Comments on: The Black Knife

By: ek5016

ek5016 — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:14:34 +0000

That is precision. Clean, cool! Brilliant!
Another variation on this: scribe your lines and drag a piece of white chalk over it . You want it to be somewhat powdery so it will fill the low spots in the knife line. Next step, wipe it with a rag and the high spots will come clean and the knife line will stay highlighted.
I tried this with black charcoal powder but i always wound up with smudges on my face from nose scratching. The white doesn’t rat you out as bad.

Yes , the “schwarz effect” . Can’t find .3 online now either. damn.

By: LanceG

LanceG — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:55:35 +0000

Just a thought: would a very thin blade on a wood burning pen or soldering iron work? or would it brown the wood past the knife line?

By: Derek Cohen

Derek Cohen — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:09:10 +0000

Chris

I agree that marking out is the most important step. You cannot work accurately if you cannot see a line to cut to it.

The very best tip I can give anyone who struggles to see lines clearly, is to use blue tape, as outlined here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/HalfblindDovetailsinJarrah.html

It can change the way in which you mark out and saw dovetails.

Regards from Perth

Derek

By: MarkSchreiber

MarkSchreiber — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:33:58 +0000

I saw that criticism too, and commented in your favor. I wonder who is responsible for the official list of words nobody can use anymore without some special dispensation–and who approves that? Press on, almost all of us understood what you said and did not leap to the dark side. Mark

By: metalworkingdude

metalworkingdude — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:56:13 +0000

So last night on the way home from work I stopped at an art supply store. It’s a big place near a local university with an MFA program. No 0.3mm pencils. None. Zero. Nada.

They’d had a run on them, not a single one in the store. They had probably 30-40 each in .5, .7 and .9. They had 2mm lead holders. They guy was surprised that they’d run through them so quickly. He clearly doesn’t read your blog.

Schwarz effect.

By: BillT

BillT — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:17:07 +0000

I had laser surgery a few months ago, after wearing eyeglassess all day, every day, for about 37 years. What a difference!

But now I need reading glasses to see up close! I have DeWalt shop safety glasses that have a little reading glasses lens built in to the lower half, like bifocals.

By: The offcut

The offcut — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:11:07 +0000

More dang mechanical gadgets to go wrong!

With your pocket knife you can shape a 0.3mm or better chisel point to a regular pencil. Align the chisel point with your knife cut and it will prove more durable than a snapping cylindrical 0.3mm lead.

(From a practical skinflint.)

By: geppetto425

geppetto425 — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:37:18 +0000

I’d been thinking about laser surgery for awhile, then at only 55 I was diagnosed with cataracts! Now I have new corrective eyeball lenses, no glasses and I can see like a hawk! But, I have to wear reading glasses all the time….still beats wearing glasses since I was 7.

What do you guys think about latest FW article about just using pencil lines, no scribing??

By: Rob Porcaro

Rob Porcaro — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:39:30 +0000

Chris,

I used 0.3mm lead for a long time before I got fed up with it breaking so often.

I find that 0.5 lead, or just a sharpened regular pencil, blackens the upper edge of the wall of a scribed or knifed groove in the wood. This is much like the line on the left in the photo in your post.

This gives me a good view to split the line with the saw. If the scribing and the pencil work are done with a consistent pressure and angle to the wood, this can give accurate results.

Thanks for relating the story of your myopia. It’s remarkable how children unquestioningly accept the world around them until they are presented with an alternative.

Now, your thoughtful approach to woodworking is appreciated by many people!

Rob

By: Jim McCoy

Jim McCoy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:16:45 +0000

Your story reminds me of 7th grade. I was barely passing and hated school. I’m sure the teachers all thought I was just some big dumb clod. Because of my hight I always got assigned to a seat in the back of the room. One day as a joke I swiped a friends glasses he had taken off for some reason and put them on. Instead of the funny faces I had intended, my jaw dropped and I was awe struck at what I could see. I could actually read what was written on the board. I mentioned it to my mom that evening and she made an appointment to have my eyes checked. After I got my glasses my grades steadily improved and I actually started liking school, at least some of it. At the end of the school year several of my teachers congratulated me on how well I had applied myself and turned my grades around. Not one of them had ever mentioned my new glasses. I guess I just must have looked like a kid who wore glasses forever.