Japanese scribing spike

[ian maybury]

Not a hugely significant item - but not expecting much i ordered a few of these scribing spikes from Tools for Japan with some chisels late last year - they cost about $3 each or even a bit less: http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=356_359&products_id=791
(http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=356_359&products_id=791)
Turns out they are very nicely made, and dead useful. The (carbon) steel is hard at the tip, and they are straight, accurately tapered and pointed. They mark metal very nicely, and are a handy awl too. Potentially lots of other uses.

[Matthew N. Masail]

yeah I have two of them, great little things. the awls with handles are also very nice.

[ian maybury]

I was expecting something like a fancy nail Matthew. They actually are very nicely made...

[Pat Barry]

I use a common nail or a scratch awl or sometimes even a sheetrock screw.

[Matthew N. Masail]

these are muchhh better than a nail ! pat... I suggest you upgrade. it might be costly... but it's worth it

[ian maybury]

I guess the point Pat being that what looks like a fancy nail to be driven in concrete or tarmac to anchor a layout line to turned out in the best Japanese tradition to be properly hardened and of better quality than the purpose made scribing tools sold around here. At a fraction of the price…..

[Pat Barry]

Yeah, I was just joking a bit. My problem is that I leave tools everywhere it seems so I might lose track of this and still resort to one of the other ways. I bet is you were doing a lot of marking though, that tool would be your first choice for sure.

[ian maybury]

TBH it's hardly worth the bother getting serious about Pat. It's nice though when a product happens to turn out to be far in excess of what you expected - it feels right to give it some profile...