The design is very similar to the one that shived me. Ill be using a some stabilized Walnut 3. I looked marking knife drawing zhang existing marking knife. Of course a grub screw could easily get lost in a pile of shavings. I had limited time marking knife drawing zhang work on things that I wanted to pursue such as YouTube and a social life and sadly, Axminster got the cut. Once you've got the clamps on, be sure to clean any glue from the front of the scales before it dries, otherwise you'll scratch the blade trying to remove it. Marking Knife.

Blimey Charley, the knife was perfect. The design is very similar to the one that shived me. The only real limitation is if you like to do those very fine pinned dovetails. But I suppose you would nearly always need something fairly dedicated for those anyway. If I could change anything I would lengthen the cutting point.

Basically make the spear-shaped angle more shallow. This is simply my thoughts and experience with this knife. Want to know my two pence on other tools? As a professional hand tool woodworker, Richard found hand tools to be the far more efficient solution for a one man workshop.

Richard runs 'The English Woodworker' as an online resource and video education for those looking for a fuss free approach to building fine furniture by hand. Just be careful when using it as a skew chisel. The hard steel is kinda brittle and might chip when you pry with it. I would look into Fuller brand Brad Point Bits, made in the northeast. The are probably some of the best wood bits I have used available in inch and metric , available through Tools for Woring Wood.

Made a marking knife just like it from an auto leaf spring. Knifemakers use leaf springs quite often. High carbon steel with chromium. Never thought of using it as a skew chisel, thanks! I bought an old 7 too quickly at the yard sale on my lunch break.

When I got it home I found the iron to be snapped in half long ways. I been rolling around the idea of making a marking knife from the two halves. I think you just pushed me over the edge. If you try carving a circle with a gouge and then with a chisel you can feel how much smoother it is with a curved edge. I use Colt brad point bits, mostly.

Nothing, in my view is more accurate and smooth cutting as these bits. I got the single-edge version of this a while back but the gentle curve from one side down the bevel contrasting with the flat straight-edge on the back of the knife gave this optical illusion of the knife tip being bent over whenever I used it and it drove me nuts so I swapped it out for that stanley knife Paul Sellers uses and which my dad used to use a lifetime ago so that was a nice symmetry.

Same steel as their excellent plane irons. I use them very often with a small drill brace with a hex shaft and they make holes in fir without tearout. I made a mistake in the previous post. I thought I would have deleted the word.

I just bought an old screwdriver at a garage sale for 50 cents and shaped the point on a grinder, works fine, I use it for just about everything, an old busted up chisel would work too — just shape the tip how you want it. He formerly worked part-time at his local Lee Valley Tools store. We recommend using strong passwords that are at least seven characters long and combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. An Error has occured, please try again. Your session has timed out.

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An email has been sent. Please check your inbox. Yes, take me to Lee Valley Canada Cancel. Make Your Own Marking Knife Woodworkers have a reputation for making their own tools, whether out of interest or just frugality. Some of the handmade tools the author uses in his shop. The sharp and stiff cutting edge makes this scalpel ideal for laying out tails or pins. Stock Preparation The small size of the knife makes it an ideal project for using the hardwood from your scrap bin.

Cutting the Blade Channel A blind channel is cut on one of the strips to the exact width and depth of the blunt end of the blade so that the blade sits snugly and tightly in the channel. Use the nick on the strip to set the next saw cut. Drilling the Holes Using the blade as a template, I located and drilled the bolt and nut through-holes together.

Use the depth stop on the drill press to control the boring depth on the blind hole. Shaping the Handle With the strips bolted together, I outlined the shape on the face of the handle. Using a Spokeshave A Canted Blade I set the blade at a slight angle to the sole so I can vary the depth of cut by re-positioning the spokeshave rather than re-setting the cutter.

Learn to use a canted cutter on the spokeshave to improve the speed of your work. Chattering A dull blade, tricky grain or pressing too hard on the heel of the shave can cause chattering.

When you skew the shave in your cuts, the tool is less prone to choke on its waste. Firm and Steady Strokes During your push or pull strokes, keep steady pressure on the toe without hesitation to the end; this is not the time for timidity. Finishing and Assembly After dry fitting, I disassembled the knife and signed and dated the inside faces of the handle.

Looks like this knife is going to be smaller than expected! I eventually managed to get it safely mounted in a 4 jaw chuck after some guidance from a fellow student who was far better at turning than I was.

After a few catches and ropy moments, I managed to get it turned and even managed to get a bead on the end of it! It looked crap but hey, it was there. I took the handle out the chuck, cut the slot for the blade, and slipped the ferrule into position. The article I was following stated that David tends to epoxy his blades in place.

This seemed counter intuitive at first, although he made it clear that due to the chisel-like shape of these blades, it was entirely possibly to re-dress the point by simply honing it on a diamond stone. I looked my existing marking knife. Chips, dents and glue took up more of the blade than a sharp point. I decided that I couldn't trust myself to solely use the knife for wood and had to make the blade removable. I purchased an M5 Tap and grub screw and drilled straight into the side of the ferrule and tapped straight into the Snakewood.

Due to the dense grain of the wood, the thread still stands today! I used this knife for several years and loved it. The blade was incredibly sharp, the handle was intuitive to hold, and despite looking ugly, I was proud of it. On the 30th of December, , I stopped working at Axminster due to trying to juggle too many balls at once. I had limited time to work on things that I wanted to pursue such as YouTube and a social life and sadly, Axminster got the cut.

I anticipated this for months in advance and gave management plenty of notice, and in the meantime saved up a ton of money. In the 4 months prior to leaving, I was working at Axminster , teaching both day and evening classes at Rycotewood , and was also running my own business with the YouTube channel.

I grinded and saved a lot! I intended to make full use of my employee discount before walking out the door for the last time. I had been woodworking for around 6 years by this point and decided that I wanted to expand my skills into other areas. Secondly, as my channel was growing, the tools I was using began gaining more attention. Everyone noticed the usual suspects such as Lie-Nielsen and Veritas , but no one could identify the knife.

I also noticed that David Barron had ceased selling his knife. I had 4 things to confirm there was a gap in the market. Firstly, I had seen how many knives David was selling after reading his blog a few years ago. Secondly, I had a larger following than he did at the time of selling his knives. Thirdly, there was potential to make the blade replaceable which also had the added benefit of allowing the user to choose from a selection of 6 different blade shapes.

Finally, I realised that it would be easy for me to make the handle and the ferrule fully customisable if I were to make these knives in-house. I began working on a design for the knife, particularly the locking mechanism on the ferrule. I considered a collet, however there was no chance I could make one efficiently. I considered a pin that slots through the side of the ferrule and through the hole on the blade, secured in place with a magnet.

But this would easily get lost in a pile of shavings if dropped. Everything pointed back to my original design of using a grub screw to secure the blade in place. Of course a grub screw could easily get lost in a pile of shavings. But at least it was far easier to order spares online as opposed to a bespoke magnetic pin! So I got to work re-designing my original knife and faced a number of different challenges.

The original knife required the blade to be cut shorter before being inserted into the ferrule. But I did not want people to need to cut down blades in order to replace them. Not only from a convenience standpoint, but also from a safety perspective. This mean't that the ferrule had to be longer on the new design to accept the entire blade. The nice thing about this is that it's added a nice amount of mass to the front of the knife so that it required less effort to cut, and feels like a higher quality item.

I wanted the grub screw to be in the centre of the ferrule along it's length. But after increasing the length of the ferrule, it meant that the grub screw hole was no longer aligned with the hole in the blade. This was a big problem. If the grub screw was to be over-tightened against the side of the blade, there is a high chance the blade could chip and fill the blade slot with metal fragments.

As you'll see later in this article, these are impossible to remove. I tried so hard to avoid this being a carbon copy of David Barrons knife , but on the flip side there was so little I wanted to change about his original design because I loved it so much. In the end I decided to remove the bead at the end of the handle, simplify the shape, I also removed the shoulder that leads the handle into a ferrule, and I was to offer it in a variety of materials. With the addition of a visible grub screw, the design is now noticeably different to Davids original.

One thing I couldn't distance myself from was the thumb-hold. I thought it was genius. In addition, due to the fact my blade was removable, it meant that the blade could simply be flipped the other way around and it would be suitable for both right and left handers! The lathe had sat idle in my workshop for 4 months while I gathered materials to test the first batch.

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