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Pencil Precision User Manual Congratulations on your purchase of the Pencil Precision! The Pencil Precision is easy to use and allows young and old alike to make professional-grade pencils without woodworking experience or ability. Overview The Pencil Precision kit consists of a special Block Plane, the Plane Sled Unit, the Extrusion Unit, the Ferrule Unit, 25 sets (50 pcs) of pencil blanks and pencil leads, ferrules, and erasers, as shown in Figure 1.
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Before using the Pencil Precision i Setting the Plane Depth Skids Before starting to make your first pencil, it is important to properly set the depth skids. This can be done following the illustration in Figure 2, using the gauge built in the back of the Ferrule Unit.
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Follow the steps below to properly set-up the iron to the correct cutting depth: Advance the sharp iron until you can feel it barely protruding from the bottom of the plane by brushing lightly with your fingers. Gently tighten the iron (lever) cap to lock it in place.
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Wood can have grain direction or other defects that will make the pencil making process difficult or impossible. The Pencil Precision Kit includes enough blanks for 25 pencils. However, your yield may, or may not, make 25 pencils but we fully expect that you can count on 20-22 successful pencils with each 50 pc.
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With the plane skids straddling the rails of the Plane Sled Unit, take full strokes pushing the plane forward with downward pressure. Make multiple passes with the plane until it is obvious that the plane is no longer cutting wood — the depth skids will limit the amount of material that can be removed.
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Loosen the locking screw, flip the blanks as shown in Figure 6: facing the 1mm radius groove inward and the bevel side downward. Then tighten the locking screw to clamp the blanks in place. End View of Plane Sled Unit Figure 6: Flip the Blanks CAUTION: You can not make a Hexagonal Pencil by facing the 1mm radius groove outward.
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NOTE: Pencil Precision does NOT contain glue or silicon brush. The wood glue is commended to achieve the maximum bond strength. Please test the bonding strength on the other wood pieces if you are not sure whether the glue will work in this application. CAUTION: Do not apply too much glue, the excess glue may drop on the Plane Sled Unit, causing the pencil to bond with the Plane Sled Unit or damage the Plane Sled Unit.
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IV Using the Extrusion Unit to Make Different Pencil Profiles i Preparing the Extrusion Unit Take out the dies set. One die set is a combination of multiple dies as shown in Figure 9. The orange die has a hexagonal inner profile, which is used to guide the hex pencil into the cutting dies.
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Turn the handle counterclockwise to retract the drive rest and steady rest as shown in Fig.11. This will leave enough space to install the pencil. ii Shaping the Pencil Profile As shown in Figure 12, install the hexagonal pencil into the orange die, turn the handle to advance the ram rod to hold the other side of the pencil.
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Pencil Orange Rest Arm Orange Rest Arm Figure 13: Put the orange rest arm aside Move the pencil against the orange rest arm by clockwise turning the handle. You can use the small paint brush to paint the pencil. Since the pencil will eventually need to be sharpened, and most likely will receive an eraser ferrule, you can rotate the ends of the blank with your fingers to paint all six faces without fear of marring the paint job.
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ii Tenoning the Pencil End As shown in Figure 15, choose the right hole to your pencil: Hexagonal pencil choose hole 3, Round and Beaded pencil choose hole 4. Hole 4 Hole 3 Figure 15: Tenoning the Pencil End Insert the pencil to the right hole, the cutter will peel off some wood back to the shoulder cut.
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As shown in Figure 17, drop one Ferrule into the pocket. Hold the blank in the alignment channel and tap the pencil into the Ferrule. Figure 17: Install the Ferrule Take out the pencil and insert an Eraser into the Ferrule. Sharpen the pencil with the supplied pencil sharpener.
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Apply a light coat of thin oil or WD-40 on the blade if the blade will be stored for long periods of time or in high-humidity locations. Wipe the blade clean of finger prints by clean cloth after each sharpening. ii Dies Honing The dies that come with the Pencil Precision have been sharpened at the factory.