: This is probably a really dumb question, but here goes. While making a
: Greenland "stick" out of a rather dark cedar 2x4, I had problems
: making visible layout lines without impressing them into the wood to the
: point that they were difficult to remove without taking off a lot of extra
: wood with them. I used the softest pencil I could find in the house, to no
: avail. Are there special layout pencils for this purpose? Markers won't
: work since the cedar would soak up the ink like a sponge. Is there such a
: thing as a fine line chalk pencil?

Go to an art supply or store that carries art supplies and buy a 3B pencil. This is soft and dark. The pencils in your house were probably 3 to 4 levels harder.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com