Thread: Homemade marking knife

Looking good. Marking knives are nice little projects to make and also good for give aways.

Next is that you want to come up with little boxes or so to put them in as a little gift or so.

I made this one for a friend recently



I often use cut up saw plate for the blades. You an really use up scraps easily.

Looking forward to your next ones.

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Yes, I need to make some boxes! That box looks great, Cklett. Actually, it was your small projects from the board of Sheoak that motivated me to make some small items.
I plan to have a go at making a blade from scratch. Did you use a circular saw blade for yours in the picture?

I thought of using old table saw blades. But for.now I have been using hand saw plate. I did cut up an old handsaw for card scraper and from some left over I made blades for marking knives. This is good if you want a thin blade.

I purposefully then not polished the blade completely, but left some of the tarnish. I like it if you can still see where it was coming from.

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Ah yes, make sense using saw plate for thin stock. I quite like the 'patina' on your knife blade. I have some saw plate laying around, so I'll give it a go.
Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by johknee

Yes, I need to make some boxes! That box looks great, Cklett. Actually, it was your small projects from the board of Sheoak that motivated me to make some small items.
I plan to have a go at making a blade from scratch. Did you use a circular saw blade for yours in the picture?

I started making knives for joinery about 20 years ago. By 2006 or so, I had refined a design that was in competition with Blue Spruce, and sold or gave away a bunch. It was not a financial interest for me, just fun, and also a pleasure to see others enjoys these knives.

Several years ago Chris Vesper, good friend and best woodworking toolmaker in the world, asked if he could use my design. He has since been making these, and so damn well. Again, I have no vested interest. When someone wants one, I point them to Chris.

However, if you want to make one, then just go to my website. There is a pictorial on these, marking knives for dovetails and fine joinery, as well as scratch awls:

A Knife for Marking Dovetails by Derek Cohen






I designed these for skinny dovetails.



Regards from Perth

Derek

Your knives are great, Derek. I'll add one of your designs to my to-do list! Thank you.

I love seeing these home made marking knives!

Is it possible to use one to clean half blind dovetails like a fishtail chisel? Do you need thicker iron for that?

The handle design will depend on how you like to hold your marking knife. The Swann Morton style knives can fit in the palm of your hand while your index finger rests behind the blade giving you a bit more pressure at the cutting tip. This may be better for creating knife walls etc. Dereks design is held like a pen (just as he holds it in the photo) which may be better suited for marking narrow pins etc. While you're at it, why not make some of both design so you have both bases covered. IMO a thin blade is better in most situations than a thick blade for marking lines. Then there is the issue of single bevel v dual bevel blades. The Swann Morton style typically has a dual bevel. Not an issue if you tilt the blade so the bevel is 90 degrees to the workpiece. If you have single bevel marking knives, you will typically need a spear point design, or a right and left handed version.

Cheers, Zac.

Thanks, Fergiz. That's 6ish knives I need to make now. All good fun!

if you ever thought about hardening and tempering your own, there's never been a better start than marking knife blades.

Saw plates are usually steel that's a bit warpy, but they can be reheated to chisel hardness if you want a really crisp knife, and they're thin enough that even though they're water hardening steel, a decent flowable cooking oil will do the trick.

I personally prefer a thicker bladed knife that can’t flex or be diverted by strong grain. My go-to knife is actually a McJing cheapy I bought at the TWWW show years ago; it’s the double edged spear point type. The handle is some softwood with no ferrule and the knife tang is only about 3/8” long meaning that one day a bit of heavy pressure caused the tang to break out of the handle but that was a simple repair until I get around to making a better handle for it…

I also have one of Chris Vesper’s “Cohen Dovetail Marking Knife”; it is a thing of absolute beauty and it’s such a pity that Chris has stopped making knives indefinitely. I really love the knife but as it’s only really suitable for marking skinny dovetail pins it doesn’t see a huge amount of use. I made a matching scratch awl with a HSS point and that probably sees even less use but they do look super good in the box together.

Blunt disposable planer blades for 12” thicknessers can give good knife blanks; once both edges have been worn down they are essentially scrap but can be repurposed into knife blades. I have a small stock ready to go just as soon as I get some time to myself!

I have several knives for use in the workshop. No single knife does it all. For example, if you need a knife to lay flat against a reference surface, a Kiridashi is my go-to …



My most used knife for marking out is not the Cohen dovetail knife I designed. The Cohen knife is still the best knife for transferring dovetails as it has a long blade and a flat back, which allows it to lay against the dovetail shoulder. My most used knife is a Stanley knife made popular by Paul Sellers …



Sometimes a different knife design is needed when scoring very deeply (such as when making a chisel wall). The knife blade then needs to be solid. I have two. One is a Kiridashi I handled ..



The other is a folding knife I purchased from Lee Valley many years ago, and reshaped the blade. This was originally like a lino knife (hooked) with a thick back (useful when riving small pieces). The straight blade makes it possible to lean on the edge (which a curved blade does not do as well).



I do have one of the Vesper joinery knives. This would be useful for clearing the corners of half blind dovetails if you do not own and use a fishtail chisel (which is better for that purpose) ..




Regards from Perth

Derek

Ditto on the Stanley 10-598 recommended by Paul Sellers, apparently not available in Australia, maybe due to retractable blade but available on Amazon from UK at least thats where mine came from, inexpensive , replacement blades also, and free shipping if you play the game,Ross

I have a few knives and bought a Stanley 10-598 plus some of their locking small snap off knives from RS components.
Ive been buying stuff from them for years, they often stock stuff that’s discontinued in Oz and they are cheap enough.
H.