Finally switched to a soapstone marker for layout work

Used to do all my layout with a sharpie and it would burn off after the first torch pass. Buddy named Carl at the union hall in Gary showed me how soapstone holds up through multiple heats. Picked up a 4 pack for 8 bucks at the supply house last month. Anyone else still fighting with markers that vanish on you?

2 comments

2 Comments

terryk2813d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, that bit about markers burning off after the first torch pass hits close to home. I went through a whole box of paint markers one weekend and they were all gone by lunchtime. Soapstone really is the way to go, especially if you're doing multiple passes on the same joint. I actually found that if you get the holder with the little chisel tip, you can get pretty fine lines on clean metal, which surprised me. Just make sure you keep it dry, a wet soapstone smears worse than a bad tattoo.

reeseperez13d ago

You ain't kidding, wet soapstone is the absolute worst.