Carbide scribes prototypes

[Isaac Smith]

A little background first...A few years ago, a millwright friend gave me a 2 mm carbide rod that he had sharpened to a point. I stuck it in a leadholder, and have been using it for the past 3 or 4 years. I use it to mark centers for drilling and scribing lines on wood, aluminum, and steel. I've even used it to score spring steel, then snap it. It has held up amazingly well - I have never sharpened it, and it feels as sharp as the day I got it.

The only thing I wished for was a nicer holder with better ergonomics. I came up with two prototypes.

The first has a stubby handle (apple) with a stainless steel ferrule. The overall length is just under four inches.

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The second and third are much slimmer, and would be used for lighter, finer work. The first of these is walnut with a stainless steel ferrule; the second is cherry with a bronze ferrule. The overall length is about 5 1/2".

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Of the two, I much prefer the slimmer design, as it just feels so good in my hand. I'm not sure if I would find many uses for the stubby one in my workshop.

I'm considering one that has a longer rod, but have some concerns about the brittleness of carbide. To be honest, I've never really felt the need for a long blade in my work - has anyone else found the extra length to be indispensable?

Thanks for looking, and for any feedback you may have.

[Trevor Walsh]

No I actually don't like it. I have one of the run of the mill scribes with double end, one is straight the other makes a 90 degree bend with an aluminum knrled collet type handle that is repositionable. Whenever I use it I'm always adjusting the handle about 1/2-5/8" away from the working end. The extra length can be helpful when scribing the inside of a hole on a mating piece, but you could use a transfer punch for that.

[Isaac Smith]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

[Adam Neat]

The stubby one would be a nice awl. Im always laying stuff out on steel and I use something similar, a tungsten electrode for a tig welder

[george wilson]

Carbide is extremely brittle,and if used for an awl,no twisting had better be done with it. You can readily buy simple carbide scribes from MSC,Enco,or other machinist's supply houses. You can buy carbide rod,too,but you'd better have diamond wheels to grind it,or at least those soft green silicon carbide wheels that are used on the ends of double end carbide grinders. I don't like those wheels. Very soft. I always replace them with diamond wheels. To grind a nice point on ANY round rod,chuck the rod in an electric drill and present it to the grinding wheel or belt.