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rob-cosman-marking-knife-light I never got on with a marking knife. Thank you Rjweb for the kind words. Made of the same blade material as my dovetail saw. Andy PS — My wife would like a application to join wivesagainstschwarz…. The saw: Is unbelievable.

After a few years of woodworking with my X-Acto, I discovered spear-point, single bevel marking knives, such as the Blue Spruce knife shown in the photo above.

Though some woodworkers would disagree, this form is ideal for marking joints for hand-cutting. The flat side rides the shape of the piece you want to mimic. The knife marks its location with zero offset. But no one ever showed me how to use a marking knife. And sometimes it would follow the grain instead of the path I had set for it.

Then one day, I realized what I was doing wrong. I was moving the knife too fast and with far too much pressure. Once I slowed down and took three light passes in place of one heavy pass , my accuracy took another leap forward. If you need to add some makeup to a knife line, run that mechanical pencil down the knife line, then run an eraser over the pencil line.

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THEN I was expected to split the line when working. It was customary to work to one sixtyfourth inch tolerances or better.

That one technique has stood me in very good stead all these years. If you check the technique paragraph on page 14 of my first book, you will find another couple of subtle points which may help. The position of the flat side of the knife is very important to avoid heading off in the wrong direction or shaving chunks off the sides of your tails or steel layout tools….. This last disaster can be avoided if the heel of the cutting bevel is not lifted too far from the surface of the timber.

OK, you pushed me over the edge. Andy PS — My wife would like a application to join wivesagainstschwarz…. You missed one other step in the layout education of a woodworker, and that is the ballpoint pen. Thanks for posting the tip, Chris. That way I can sneak up to the cut line with the router quite easily.

I use that same white charcoal pencil to highlight my marked line in darker woods as you suggested with the lead pencil above.

By Christopher Schwarz. In Chris Schwarz Blog , Joinery. This knife, I thought, might just be a mechanical pencil that never needed lead. Your steel ruler will give you more accurate results than your tape measure, so use it when you can.

For me this means that when measuring anything under inches I reach for my steel ruler. I use my 6-inch steel ruler for measurements less than 6-inches.

I also use ruler stops I use woodpecker ruler stops but there a lot of others out there that fit on my steel rulers. I find ruler stops help significantly when taking measurements. Yes, you heard me do not use a ruler. When you can, show the stock you are going to cut to the work and make your marks on the stock. Using a ruler or a tape measure means you are automatically inducing some error because you must interpolate your reading to the nearest etch line, then translate that onto your stock.

Remove all those errors by just marking your stock against your workpiece. Squares are absolute necessities for accurate work, but they must be dead on square. Check your squares about every 6 months and anytime you drop your square. Carefully examine the two lines, they should be parallel. If not, your square is not square — do not use it. When marking lines with a pencil, not any pencil will do. The most common pencil is the ubiquitous 2H or 2 HB pencils.

This are soft lead pencils that leave a thicker line than a harder lead and they quickly wear out leaving an even thicker line. Instead go to an office supply store and get some 5H hard lead pencils. The harder lead sharpens to a finer point and holds that point longer. The line will not be as dark as a 2H but it will be more accurate. When accuracy really matters put that pencil down and reach for a sharp knife. A knife line is more accurate than a pencil line and you should use them for all joinery cuts.

I recommend a double bevel marking knife with a flat back. Use several light strokes to establish a line verses one or two stokes with lots of pressure. The knife can wonder with the grain if you use too much pressure.

When possible, I use a wheeled marking gauge instead of a knife. One of the biggest issues we see is dull marking gauges. Most marking gauges you buy do not come sharpened; you must sharpen them before use. Note: All Rob Cosman Marking gauges are pre-sharpened and ready to use out of the box. Pick a pair of high quality digital or dial calipers and learn to use them. I prefer dial calipers as I hate changing batteries.

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