And for us Mac users, there is no equivalent erase tool in any standard toolbar (aka "palette"). But, like DaveR, I just press the delete key. I have a lot of shortcut keys set up, and have become so accustomed to using them that moving the mouse away from the model and then clicking on a tool icon seems like more effort to me! That said, having an explicit button to click can be very valuable in tutorials and animations shared in sites like this, as it seems like magic occurred if you press an off-screen key.
