Woodpeckers, one of my favorite woodworking brands, sent out an email blast this morning advertising the Accutrax Pencil Blade that they recently began carrying. I clicked through to the product page and couldn’t believe what I saw.
The Pencil Blade is utility knife blade-shaped graphite insert that lets you draw razor-thin pencil lines on wood, drywall, and other markable surfaces. It is 0.025″ wide and seems to be formed as a carbon fiber-reinforced layered graphite composite.
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Woodpeckers says that the blade lasts for months, and can still make the same width marks even if breaks. They warn that the graphite blades can break if stressed from the side.
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Pencil Blades are made in the USA and are sold in packs of 3 for about $12.
These blades are compatible with any standard utility knife, but will probably be less prone to breakage if used with retractable knives. (I suppose that is one more point for retractable knives and against folding utility knives. What’s your preference?)
jeff_williams
Load one up in the Bostitch twin blade knife and still keep a regular blade in the other slot.
Stan
Nice to see a company produce American made utility knives that aren’t Made in USA of global sourcing though. Cool idea though.
Stuart
I don’t think the knife is made in the USA, but the blades are definitely said to be.
Stan
Hence why I utility knife, as in blades. Sorry, I figured that might be obvious, but maybe not as you bring up a good point.
Dennis
Utility knife body seems like far more bulky of a thing to carry compared to a mechanical pencil that also draws thin lines.
Jerry
Good idea. Most everyone has a spare utility knife lying around. I have a compact folding utility knife just made for this. Relatively thin, folds small, and has a pocket clip. Not as convenient as a pencil behind the ear for continual use, but I see it more as something to have in the toolbox, in the spare blade reservoir of a quick change knife, etc, for those guys who only need a pencil occasionally, but wish they had one on them.
Jerry
To add, I searched for twin blade utility knife, and found a couple. In addition to the Bostitch mentioned above, CH Hanson, has one with a blade that comes out either end.
Mike
Call me a skeptic on this one, I’d rather just use the knife blade for marking. I bought a marking knife a couple months back and now the only time I use a pencil is to scribble down the area I’m cutting out.
mike
FYI these are currently out of stock at amazon. Id like to get some just to try them. wish they had metal marking ones.
Greg W.
I would like to try one. Put it against a straight edge a draw a long line.
Soda
This product seems ridiculous to me. I can’t imagine any situation that this would be any more handy than using a pencil.
Stan
Maybe not, but I’ll give the company this, at least the blades are American made and created/sustained American jobs. Might not be suitable in an industrial setting, but I give the company credit for originality and respect them for at least keeping the work in America.
mark grooms
soda the idea is that you never have to sharpen it like you do a pencil.
matt
thats cool.
SteveR
Nice, but doesn’t this mean you have to essentially dedicate/carry an extra utility knife around for the purpose of marking cut lines? If pencils had never been invented, or baseball caps to hold them in place between uses, this would be a good idea.
fifi waters
I happen to collect utility knifes so this is perfect for me !!!!…. by the way super cool site Stuart!
Jim
I like the idea. It is not a replacement for carrying a pencil. Since it is not designed to take side pressure, it is not something you will write with, rather a marking tool for scribing a line. At this, it should excel. It will produce a sharp line and consistently follow along a guide. I have it in my Amazon Cart. I plan to use it in my two bladed Bostitch knife. For Mike, who rather use a knife for marking, you get the best of both worlds, a marking knife and a marking pencil (I would never use a marking /striking knife on hard materials such as metal, ceramics, concrete, etc.). This price point is reasonable, as I would expect each blade to last quite a while.
Harry
Thanks Stuart for the write-up. We are manufacturing and just getting our new ACCUTRAX Pencil Blades into the market. Just started last week! Selling very well thanks to everyone. The greatest advantage our pencil blade brings to the table is that is NEVER has to be sharpened. Also, it will always leave a .025″ line every time. We refer to this original pencil blade as a “finish carpentry” pencil. It’s so accurate and repeatable, it’s for the person who works on 1/16″ tolerances and less. It leaves a nice dark line and the lead wears very slowly.
joe
Cool idea. Now incorporate knife with cutting abilities + carbon blades (ability to switch back and forth from cutting to writing) + built in replaceable pencil in knife (you know for writing) = a product I would like to own.
Justin
You could only use half the blade, right? You could not reverse it like a metal blade, so it seems like $4 per would be a little expensive.
Stuart
Why couldn’t you reverse it? The blades look double-sided to me.
Justin
Because it would not sit right in the blade frame, right? You need the entire blade to sit right in the blade frames. Once you use up the one side of this blade, if you go to reverse it, there will be nothing inside the knife part, so the blade would fall off the frame?
Stuart
I would think that, as long as the notches and spine are intact, it should be okay.
Harry
Hey Justin,
The ACCUTRAX Pencil Blade is in fact reversible. No different from any razor. You get two (2) pencils with each blade. Also, the clamshell in the package is a protective storage case. It keeps the pencils well protected until you place them in your knife.
Franco
No, you can easily reverse it.
Franco
Got a set for Christmas and I love it. I had a light weight plastic holder that wasn’t really good for a blade but perfect for a pencil. You never have to sharpen it (huge advantage), it’s fairly tough (doesn’t break easily) and makes a nice tight perfect line. If you make cabinets or furniture it’s worth every cent.
Altan
These are good blades but not available in UK unfortunately.
tony
great idea but i can’t justify the cost. 12 bucks to be the cool kid