@rankin_file Amen to that.?ÿ Also we'd pull our stakes/lath/hubs when no longer needed and use a plane to erase them for the next project on rainstorm/snow delay days. We could do over a thousand in an 8 hour shift. The boss was a penny pincher and penciled out it was cheaper than buying new wood for every project.
That's a good question.?ÿ The lead is fairly hard and graphite-ish, but does have a slightly waxy texture.?ÿ I don't know if they even make it anymore.?ÿ I've had the holder and leads for decades; it's been along time since I've done the kind of work that requires me to mark a lot of lath.
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Digging a bit, it looks like they've rebranded (no surprise there) but that it's still available:
@jim-frame My digging turned up the same info, new lead is 4B hardness.
@jim-frame I might look into getting one of these. They are dark enough to allow contractors to read from a distance?
Plenty dark.?ÿ The only time they're not very suitable is when the stake is really rough, but it has to be *really* rough.?ÿ Normally-sawn stakes aren't a problem.
I much prefer a one-hand "click" marker - but all of them leak. you can tell which of my T-Shirts used to carry the "one handed clicker" because of the black or red blotch in the pocket. so I tried carrying them in the truck instead of my T-shirt - and lost all of them (in the Truck somewhere). give me a one-hand thumb clicker that doesnt leak, and I'll buy a bucketfull.
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@jim-frame Thanks for the links, I just placed my order.
I'm a big fan of Ideals.?ÿ I've heard guys complain about losing tips but I've never really had that problem.?ÿ If you rip the cap off rather than twisting it off then yeah the tips can go flying.?ÿ I keep a couple empties around so if I lose a tip on a fresh one I can just replace it from the empty.