scriptor scripta scripsit scribae (googlatin)

 

L: Old & Busted
R: New Hotness

 The scriber I've had - and had a love-hate relationship with - for perhaps thirty years, finally got dropped enough times to chip the carbide in a way I could not dress out with a drill and a green wheel.  Foo.  My eight dollar tool!

(dramatic music builds)

 Then I attempted to buy a new one which would A) lack the features which bugged me about the old one, and B) would possess the desirable features the old one lacked.  And of course, I'd prefer it cost the same as the old one did... (j/k)

 My chief complaint about the old one was the magnet pressed into the dull end.  After that, I really didn't like the roughly 90º point (ya rly) on the carbide, and the thickness (well, it's aluminum ferpetesakes) of the "replaceable" tip body, as they both obscured fine layout lines and made scale marking alignment tricky.  I suppose if I really think about it, the light weight aluminum body always felt a bit chintzy, but I'm not sure I ever thought of that angle until now.  And it would be nice if it had replaceable tips - especially if implemented better - but not a deal-breakler.

 It took a fair amount of poking around to get close to what I wanted, (and then settle).
I checked The Usual Suspects: McMaster, MSC, Amazon, eBay, etsy.

√ no magnet
√ mo pointy
√ heavier
X replaceable tip

And drumroll please! (noises off: sound of a drum kit falling down a flight of stairs)

√ It is literally two dollars cheaper than the one I bought for $8 & change when Clinton was president.

 The tip is interesting. At first I suspected the worst; that it was just a HSS point someone discolored to make a fake carbide tip appearance, but no, under a loupe it's the real deal; it scratches a Nicholdson file, and OBTW that is one tiny braze joint.  And I considered the consequences of making the whole tip out of carbide, and decided this way is less likely to break.

 Steel body, gives it a nicer heft than the old one, but I may yet do something to make it more grippy, as the sides are smooth.  Maybe turn some notches in the apexes of the hex body, or just slide some thin wall silicone tubing I don't have over the handle.

 And that's about as much as anyone should write about one lowly scriber.

PS: I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TYDQ85W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 I am NOT an Amazon affiliate, I get no kickbacks from them, any more than I do any other source: I wish!  Man, I don't even buy enough from McMaster in a year to get free shipping.  Who has a thousand dollars a year to spend on hobbies? Not this old gray duck!

 Opinion: buy some layout dye to use with your new scriber, srsly, and learn to use it and why.