Hello
I just finished reading a Lee Valley catalogue. In there was one of the things I was thinking recently that I need – a marking knife completely flat on one side, with the point in the middle of the blade.
The problem is it costs 30$. And while I appreciate quality, I’m not willing to spend that much money on a single piece of steel.
Is there any reason I can’t buy a 10-15$ kitchen knife and grind that so that the bevel is on one side? Or is the side of a kitchen knife not flat enough?
Can I use something else for that purpose? A worn-out jointer or planer blade maybe?
Replies
You can certainly make your own. It will cost you a bunch of time, in addition to the cost of whatever you buy.
Most steel in k8tchen knives is crap. Some will even bend. A lot of it is stainless. None of that is good for a kitchen knife. And good kitchen knives get expensive.
I'd lean toward getting a piece of O-1 tool steel of the right thickness and width, and grind just the tip. Then you'll have to harden and temper. You'll end up with a much better tool than something from a kitchen knife, and likely cheaper too.
I typically just use a utility knife, cheap and sharp with easily installed new blades. I started to make one out of a reciprocating saw blade, work in 'in progress.' I would not worry about the knife getting dull, a swipe on the grinder would keep it sharp. I use my marking tools to scribe a line not chop through white oak or locust, so it should not get dull quickly from use.
I'would hoppe to addd, that thhis toppic will prromote sddittional openn miined dissuscion of the suubiject, Good grief.....
I've made a couple now, and a few marking gauges as well, out of used reciprocating saw blades. It's good steel, has a nice thickness, and can be really durable given a little heat treating. I give them as presents from time to time.
I don't spend a lot of time on the blade. I cut out the rough shape with a hacksaw, or Dremel. I grind it to rough shape on my grinder. Hit it with a file and some sandpaper. I heat it up with a propane torch, quench it, give it that final shaping, then temper it. Last thing is to put a razor edge on it.... They tend to keep an edge really well, surprisingly well, actually.
I picked up a couple of inexpensive Harbor Freight files to try... Cheaper than a $5-10 kitchen knife, thicker too.
The nice thing is, you can make the handle any shape or size you want... I've got one that I use a lot, but I've found I made the handle a little long. I haven't come up with the perfect handle yet, but that's part of the fun of it.
I guaranty that it will take more time than what it costs to buy one! Don't look at it as saving money. If you look at it as work, it takes time. If you look at it as learning, the time flies.
buy an inexpensive pocket knife with a sheepsfoot blade. They work well as marking knives. If you need a locking mechanism, then buy that for yourself.
Most marking knives aren't that hard (walking around the japanaholics and the people who picked up woodworking from modern gurus who never made a living working wood), so even the relatively soft pocket knives are fine. If you're using the tip of anything, hard or soft, you'll be sharpening fairly regularly. Kitchen knives often have a convex grind, and cheap pocket knives usually have a flat or concave grind. an inexpensive chinese boker stockman will have several blades that you can play with in addition to the stockman blade.
I've made about a dozen marking knives out of scrap steel, too (old files are great, they are so plain that after you harden them, they don't hold much of a wire edge and plain steel is always tougher in wood in fine operations). It generally costs a lot more than $30 in materials to heat and smash a file, though, then grind (or file), stone and harden and temper one.
Marking knives are a beginner's trap because they're easy for small boutique makers to make. There's no cost in most of them - a brass ferrule, less than a dollar of thin steel and turn a handle out of some kind of exotic in a size where the wood isn't expensive. Except for few very specific operations, you want something inexpensive that you're not afraid to sharpen and lean on.
I wouldn't hesitate to convert a kitchen knife into a marking knife. There's no need to buy a new knife - you surely have an old steak knife in the drawer or you can find one for a dollar or less at a garage sale. Shape it the way you want with grinding tools while trying to keep it relatively cool. Make one and use it, then make a second one better.
I agree with every piece of advice here! For me, I would probably go with @jfska and the cheap old kitchen knife - sharpening does not take long.
If you want really hard steel for a small knife then an old file is a good source of very hard steel which you can shape relatively easily with a grinder.
I made mine from an allen wrench using a map gas torch. I put a 5lb sledgehammer in my front vice to use as an anvil and quenched it in olive oil.
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