What is a good Marking Knife?

[John Shuk]

BTW the knives on Steve Knight's site are Dave Anderson's

[Dave Anderson NH]

I won't comment on my marking knives as some of you folks might think I'm a bit prejudiced.

As for making your own..... (watch as Dave cuts his own throat). Making a marking knife is not hard and has the advantages of allowing you to custom tailor the handle to fit your particular sized hand and shape the blade to fit your personal style of work. For the home hobbiest, a piece of O-1 tool steel from somewhere like MSC Industrial Supply, a hacksaw, a decent mill file, and and a propane torch are the only tools really needed. In the archives of the Neandertahl Forum is my post/tutorial on how to do your own heat treating. This isn't rocket science folks and is quite easy and safe with a little patience and experimentation.

[Bruce Delaney]

I have the Blue Spruce small marking knife (http://www.bluesprucetoolworks.com/tools/index.htm), which because of its small size, works exceptionally well for dovetailing. The Veritas knife from Lee Valley, albeit a bit bigger, also works very well.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I made one of my own, simple, just an old hacksaw blade, ground it to a double point and then sharpened the two bevels, I CA glued a handle on it............

Attachment 47966

Works fine.

Cheers!

[Andy Hoyt]

John Hart made some dandys late last year.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27586

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27754

[Lars Thomas]

Tom, I made mine from detail that Dave posted. Turned out great. I use it all the time. Lars

[Tyler Howell]

This is the one I have. Very nice and made by a fellow Creeker...Dave Anderson
http://www.chestertoolworks.com/markingknives.htm

2) knives, 1) awl and 1) bird cage awl. They're the best.

[Frank Fusco]

I use an awl, my pocketknife or a carving knife. Whichever I feel like at the moment.

[Alan DuBoff]

I use a Stanley 10-049 which works better for me to get in narrow dovetails than any other marking knife I have tried. While I love the beautiful marking knives that Dave Anderson makes, those type won't fit between a handcut dovetail with pins as narrow as a handsaw kerf. You folks using a tailed router to cut your dovetails will most likely not have that problem.

You can buy these at your local hardware store, I have honed the tip of mine to be rounded just a bit on the top, so that it slices the fiber, rather than tear it. This was something I learned from watching Frank Klausz's dovetail video, and Rob Cosman also reccomends doing the same in his video.

You can buy replacement blades for about $2.50 at your local OSH or BORG, and the knife costs about $7 with a blade in it. The blade length is longer than many marking knives, so it will get in a tight dovetail socket where other marking knives can't.

I also use an awl and find it works pretty well also, better on the long grain than the end. For end grain on hardwood, the Stanley above is just the ticket. You could make your own by buying the blade and putting it in a handle of your own.

[Jim Becker]

'Have the Veritas. Would buy Dave's today. While I'm sure I would enjoy making things like this, I have such limited shop time that I try to concentrate on furniture and turning when I'm in there for a rare visit...

[Tom Henry]

Now I am torn between knives! I don't have a lathe yet so I can't turn one myself.

[Dan Oelke]

So what is a "birdcage awl" ??

[tod evans]

Now I am torn between knives! I don't have a lathe yet so I can't turn one myself.

why does the handle have to be round tom?

[Lars Thomas]

See post 21 above (top item in pix). Essentially, it has a triangular blade that comes to a point.

[jeremy levine]

I won't comment on my marking knives as some of you folks might think I'm a bit prejudiced.

As for making your own..... (watch as Dave cuts his own throat). Making a marking knife is not hard and has the advantages of allowing you to custom tailor the handle to fit your particular sized hand and shape the blade to fit your personal style of work. For the home hobbiest, a piece of O-1 tool steel from somewhere like MSC Industrial Supply, a hacksaw, a decent mill file, and and a propane torch are the only tools really needed. In the archives of the Neandertahl Forum is my post/tutorial on how to do your own heat treating. This isn't rocket science folks and is quite easy and safe with a little patience and experimentation.

Thanks for the info, I checked out your web-site great stuff , one thing your FAQ does no go anywhere