Thread: Marking wood

Thanks very much for your replies.
I like the look of that Incra T-Rule - does anyone know where you can buy them in Brisbane?
Thanks

I use a marking knife that I made myself. I'm a firm believer in working to a knife line

I also sell the knives I make

Originally Posted by Papa

I passed on a $10,000 offer.

You are either very rich or very sentimental

Rough out with chalk. Accurate marking with marking knife, if accuracy is not that critical a pencil. Where a pencil is used for fine marking then sharpen it to a chisel shape.

If you can't find them in Brisbane these guys ship Incra tools in OZ.



http://www.woodworksupplies.com.au/index.htm

Mike

Originally Posted by Soredust

You are either very rich or very sentimental

Not rich, but I don't need the money, and yes, sentimental.

What is rich BTW? Where I live, there are Rolls in the drive
thru at McDonnell's. We have more millionaires per square foot
than any where on earth.

Originally Posted by IanW

You don't wear glasses yet, WW??

For close to 40 years I kept my pencil behind an ear, but now it won't sit there because of the specs. How can something so obvious (I always buy those cheap, bright yellow things!) conceal itself so effectively - even on an uncluttered bench?

I've just finished making something out of old recycled hardwood framing. It's the first thing I've made with lots of joints since I started needing glasses for reading. Dust, finger marks, take them off, put them on.... glasses suck!

I also found it hard to see the lines on the timber whatever I used. I think some of the timber might have been ironbark. Pencil lines just disappeared in the grain and mortice gauge lines were indistinguishable from grain unless repeated heavily several times. Chalk was good but brushed off quickly. I would have tried crayon if I had one, I wasn't keen on pulling out the texta though.

Try rubbing the surface with some fine sand paper before marking.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

I've just finished making something out of old recycled hardwood framing. It's the first thing I've made with lots of joints since I started needing glasses for reading. Dust, finger marks, take them off, put them on.... glasses suck!

I also found it hard to see the lines on the timber whatever I used. I think some of the timber might have been ironbark. Pencil lines just disappeared in the grain and mortice gauge lines were indistinguishable from grain unless repeated heavily several times. Chalk was good but brushed off quickly. I would have tried crayon if I had one, I wasn't keen on pulling out the texta though.

Know the feeling all too well, Fuzz.! The good news is, you get used to the glasses after about 10 years. The bad news is it's because your eyesight deteriorates to the point where it's actually clearer, even with dusty, fogged & scratched specs than without them.....

Anyway, this is a thread about marking, so let's not hijack it for an old man's whinge, though seeing any marks you make is rather fundamental to the whole process, isn't it? WRT to your problem seeing fine knife lines in dark wood, I find chalk works well for me - we were shown that trick way back in primary school ww classes (sprinkle a bit of French Chalk on & wipe off, leaving some in the scribe or knife line). It's certainly not permanent, but you only need the line to show well for a minute or two while you make the sawcut or whatever.

Another very useful feature of cut or scribed lines I forgot to mention yesterday is that they give you a registration point to put the chisel when chopping out that last bit of waste, etc. With the deterioration in eyesight, I've come to rely on the tactile sense over the visual more & more.....

Cheers,

This link may be of interest to some.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

This link may be of interest to some.

Whou would think that marking woodwould be so interesting.

Very interesting.

Denn

Good link, Woodwould!

I don't feel so bad about the way I sharpen my marking knives now, considering that he recommends they're sharpened with a rounded profile.

So I've been doing it right regardless of what other eggspurts have said.

I can personally recommend rounding cutter tips. It makes any tool with a cutter much easier to use. It's also much easier to sharpen.

Yet more from the net on knife versus awl.