I've been using the Sharpie King Size Permanent Marker in an unusual application for several years. I use them as a final step in repairing small chips to wood veneer, particle board, or plywood in vintage loudspeakers whose back edges are painted matte black. This includes many JBL speakers (like the famous JBL L-100), as well as some from Electro-Voice, Aura, and others.

The basic Sharpie King Size Permanent Marker is about 5 1/2" long and 3/4" across. The top is angled (chiseled) such that you can use the flat surface for thicker print or the edge for thinner print. A snap-on top keeps the marker from drying out. Cost is only a couple of dollars or less per marker.
 
Pretty much everyone knows that Sharpie markers are famous for being...well...permanent. If a Sharpie accidentally finds its way into your 4-year-old's collection of colored markers, remove it instantly or risk permanent art work on your kitchen cabinets, play room walls, etc. Sharpie markers do come in several shapes and sizes. The two colors I'm most familiar with are black and dark brown. The two sizes I've seen are "King Size," with an angled chisel tip about 4 mm across, and the "Fine Point," with a small (1 mm or so), slightly rounded tip.

When used for their more "usual" purposes (marking labels on clothes before summer camp; marking boxes before shipping, etc.) I find that either black Sharpie works well. Sharpie writing is resistant to water, and doesn't come off even after multiple washes. I've marked coffee cups, plates, speaker terminals, and many other surfaces with Sharpies and never had to worry about running or fading.

But I mostly use them for small areas on black wooden surfaces after speaker restorations. If I have to repair a small chip to the back side of a JBL-100, for example, I wind up with a light tan area that's mixture of veneer, particleboard, and wood filler. After sanding flat, I oil the surface to see how dark I can make it without the Sharpie, and then finish up with the King Size Black Sharpie. I then tend to blend things in with my finger. The result is a smooth, matte black surface that often can't be distinguished from the surrounding un-refinished matte black surface. The Sharpie works fine even in the presence of Orange Oil on the surface.

Interestingly, the Fine Point Sharpie does not work quite as well in this application, though it works fine for marking clothes, packages, and so on. The Fine Point Sharpie tends to "fade to purple" just a touch over time, so I stick with the King Size for speaker work. A thorough scrubbing with hand soap generally is sufficient for cleaning my finger tips.

Recently, I bought a dark brown Fine Point Sharpie for touch up work on wood veneer that won't accept stain or pigment from my other marking pens. It works pretty well, but I'll save the details about the brown Sharpie for another review.

The King Size Sharpie's tip holds its shape fairly well, but it will erode and lose its "chiseledness" over time if you press hard while using it. I've had my current Sharpie for several months, and it's helped me refinish refinished several JBL loudspeakers. The shape of the tip at this point is more like a semi-circle than a chisel. But it still works well for me.

To conclude, the Sharpie King Size Permanent Black Marker is a useful tool, not only for its usual intended purposes, but as an alternative to using matte black paint over small areas on matte-black painted wood products.

Recommended.

Recommended: Yes