Thread: Homemade marking knife

Done. On to the next one.
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Originally Posted by derekcohen

The quick way to re-sharpen the Stanley blades for scoring lines is the run the far end on a 600 grit diamond stone.

Did you mean "run the flat end"?

I too have been using a Stanley knife for several years, and bought a box of replacement blades at the same time. I'm still on the original though as touching the bevel up on a stone is pretty fast. I expect my kids will inherit an unopened box of blades.

Hi Lance

You could call it the flat end. I am not sure of the correct name. I think of it as the back of the bevel, but it is not the same as chisels or plane blades. The latter are single bevels and, therefore, have a true back. The Stanley (and similar) blades are double bevel, and there is no “back” in the same manner.

It is easier to draw (on my iPad, so apology for the poor quality) ….



Regards from Perth

Derek

This is my marking knife I made from a small offcut of 1075 which was used to make a kitchen knife.

Similar to the ones Chris Vesper used to make but the blade is longer and thicker and the handle is shorter and narrower at the top, with more of the handle concentrated forward. I find that allows me to hold it like a pencil for marking and gives a strongergrip close to the work for "chiseling".

This one has had a lot of use, and as Derek mentioned earlier it can be used somewhat like a dovetail or skew chisel to clean out half blind dovetails.

This knife is always on my bench and is often used for any small cleanup job on joinery if I don't have a chisel handy at the time.

I have made a few of these to give to friends. It's a great way to use up small high carbon steel offcuts.

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