Marking Knives

[danmcl]

Okay, I realise this may be a very silly question but here goes

What's the benefit of a proper marking knife (apart from looking absolutely stunning etc.) over a replaceable blade in a craft knife? :roll:

<DISCLAIMER>
Yes I do want a marking knife, one of woodblokes (they are beautiful)
I've given up on pencils as they are fine for rough outdoor wood butchery (refuse to call what I did outside joinery) but I want to make nicer things.
I also want a marking gauge Oh and a PONY

 

[OLD]

Single bevel its more accurate but you may need both left & right knives.

 

[danmcl]

Single bevel its more accurate but you may need both left & right knives.

Damn, so now I need two of them...

Any instructions on how to make one yourself? or is it one to work out on your own?

 

[OLD]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=marking+knife&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr=countryUK|countryGB

 

[woodbloke]

Easy enough to make as in the the link above. To make them as I do though, a lathe is moderately useful :wink: - Rob

 

[maltrout512]

I made mine using a narrow paint scraper with a wooden handle (looks better) of about 30mm. Put an angle on it then ground an edge on one side. Took minutes and I find it works well.

 

[Mr Ed]

One option is to use one of the excellent blades that Ron Hock makes, as I did for one of mine.

Since I made this Ron released a narrower one. This type of knife is suitable for larger joinery, where a thin blade is not needed, such as marking our tenons for instance. It feels great to use and doesn't roll off the bench.

For dovetails I use a Blue Spruce small marking knife which is also excellent.

Cheers, Ed

 

[woodbloke]

As an alternative to the blade shown in Ed's pic, I used a bit of old HSS planer blade to make a knife, similar sort of idea with the side cheeks epoxied in place - Rob

 

[gidon]

Ed - I like that! Might have found a use for that old circular saw blade!
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Mr Ed]

Classic Hand Tools have the Hock blades here;

http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... lades.html

Worth the money in my opinion.

Cheers, Ed

 

[Jeff Gorman]

For very careful work, the shape of the knife's incision can be important.

When striking a shoulder line, one face of the incision's vee should be at right angles to 'keep' part of the workpiece.

I suppose you can get this by sideways inclining a Stanley knife blade or some such, but it is better to have a thick blade with a wide bevel on one face. The wide bevel makes it easier to see how far to tilt the knife.

Most shop marking knives have the bevel ground on the right-hand side, but I argue for the left.

Jeff

 

[bugbear]

One option is to use one of the excellent blades that Ron Hock makes, as I did for one of mine.

Nice photo!

BugBear

 

[danmcl]

For very careful work, the shape of the knife's incision can be important.

When striking a shoulder line, one face of the incision's vee should be at right angles to 'keep' part of the workpiece.

I suppose you can get this by sideways inclining a Stanley knife blade or some such, but it is better to have a thick blade with a wide bevel on one face. The wide bevel makes it easier to see how far to tilt the knife.

Most shop marking knives have the bevel ground on the right-hand side, but I argue for the left.

Jeff

I actually understand what you mean! :shock:

So this would be doubly important for a double bevelled knife?

Hmmm, am thinking about getting myself an old plane blade and chopping it up to make a few of there (or maybe just buying the Ron Hock ones and making a handle...)

 

[custard]

One option is to use one of the excellent blades that Ron Hock makes, as I did for one of mine.

Since I made this Ron released a narrower one. This type of knife is suitable for larger joinery, where a thin blade is not needed, such as marking our tenons for instance. It feels great to use and doesn't roll off the bench.

For dovetails I use a Blue Spruce small marking knife which is also excellent.

Cheers, Ed

I also use the Ron Hock marking knives, they come as blank blades with pre-drilled holes for a handle. I secured handle cheeks with 4BA bolts, going through a thin cheek, and threading into a tapped hole in a slightly thicker cheek on the other side. This means I can easily remove the handle, which makes sharpening that bit easier.

 

[Mr Ed]

Nice photo!

BugBear

Thanks. It's one I took for an article in Furniture and Cabinetmaking a couple of years ago. As is usually the way with these things the photos I liked most didn't actually get used, so I find myself with an unusually large stock of pictures of my hands doing various woodworking operations.

Cheers, Ed

 

[wizer]

I take it you used a tripod and the timer?

 

[Mr Ed]

I did.

I usually use the self timer on these shots, although it feels very odd to be posing waiting for the shutter to click, they usually come out looking OK. Occasionally I use a remote control with my Nikon D80, but obviously you need a spare hand, or some other means of pressing the button, so its not that helpful.

The other complication is focussing the shot when your hands are not there, so I usually put something in shot where my hands will be and focus on that, before pressing the shutter release.

Cheers, Ed

 

[Harlequin]

Wonderful work by some very talented members inspired me to make this.

a fun little project

http://www.auricles.com/new_page_108.htm

 

[Mr Ed]

That looks very nicely made harlequin.

Cheers, Ed

 

[bugbear]

I did.

I usually use the self timer on these shots, although it feels very odd to be posing waiting for the shutter to click, they usually come out looking OK. Occasionally I use a remote control with my Nikon D80, but obviously you need a spare hand, or some other means of pressing the button, so its not that helpful.

Hmm. It sounds like a foot operated release would be quite handy for these shots, although I'm well aware that Alf has managed rather splendidly on only a self timer.

BugBear