Popular Woodworking 2005-04 № 147, страница 34

Arts & Mysteries

The Striking Knife

Discover a nearly extinct tool that can help you work faster and more accurately.

The striking knife was a tool frequently found in the tool kits of early woodworkers. Though it's extremely useful, it is a surprisingly uncommon tool to encounter today.

As preposterous as the notion seems, the historical record suggests cabinetmakers working in dim shops with hand tools were able to produce fine furniture with great speed. Despite the superiority of our modern tools and shops, few can match their productivity. So modern woodworkers are left with this question: How were they able to work efficiently with hand tools?

This article is the first in a series I will write for Popular Woodworking on the subject of working wood quickly and efficiently with hand tools. I shall humbly attempt to do what my 18th century counterpart swore not to do: Reveal the once secret "arts and mysteries" of working quickly and efficiently with hand tools.

My Favorite Tool:

The Humble Striking Knife

Do you have a favorite tool? It may be a tool that fits your hand well or does a fine job. Or it might be a tool that simply appeals to you. Well I certainly do. It's a tool not much used anymore called a striking knife. A striking knife is a double-ended marking tool with

a skewed chisel-like blade on one end and a scratch awl on the other. My striking knife came to me in a parcel of old Sheffield brace bits purchased from an English auction house. It appears to have been made from a thin, fine-toothed file. Some striking knives have wooden scales (handles), but not mine. Two carefully placed and well-smoothed indentations are all its maker offered to comfort those who have used it.

I understand those who would question the striking knife's relevance. The 0.5mm mechanical pencil is indeed the fine woodworker's friend. And while I accept the accusa-

by Adam Cherubini

Adam Cherubini makes reproduction furniture using the tools and techniques of the 18th century. He demonstrates his craft at Pennsbury Manor in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Historic Trades Days. You can contact him at adam.cherubini@verizon.net.

tion that I am a traditionalist - even a Luddite in my preference for wooden bodied planes - I defend my use of the striking knife as an important and helpful tool. As a marking tool, it leaves exactly the line you want. It's like a pencil that can lay a different thickness line depending on the situation. But unlike the pencil, the striking knife leaves a physical feature that is not only useful, but responsible for fine craftsmanship. Allow me to explain.

Awl Marks With the Grain & End Grain

Many marking knives currently available don't have awl ends, which is unfortunate. The awl side seems crude but it's quite helpful. Marking with the grain, even on rough-sawn surfaces, is simple with the awl side of the tool (the blade end can catch the wood's grain, pulling the edge and line astray).

Begin the long grain mark by laying the awl's point in the corner made between the

ARE THERE REALLY ARTS & MYSTERIES IN WOODWORKING?

The phrase "Arts and Mysteries" was typically used in contracts between masters and apprentices. Some modern scholars consider it merely a term of "art," and open to interpretation. I interpret the phrase literally to mean that there are tricks and trade secrets that were passed on from master to apprentice. Each apprentice swore to keep these secrets. The fact that not a single English language text was written on the subject during the whole of the 18th century attests to the seriousness with which the oath was taken.

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Popular Woodworking April 2005