Using a striking knife

Re: Using a striking knife *LINK*

Bob Fawcett

>Check this article.

I found this link on another site. Is there some part of woodcentral I am missing? I never found this from any of the links on the left. Adam? Ellis? anyone


striking knife

Re: Using a striking knife

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>I mostly use my pocket knife that's not to sharp. I find a sharp knife can follow the grain. My vision is not great so the thicker line provides 2 purposes it's a spot for the saw or chisel to sit in and I can see it clearly.

Re: Using a striking knife *LINK*

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Yup, you missed it. This is not a WC product, it is a Popular Woodworking product. An exclusive link to the article was provided to Wood Central readers, before it was made available to the general public. You can see the WC Handtool Forum message where it was offered, here:

SPECIAL GUEST CHAT

If you go to the Wood Central Chat Room page, you will also find a link at the top right to a transcript of the chat hosted by Chris and Adam.

But, you are right, there is no link to it in WC Articles and Reviews, that I have been able to find. I can't find it on the PW website either.

William is correct

Ellis Walentine

>As of the moment, I have not asked Popular Woodworking for ongoing rights to that article. We do not generally publish articles that have appeared in print magazines or elsewhere on the web because of copyright issues.

In this case, since the editor of Popular Woodworking was the guest host and since the author of the article was his special guest, they graciously allowed us to "reprint" the article as a promo for the special chat. No other rights were expressly granted or implied.

Ellis Walentine, Host

PS, there are a couple dusty corners of WoodCentral that nobody knows about but me, but I won't burden you with those....

Ellis Walentine, host

Re: William is correct

Bob Fawcett

>If those dusty corners contain gems like that one, burden me burden me!

Thanks for the great resource you provide us.

Re: Using a striking knife

John Pappas

>Bob, that is a good article and one of the articles that aroused my interest in the first place. But, I wish it gave more information about what makes up the ideal line. I have trouble seeing a really fine line. So, what good is it to me? If I make a line using a knife with a steep bevel then the line is wider, has a narrow facet that reflects light and is easier to see. But since it is wider, why is it any better than a pencil line drawn with a sharp #3 pencil. I can see a value if I am going to chisel to that line, but I can saw to a pencil line just as well. I'm sure good craftsmen use it for the benefits, not just for thrill, and I am trying to really understand and appreciate the whole thing.

John

Re: Using a striking knife

Dean J in MN

>

I have trouble seeing a really fine line. So, what good is it to me? ... I can see a value if I am going to chisel to that line, but I can saw to a pencil line just as well.

But -- you can 'feel' a knife mark, you can't feel a pencil. You can set a chisel in that mark and feel it drop in, you can set you knife in that mark and feel it drop in and then slide your square up against it to continue the line to the next edge, etc... That is one advantage to a knife mark over a pencil. A knife mark also leaves a witness mark. For example, you mark the shoulders of a tenon, cut the tenon. Now you can see a witness mark where the knife cut, so long as you never pare that mark away you know those shoulders are still in the same plane. Again, sawing to a pencil line does not leave that witness mark on the sawn surface. A few of the benifits of a knife...

Cheers!

-Dean

Re: Using a striking knife

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Also, the teeth of a crosscut saw will drop into the line. If you miss, on the conservative side, your paring chisel or the shavings coming off your shoulder plane will be able to find it as well.

If the line is struck parallel to the grain, (using a marking or cutting gauge or a panel gauge, instead of a striking knife and a square), when you plane to the line, you can see the cut in the shavings, even if not in the edge of the board, if you know what you are looking for.

Re: Using a striking knife

paul womack

>But since it is wider, why is it any better than a pencil line drawn with a sharp #3 pencil?

Because a knife line, even when it has a width, has a reference "side" - one side of the 'V' made by the knife should be vertical, and this side is the reference.

I find for some purposes, that a steeper bevel gives a more visible (wider) line, and also serves to limit "depth of cut", which is sometimes desirable.

You don't always want a knife line "as deep as possible", you sometimes want it "deep enough".

BugBear

Re: Using a striking knife

John Pappas

>Thanks BugBear. Your response helps in my attempt to understand what constitutes the "ideal line".

Re: Using a striking knife

Bob Fawcett

>I am not an expert. The article I referenced is part of what got my interest going. Soooooo, last night I made a striking knife from an old paddle bit.

2 comments.

You can drop your knife into the original line and make a new mark referenced from the old. Try that with a pencil.

I haven't tried this, but plan to tonight. Put the pencil in the knife mark and draw a line. Maybe that can make it easier to see.

I already have saftey glasses with reading lense ground into the bottom. I can't see lines like I used to.

Re: Using a striking knife

Todd Stock

>This is the old trick that (I think) Chris repeated in PWW - after the pencil (a Pilot or Pentel .05 works great), just run a gum eraser over the lines to remove all but the graphite in the layout line.

I did not used to have to resort to this sort of thing. Must be the finer layout lines I'm using...

Re: Using a striking knife

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>Um...Yeah Todd that is the cause. Working to finer tolerances. That's the ticket. Have you seen this piece of property I have for sale....JR

Re: Using a striking knife

Todd Stock

>Yeah...the swampland, right? I'm in!

Progressives this year...at least I got to 47 before the dreaded 'Must Wear Spectacle Lenses When Flying' showed up on the flight physical.

Sucks to be me.

Re: Using a striking knife

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>:-) Heck Todd all o us north of 45 or so will soon be (or already) visiting the occulists.I thought as bad as my vision was,near sighted, I would never need reading glasses...Hah! Jokes on me.JR

;-)

Dan Donaldson

>I have trifocals that are perfect for viewing at every distance (except the one that I am trying to see ;-))

Getting old may be bad, but is still beats the alternative ;-))

Progressive lenses

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>You guys may want to try progressive lenses. They are a bit expensive, but they're worked for me. And since my eyes aren't changing all that much now, I expect to use the same pair for another 10 years.

Pam

Actually,

Dan Donaldson

>Mine are the progressive type, but there seems to sometimes be a hole at exactly whatever distance I am trying to see;-) Of course, the hole could be in my head too ;-))

Most of the time they are great, but once in awhile, I seem to find a place where no matter how I look through them, I cannot seem to find the sweet spot. The first set of bifocals I had were those with the line, then I got progressive ones of them and will never go back, especially now that I need three levels or actually more, considering the progressive characteristics.

Re: Progressive lenses

Paul M. in San Diego

>Hi Pam,

I tried those progressive lenses, but everything outside of a small vertical band was out of focus. Do you get any peripheral focus with yours?

I then tried the lined bifocals, but I hate the fact that I can't see where I'm stepping. A reading focal length of 2ft, and eyes 6ft off the ground don't match up very well.

I've taken to woodworking with no glasses, since I need minimal correction close up. The only problem is this keeps my nose within 2ft of the workpiece. Kinda hard to saw to a line with a long saw. ;-)

Re: Progressive lenses

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Sure, but I've always had good peripheral vision. Of course, it's blurred when the view exits the glass coverage. I do remember that it was pretty hard to get used to these glasses, made a bit more difficult because I kept my old sunglasses.

My long distance vision improved about 10 or 15 years ago, so now I can do a lot more without glasses; but I still feel a little uncomfortable when things aren't in focus. Good idea to try woodworking without glasses, as long as you're not mucking about with power tools.

Pam