blade.jpg

Prazi Blades

Posted by 141drew Posted onMay 16, 2014 at 3:00 PM and filed under Reviews & Features
Updated onUpdated on May 28, 2021 at 11:37 AM


I don’t do much wood work… mostly cuz I **** at it, but I have a buddy that’s a carpenter. Yesterday, I stopped by his joint and watched him build some hifalutin’ shelving system with open joints that was designed for a super modern house. Because of the open joints, his plywood (some crazy expensive material that I had never heard of) cuts had to be razor accurate. So what did he use?

The first and probably most important tool he was using for the job was a Festool circle saw. I’ve seen these in action before and they are simply gorgeous in looks and use. If I were a wood guy, you couldn’t stop me from owning  one.

But, another little tool he had that I had never seen before were these little razor blade shaped pieces of carbon. He had them mounted in a typical razor blade handle and then used them as marking pencils against a straight edge. I didn’t wanna seem like a dumb ***, so I pretended I knew what they were all about and then went home and fired up google.

Prazi Accutrax Pencil Blade

Huh. Who knew?


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Fcvapor05

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Read this, then immediately ordered some on amazon.

Now I don't have to throw my extra foldable boxcutter away :D
 
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ChevyEFI

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For laughing at you, he needs to hop on here and provide detail and pictures of:

  1. hifalutin’ shelving system with open joints that was designed for a super modern house.
  2. his plywood (some crazy expensive material that I had never heard of)
  3. and explanation of why: cuts had to be razor accurate.

I'm here to learn, same as you.
 
OP
R

Ryan

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JakeKohl said:
I thought that looked really interesting but they have terrible reviews on Amazon.
Click to expand...

I could see them being really brittle... But I will say this - they create the finest, most crisp line off of a straight edge than you can imagine... I ordered some, so I'll report back.
 
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Fcvapor05

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It seems like most people that complain of them breaking are saying they put them in a standard box cutter..

I suspect they need to go in the foldalble type, as pictured. Every standard retractable box cutter I've ever used doesn't hold the blade very rigidly- which I'm sure is bad news for a brittle material.
 
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nicksnothereman

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These look cool. I'm not classy (or careful) enough of a guy to use something like this though. I usually just use a marker and let the kerf swallow it then do referential cuts. But if you need accuracy this is probably the way to go...you ever try to use one of those crummy disposable mechanical pencils on a rough piece of wood? It's a bummer. That's probably why I use markers.
 
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ScurvyPete

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JakeKohl said:
I thought that looked really interesting but they have terrible reviews on Amazon.
Click to expand...

Probably because most people assume it comes with both the foldable holder and the "blades", and they get pissed when they open the box to find just the blades.
 
T

trainer

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I don't understand.
How does this make a better line than a conventional pencil?

When I'm working with wood, my pencil goes behind my ear and gets sharpened once or twice a day.

If I'm doing something really precise, a marking knife or scratch awl comes out.
 
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n8n

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Not to be contrary, but when I need precision marking I usually go for a mechanical drafting pencil... can someone explain the advantages to using these blades over a traditional inexpensive Pentel drafting pencil with HB (normal writing hardness) lead?
 
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Fcvapor05

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trainer said:
I don't understand.
How does this make a better line than a conventional pencil?

When I'm working with wood, my pencil goes behind my ear and gets sharpened once or twice a day.

If I'm doing something really precise, a marking knife or scratch awl comes out.
Click to expand...

When you use a pencil, the lines will progressively get wider as the lead wears. Not the case with this product.
 
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Fcvapor05

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n8n said:
Not to be contrary, but when I need precision marking I usually go for a mechanical drafting pencil... can someone explain the advantages to using these blades over a traditional inexpensive Pentel drafting pencil with HB (normal writing hardness) lead?
Click to expand...

a) I don't have to buy a drafting pencil since I already have 37 folding utility knives that I've gotten for free over the years

b) I look waaaaaay cooler when my pencil is also a switchblade


The only real serious advantage I see vs. a mechanical pencil, tolerance of being in a bag. I've had mechanical pencils in various boxes and tool bags before, and the cheap plastic ones I use always get crushed by a saw or giant adjustable wrench or whatever. This thing, assuming you use a folding utility body, should handle getting knocked around in the bottom of a tool bag pretty well.

I just ordered some because they look cool. :3gears:
 
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n8n

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I still have some drafting pencils from a job I left almost 10 years ago :/

Like 'em so much that I started buying the 0.9mm ones for "utility" use (the ones from the job were 0.5mm)

these ones

http://www.pentel.com/imprint/sharp-05mm-07mm-and-09mm-automatic-drafting-pencil/

I still find the 0.5mm ones in the bottom of random tool bags and they seem to hold up fine. Tip is non retractable on these so that is probably the weak point. I also had to buy a couple 0.7mm ones just to fill in the mug on my desk (hey, if you have two out of three parts of a set, what's a guy to do?
 
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Ryan

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OK, so I got mine this morning... Initial impression is that they are VERY brittle. However, if you use them as intended I don't see that as a problem. For certain, they create a very fine, accurate, and consistent line when used against a straight edge.

Do I really need these? Nope. But I can see them being pretty handy for a guy that uses wood a lot.
 
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GarageMac

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Drafting pencils (nor any other) won't widen if you twist the pencil as your drawing your line.

Pretty sure the saw has a much higher cut variance than the pencil line.

These do look cool though.
 
O

Outlawmws

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GarageMac said:
Drafting pencils (nor any other) won't widen if you twist the pencil as your drawing your line.

Pretty sure the saw has a much higher cut variance than the pencil line.

These do look cool though.
Click to expand...

This^^ for conically sharpened pencils, and the Pentel mm lead is not going to get wider than the size of the lead:

0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 the last being the most durable for wood layout work and probably as narrow or less than these Prazi "blades"
 
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Fcvapor05

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"That tool is cool but here's a better, cheaper alternative"

Is this garagejournal.com or wivesofguyswhospendtoomuchontools.com? :bounce:
 
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trainer

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Fcvapor05 said:
When you use a pencil, the lines will progressively get wider as the lead wears. Not the case with this product.
Click to expand...

Like others have said, twist your pencil as you draw the line. I learned this the first day in drafting class.

If they made this product in soapstone, I might be interested.
 
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Falcon67

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My grandfather build cabins and houseboats. Always used a hand saw (which I have) and a #2 pencil. Kept the pencil behind his ear, and always licked it before drawing his line. I like the bundles of mechanical pencils - cheap, thin line, toss when out of lead.
 
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89GLH

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Buddy of mine's father uses the .5mm just for the simplicity of the line width. Dark enough to see, thin enough not to affect the fitment.
 
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mds5951

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anyone have an opinion these (or something similar):
SALES_pencil_pencil2.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FX2RPG/?tag=atomicindus08-20
 
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ddrewyor

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I have always used the Try-Rex pencils made for kids. They sharpen easier than the carpenter's pencils and have a larger lead so they do not wear down or break as often as a regular pencil. With that said... For Father's day, my kids and wife picked up the AccuTrax blades, the Striker pencil pictured above and the Stanely handle that holds two blades and is quick change. My impression is that the handle holds the blades very secure and the line one can draw is consistent and accurate. The blades seem very brittle, but I used them over the weekend and drew on multiple surfaces with good luck. If one does not retract the blade, I'm confident that they will break off very easily or get crushed. The Striker seems more durable and the fact that it has a white lead can make it very handy. My regular pencils will stay in the drawer just in case, but for the fine furniture :) I make, these will be very useful. Can I do it with something else, absolutely, but these are cool and my family was happy that they found something for my shop that wasn't out of their price range.
 
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