Thread: Time for a new marking knife.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Just like our fingernails - keratin.

(Please correct me if I got this wrong, Ian.)

No need, you are quite correct, Graeme. Fingernails, toenails, claws, hooves & horns - all made of the same stuff...

And Paul - you are also quite right, over-enthusiastic de-horning can open up a hole into the frontal sinuses , so the cow blows steamy jets from the horn stumps on a cold day ..

The little two part glued up Blackwood sheath was polished and glued to another stick and nailed alongside My squares.
Now I shouldn't loose it on the bench.


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Gave it a run on marking out drawer fronts to backs, and dovetails. Its a huge difference with the ergonomics to other marking knives Ive had. I should of had this many years ago. I could feel that straightaway when I first started using it when it was a rough painted recipro blade with a new V end. My older ones did the job but were to small and to flexible. This has two hold positions where my older ones only had one. The only thing I can think of that may mean I need a smaller one as well is its thickness and the very fine dovetails where the entry for marking is only a thin small dovetail saw width. My new one may be .5mm to thick for that.


The Jarrah DT Jig works for marking & routing.
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Front gets taken out and sawn at the scribed marks.
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Put back in and waste routed away . The router bit was to large so I changed it after this.
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First drawer side fitted
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Rob

well done - I always thought marking knives were a beginner's tax. There's any number of options available, few with blades that cost more than dollar to source, and then a bunch of lathe duplicated handle that's well finished. they're not really fine tools, but rather craft circuit type stuff that found deeper pockets.

And the idea that they should be bought instead of made robs woodworkers of learning from the start that they can make usable tools, often repurposed.

(there are forged japanese knives and such, but making a tool of something that doesn't break when dropped and that can be sharpened with a file often leads to something more usable).

Originally Posted by D.W.

....(there are forged japanese knives and such, but making a tool of something that doesn't break when dropped and that can be sharpened with a file often leads to something more usable).

Yes, a scribing knife doesn't have to be Rc 63. I started out using hacksaw blades & HSS and suchlike. They held a good edge, but the points were fragile & easily damaged, especially if it took a trip to the concrete floor as they occasionally like to do. I've found that something about typical saw-plate hardness makes a very good scribing knife - lasts plenty long enough between sharpenings, easy to touch-up when required, and the tip isn't so brittle....
Cheers,

a used saw comes to mind - at some point, if one comes across a saw that is a lost cause, a gaggle of scrapers and marking knives can be made and the steel can be cut without too much effort.

The type of point that saw temper keeps is sort of a little dullish and isn't the kind of sticking in everything following everything edge, but it makes a nice clean line and tips won't snap.

one of the marking knives that I bought early on was a hock france (i think france) double sided knife. I just tested a bunch of irons and the hock france iron tested at 64 (!). I've not made an iron out of anything but 26c3 that holds up well at that, and the hard tempered behavior shows up in the knife. I've spent more time running nicks out of that knife than I ever wasted refreshing an inexpensive sheepsfoot pocket knife or knife made of saw plate.

That reminds me, I could just temper that marking knife - some things evade me for a decade.