Marking guage question

[eyekode]

I made a marking guage a while ago from this article: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Mystery_of_the_Marking_Gauge/

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

It worked ok (no fault of the plans!) but the mortise was sloppy and I was not particularly happy with the marking "knife" I made. It protrudes too far (can be easily fixed) and is quite crudely ground.

So I recently made a new one. I have gotten better at sharpening and using my chisels since then:

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

But I am still stuck on the marking knife. I read that a jigsaw knife can be ground into a suitable blade for a marking knife. Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Salem

 

[Joe Scharle]

I used a broken bandsaw blade in a scratch block years ago. Worked well.

 

[scsmith42]

Salen, just about any type of blade would work - bandsawn, hacksaw, jigsaw, etc. Also, you could use a broken drill bit ground to a flat point.

I have several laying around that you're welcome to have.

Scott

 

[toolferone]

What about a #11 xacto blade?

 

[eyekode]

Scott, I have done the drill bit thing. I bought the 170 bits from woodcraft a while ago and they are maybe 1/2 as sharp as my 10+ year old black and decker's (bleh!). So I don't mind grinding them down. But this time I think I will start with something flat. I have an old bandsaw blade with a kink in it. I didn't even consider it because the stock is so thin. But the only other place for it is the trash so I might as well .

 

[eyekode]

What about a #11 xacto blade?

From the pictures it looks like this has a bevel on both sides. I really would prefer a single edge bevel. But I do have a pack of assorted blades lying around. I will check to see if any are single sided.

 

[froglips]

You may find a thin edge will flex and deflect when it encounters wood grain. Probably more than you'd like for a marking knife.

Like in the song, I hit the knot, and the knot won.....

That said, you could consider cutting it out of an old circular saw blade or maybe a used up recip saw blade.

If you wanna go with an end attached cutter, ala tite-mark, then a fender washer should do just fine. For that matter, you could grind a inside bevel on one half of the washer, outside on the other.

In my marking gauge, I used a fine threaded machine screw in a very tight pilot hole. Ground a tapered end, sort of like a V. One perk is I can tweak the direction of the cutter and adjust it fairly easily.

Either way, great looking gauges!

Jim

 

[eyekode]

So I found a single sided xacto blade in my set. I chiseled a very shallow mortise into the end of the post. Then the idea was to drill a hole in the blade and screw it to secure it.

Any guess what happened next?

I would not advise trying to drill through an xacto knife!! It shattered into lots of pieces. I was not wearing my glasses and a piece of it struck my cheek!!!! I got lucky and escaped without harm.

Maybe I could hold it in with a wedge but now I don't have a blade to try. Doh!!

 

[Gofor]

IF you find another blade, you may want to "drill" it with a small diamond bit or grind through it with a dremel, etc. Available cheap at HF

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=daimond+bit&Submit=Go

If you have a grinder, you could always grind a new bevel on one of the other blades.

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