for the perfect pencil. 15 years ago(or more)I loved making wooden pencils from the 0.9mm Pentels but experience has taught me the thinness of the wood isn't durable enough for jobsite usage/rugged tasks. Now in my daily tasks the 2.8mm Pica Pencil is a very handy pencil as we write on a lot of felt, fiberglass , wood and aluminum. My other daily use pencil is the Pentel Graphgear500 in 0.9mm. In my quest to make similar I figured I'd try these. So firsts for the PSI kits and first time with McKenzie Pen Works Diamondcast, The pink one below. My first impressions are: One: The pencil is 2.0mm not 2.8mm like the Pica,I should have paid more attention. Two: As other reviews I've read(while waiting on the correct bushings is the sharpener leaves plenty to be desired, the lead just spins. Back to old school knife or sandpaper like drafting class. Three: The instructions say .495" dia ,the bushings measure .485" dia , so I wrapped masking tape on the bushings to get closer to .495. realistically with the hardware .485 is a better fit than the listed .495. Time will tell to see if I can learn to like the pencil with shop usage.
The "half" turned mentioned in the 1st line is going to a buddy who has a laser .We are going to run some mock tests and I can still turn the blanks smaller for either more testing or to a correct diameter later on. As a side benefit ,I don't have to invest in a laser ,the learning curve, etc. I believe I have also convinced him we are going to laser etch the pen boxes headed to my nephew with his company logo. Another miracle of technology.