Marking knife thickness?

[Scott M Perry]

Hi, all -

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Blue Spruce marking knife, but need to decide on a thickness - 1/32" or 0.5 mm. I'd like to be proficient at London-style dovetails, and will otherwise only use this for marking what I hope someday to call fine joinery. Is the 1/32" thin enough for this? Is the 0.5 mm too flexible for general use?

Thanks,
Scott

[Mike Cogswell]

Hi, all -

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Blue Spruce marking knife, but need to decide on a thickness - 1/32" or 0.5 mm. I'd like to be proficient at London-style dovetails, and will otherwise only use this for marking what I hope someday to call fine joinery. Is the 1/32" thin enough for this? Is the 0.5 mm too flexible for general use?

Thanks,
Scott


Scott

I just measured a small X-ACTO knife blade (a no. 11) and it's only 0.019" which is 0.483mm. Considering a number 11 blade is very stiff I would think the 0.5mm would be fine for your purposes.

[Tom Bussey]

Mine is 1/4 inch thick sharpened in a v so it is either handed. If you get it to thin it will follow the grain especially in oak.


Tom

[Jim Neeley]

Scott,

I have the BS thin marking knife and love it. It marks dovetails just fine.

Jim

[Scott M Perry]

Thanks, everyone! I think I'll be getting the BS 0.5mm blade. I'm sending them a chunk of curly claro walnut to use in the knife, as well. Can't wait!

Scott

[David Weaver]

If you decide you want a thicker knife, you can just take the plate off of any cheap saw you find at a flea market or whatever, file it to a point, hone it and glue it into a handle. It will be honed easily and you'll never worry about dropping it, etc.

I have a thinner version of the BS knife, but I'm not sure which because I don't use it for anything other than when a thicker knife won't fit, and that's not too often for me.