The best dovetail marking knife....

Re: The best dovetail marking knife....

GolfSteve in Calgary

>Swiss army knife, the short blade. Works perfectly, gets into tight spots. I've never had any problem with the bevel causing inaccurate lines.

What I don't like at all is the Lee Valley type marking knife. It's too sharp and tends to cut into the tail instead of just following the side of the tail to mark the pin.

This is an easy one....!

dave jeske

>

Re: The best dovetail marking knife....

Adam Cherubini

>Those CW knives are a bit short for my liking and the awl ends are aren't slender enough. You need a long thin awl end for marking out pins.

I really like my knife, but the best knife I've ever seen in the one Paul made for the shop at Pennsbury. Did you ever take a picture of that Paul? Its a beautiful tool. The place where you hold it is wound with string and the steel is very good.

Wait a minute...what was it made from again? Was it a plough plane iron? Aren't they laminated? The awl end is very slender and sharp. I'm curious now whether that fine end is wrought iron. Paul?

Adam

Re: The best dovetail marking knife....

Paul in NJ

>That marking knife was made from an old flea market W.Butcher turning tool that was missing a handle. I think it was a scraper and I picked it out of the $.50 box because of the makers mark. It was all high carbon steel, no wrought iron. I thought the thicker cross section would give it a better balance and heft than the one I made from a file.

Paul Dzioba

Of course

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>the ones I just made. I will post some pictures.

Re: The best dovetail marking knife....

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>There is no one best DT marking knife. Dovetails are made in different sizes and different configurations. A larger dovetail in thicker stock requires a longer blade. Very small London style DTs require a very thin blade, narrower than the saw kerf, and that depends on your dovetail saw. Whether you cut tails first or pins first, the angle of your dovetails, and whether you prefer to hold the knife like a pen or like a chisel strongly affect the optimum edge angle. Everyone's hand is different, and the handle should be optimized to fit the user's hand, to balance properly in it, and to provide positive tactile feedback, because the knife point often cannot be seen while the cut is being made. No marking knife will work precisely for you until you get used to marking with that particular knife on your own bench. The marking knife itself is only one part of a very complex and personal dovetailing system, and must work well with the rest of the interdependent parts of that system.

Furthermore, does your "best" include only functionality while marking, or is ease of sharpening also important, or are you looking for price/performance ratio? Is it important that the knife be useful for other common woodshop functions? How should the issues of build vs. buy enter into your decision?

Why is it that the meaningless questions always seem to incite the strongest debates? Why does anyone even attempt to answer any question that contains the word "best" with an unequivocal answer? Trying to "help" in these situations is always an Exercise in Futility.

Here are three of the marking knives I use. I made them all.

I don't recommend any of these implementations to anyone, but am glad to share how I made them and how they work for me. I'm sure to try again to makes something I like better, not because I'm not proficient in the use any of these, but just because I like designing and building tools and improving on them. One of these days, I'll complete a double-ended striking knife a la Adam and Chris, hopefully with some improvements, and when I've had a chance to test it, I plan to report on its construction and use, too. But right now, I have lots of other marking tools that work to my satisfaction, and lots of higher priority projects in the works, so that will have to wait.

For those who think an X-acto knife is best because it is cheapest and lowest maintenance, well, even they could be wrong. I now have a case cutter with a folding, locking blade that is cheaper, easier to find replacement blades for, and it even has a belt clip. It is sturdy, nicely balanced, easy to grip, and has plenty of tactile feedback. My brother found on sale at a Harbor Fright store for about $3, but it retails for about $9. Stylistically, in could be described as "brutally garish," but I would be unafraid to use it for dovetails, if I had to, with very little practice, since I have trained myself to adapt to all sorts of different knives.

I also like the knives from Dave Anderson's Chester Tool Works and Dave Jeske's Blue Spruce Toolworks, but they are in a totally different class than this one.

Re: The best dovetail marking knife....

dave jeske

>William,

Your comments are right on as usual. Many may think that there is one perfect answer to what is the "best" tool for any given task. And therein is the problem. Every task is just a bit different and could use an optimized solution. One could mark out dovetails with a sharpend nail but thankfully there are better solutions. I really like your thin sharp version you made but I bet it is not quite as "universal" as some other designs. Just the ticket for marking sockets for thin pins though. I have made some custom marking knives with blades similar to this for customers. I have one too, but ironically it is so ugly I wouldn't dare show it to anyone!

Now, what is the "best" smoothing plane...? Only kidding.

Dave

Whichever one is in my hand.

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>

Well put Sir William.

Dave Anderson Chester, NH

>Some of the finest and most precise work I have seen is from woodworkers who don't even bother with a marking knife, but use a pencil, an awl, and even the business end of a chisel. Yeah, as a maker of marking knives I'm shooting myself in the foot here, but it's all about working carefully and practicing your technique. Good or even great tools are helpful, but an ugly and manky old sharpened nail will work as Dave Jeske has suggested. I often think that quality tools and attractive functional tools are more a reflection of our attitude toward our hoobby than just a means of accomplishing work. Often, pride of ownership brings about or translates into pride in workmanship.

Or whichever one I can find;-)

Dan Donaldson

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This is what our 14y.o. students used to make *LINK*

Andrew F in Australia

>My only marking knife is a re-ground piece of power hacksaw blade, approx 1.25" wide by 5" long, with the cutting edge ground at about 30º to the horizontal - known locally as a veneer knife, as that's what it's usually used to cut. A scrap power hacksaw blade would work fine in this instance as the tool steel.

Normally, I use this knife for all detail layout work. I've linked to a picture of the actual knife as part of a toolkit - (Ignore the book and a moral to the story - check carefully what repair jobs are on the bench before taking photos - this was a ripped book from my kids)

But, I've also marked out dovetails with a sharp pencil or a chisel - whatever's on hand works fine at a pinch.




The marking knife I use

Re: The best dovetail marking knife....

Alan Hamilton

>Ross,

I'm not one who tries to make things more difficult and complex than they really are. Yours is a simple question--though best maybe wasn't the best way to ask.

My favorite marking knife (is favorite a better choice of words?) is my Lee Valley, the one with the double bevel. Why? The double bevel design, for one thing, allows me to use it in either hand and still keep the flat side against the rule; another reason is the diamond shape of the blade gives my forefinger a natural and secure place to exert some pressure; and the handle is nicely finished so it just feels good in my hand.

Simple.

Alan