Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 31

Thread: Marking knives for joinery

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    Here is mine. I have 2 mill knives one ground single bevel right and one left. The same for the exacto’s. The rest are more or less in order of use. The mill knives are used the most. Not good of course for dovetails but for most things are great in arthritic hands. The knife on the right end is good for plastics but it cuts on both ends, usually me that gets cut.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Stone Mountain, GA
    Posts
    751
    Quote Originally Posted by Curt Putnam View Post
    Mostly, I can no longer see a fine knife line either so I use a few tricks.

    * - Derek's blue tape trick is very useful for defining where the line is
    * - Knife the line and before you remove the tape, rule, or square follow up with a 0.5 mm pencil
    * - When I need to hit a specific measure that I cannot gauge, I lay the square across a flat tape and then pencil, knife, or both

    High contrast is the key
    The angle of light matters too. Bright overhead lights sometimes make knife lines disappear. So I keep a camping headlamp in the shop. I can sit it on a surface and provide raking light over a critical knife mark, making them very easy to see.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Seeing a knifed line can be difficult even for young eyes.

    A carpenters pencil with the flat edge cut to a chisel point on fine sandpaper can follow a knifed line quite well. Makes it a lot easier to see and it stays accurate.

    jtk
    Jim, no matter how careful you are with a pencil, the line will inevitably be thicker than a knifed line. One can work to the edge of a line, but a knifed line can register a chisel or a knife edge when using a square to continue it.

    I have long wanted to know more about how Japanese woodworkers use a sumitsubo. A centre line is marked (rather than using a reference side) and then they work from each side of the line. But this inked line has thickness. How does this work?

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,046
    My selection is pretty simple. On top is a Veritas I got years ago. It’s pretty sturdy and works well on the White Oak I use often. In the middle is a Czeck edge I got at a LN tool event in Cincinnati a few years back. It’s my preferred choice for fine grained woods. On the bottom is a home brew I made from a scroll saw blade and a scrap of Brazilian Rosewood. It’s very thin and was intended for dovetails. It serves its purpose pretty well.


    49F3217D-8934-461D-ABAC-03D663D03C14.jpg
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    X-acto knives..
    Block Plane Box #2, last side.JPG
    Rather than this Kobalt.....blades are too thick on the Kobalt....but..
    Dovetailed Plane Box, marking knife.JPG
    When the edge gets dull on this little knife, I can simply replace it with a brand new one.....packs of 5 are fairly cheap...small handle is about the same as holding a pencil.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    DuBois, PA
    Posts
    1,897
    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    X-acto knives..
    Block Plane Box #2, last side.JPG
    Rather than this Kobalt.....blades are too thick on the Kobalt....but..
    Dovetailed Plane Box, marking knife.JPG
    When the edge gets dull on this little knife, I can simply replace it with a brand new one.....packs of 5 are fairly cheap...small handle is about the same as holding a pencil.
    Similar to what Joel/Tools for Working Wood sells. I have several laying around (cheap) and they work well!
    If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Seeing a knifed line can be difficult even for young eyes.

    A carpenters pencil with the flat edge cut to a chisel point on fine sandpaper can follow a knifed line quite well. Makes it a lot easier to see and it stays accurate.

    jtk
    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    Jim, no matter how careful you are with a pencil, the line will inevitably be thicker than a knifed line. One can work to the edge of a line, but a knifed line can register a chisel or a knife edge when using a square to continue it.

    I have long wanted to know more about how Japanese woodworkers use a sumitsubo. A centre line is marked (rather than using a reference side) and then they work from each side of the line. But this inked line has thickness. How does this work?

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Derek, you may have misunderstood my comment on using a pencil in the knifed line. Here is an example:

    Penciled Knife Lines.jpg

    The lines were first made with a knife. The one on the right was made with the saw blade marking knife. The other two were made with the plane blade marking knife using different pressure for a light line in the middle and a heave line on the left. The pencil is not a carpenter's pencil, it is an artist pencil, if my memory is working it is likely a 2B (soft) lead. It was sharpened to a chisel point before marking the bottom half of the lines. Normally a carpenter's pencil is used, but this one was on the bench.

    On dark wood, rubbing chalk into the line makes it stand out to be seen.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Jim, I use a 0.5mm pencil. The lines are fine, and remain so. The issue I have with thicker pencils is that they need to be sharpened all the time to keep the line fine. As I mentioned earlier, the advantage of a knifed line, in addition to being and staying fine, is that it has a defined registration point.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    Jim, I use a 0.5mm pencil. The lines are fine, and remain so. The issue I have with thicker pencils is that they need to be sharpened all the time to keep the line fine. As I mentioned earlier, the advantage of a knifed line, in addition to being and staying fine, is that it has a defined registration point.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Derek I agree with you on knifed lines. I was just expressing how some very accurate markings can be made with pencils. A discussion could be good. That is why I started another thread about sumitsubo use and centerline marking.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Jim, I saw that - thanks for the new thread

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    The old pueblo in el norte.
    Posts
    1,844
    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Zaffuto View Post
    Nice grouping of knives and I'm also the proud owner and user of a "Cohen knife"!

    T
    Yep, me too. It's the thinnest, narrowest marking knife I own, so it gets the 'hard to reach' jobs.
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  12. #27
    My go-to knife for marking has always been the humble x-acto knife. I recently came across Matt Estlea's iteration of David Barron's marking knife design. This knife uses the Swann Morton SM 01-04 Craft Blades that Derek included in his knife compendium at the top of this thread. These blades are replaceable like an x-acto blade but slightly thicker, stiffer and longer: they are slim enough to get into tight spaces but tough enough to do a fair amount of corner clean-up. These blades come in a few shapes, but the 01 version in which the cutting edge is parallel to the handle somehow seems more useful than the typical V shaped craft knife blades. These blades are double beveled, so some people will not find them suitable for some tasks (like transfering dovetails) - I've always found it more comfortable to rotate a double bevel knife right or left rather than upwards like you have to do with a single bevel knife.

    I wanted to purchase a knife from Matt, but he has been out of stock for a while, has a wait list, and seems to be focused on other projects at the moment. Since Matt admittedly took inspiration from David (ie:copied) I figured it was not unreasonable to take inspiration from Matt and make a version of my own (ie:copied). I've been having fun tweaking the design a bit, finally using scraps of exotic woods from the bins, and figuring out some processes for making in small batches. I gave the handle a slim cigar shape with flats on both sides which keeps it from rolling off the bench and gives a reference to the orientation of the blade. To me this shape feels good in the hand and has a nice balance: it is on the delicate side, but I don't tend to work a knife too hard, so I don't see this as a problem. Making a batch of these gave me an excuse to add a small Unimat metal lathe to the tool arsenal but doing that has me thinking I should try to cover the cost of the new tool by selling some of the knifes. So far I've made a batch of 20 which will mostly go to friends and colleagues. I'm on to a second batch of 20 which should be closer to perfect: some of them will probably end up on one of those auction sites. I also ordered a single beveled knife so we'll see if that rocks my world in which case this whole thing will have been a bit of a goose chase.

    IMG_20200804_114731.jpg IMG_20200805_112823.jpg s-l1600.jpg s-l1600 (1).jpg IMG_20200804_130439.jpg IMG_20200801_230105.jpg
    Last edited by Kevin Groenke; 08-09-2020 at 10:39 AM.
    Kevin Groenke
    @personmakeobject on instagram
    Fabrication Director,UMN College of Design (retired!)


  13. #28
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    N CA
    Posts
    1,279
    Timely. I am going to try a couple saw/plane blade marking knives. Not sure of configuration yet and just bought some hardware from Texas Knife Supply. I hope to have a few done by Christmas for gifts.

  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Groenke View Post
    My go-to knife for marking has always been the humble x-acto knife. I recently came across Matt Estlea's iteration of David Barron's marking knife design. This knife uses the Swann Morton SM 01-04 Craft Blades that Derek included in his knife compendium at the top of this thread. These blades are replaceable like an x-acto blade but slightly thicker, stiffer and longer: they are slim enough to get into tight spaces but tough enough to do a fair amount of corner clean-up. These blades come in a few shapes, but the 01 version in which the cutting edge is parallel to the handle somehow seems more useful than the typical V shaped craft knife blades. These blades are double beveled, so some people will not find them suitable for some tasks (like transfering dovetails) - I've always found it more comfortable to rotate a double bevel knife right or left rather than upwards like you have to do with a single bevel knife.

    I wanted to purchase a knife from Matt, but he has been out of stock for a while, has a wait list, and seems to be focused on other projects at the moment. Since Matt admittedly took inspiration from David (ie:copied) I figured it was not unreasonable to take inspiration from Matt and make a version of my own (ie:copied). I've been having fun tweaking the design a bit, finally using scraps of exotic woods from the bins, and figuring out some processes for making in small batches. I gave the handle a slim cigar shape with flats on both sides which keeps it from rolling off the bench and gives a reference to the orientation of the blade. To me this shape feels good in the hand and has a nice balance: it is on the delicate side, but I don't tend to work a knife too hard, so I don't see this as a problem. Making a batch of these gave me an excuse to add a small Unimat metal lathe to the tool arsenal but doing that has me thinking I should try to cover the cost of the new tool by selling some of the knifes. So far I've made a batch of 20 which will mostly go to friends and colleagues. I'm on to a second batch of 20 which should be closer to perfect: some of them will probably end up on one of those auction sites. I also ordered a single beveled knife so we'll see if that rocks my world in which case this whole thing will have been a bit of a goose chase.

    IMG_20200805_112823.jpg
    Did you make that brass blade holder, or is it something you purchase? If so, where? I'd like to make a couple of those knives.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Provo, UT
    Posts
    390
    Wow! Everyone has so many marking knives. I only have a chip carving knife that I use, although I may pick up one/make one based on the swann morton blades or maybe a kiridashi. Or maybe I'll just keep using what works for me.

    chip carving knife.jpg

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •