Reply To: Knife wall problems
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You say your components are square, but if you’re transferring your lines around correctly, it means they are not square. It’s easy to believe your Starretts are square, but everything else needs to be scrutinized.
Also, and maybe most importantly, I’m not sure I have heard Paul say to get your knife point under the square, but I have heard him say “almost as if your knife is going under the blade of the square” — it’s a fine distinction, but so is a 64th of an inch…if you go under the blade, how far under do you go? How do you go the same distance under the blade each time?
I may be wrong, but it seems to me the point of Paul saying that is to get you as close to the edge of the blade of the square as possible, so your markings will be as accurate as possible. The edge of the blade of the square is the line you wish the transfer onto your wood. If you go somewhere under the blade, you’re now essentially free-handing your knife line, just using the edge of the blade of the square to stabilize your free-handing. Since your posture might be different, your angle of approach to the blade might be different, your grip on the marking knife might be different, etc, etc, the distance you go under the blade might thus be different, and you’ll be unable to trust the accuracy of the knife line you just made…I hope I’m explaining that clearly, and I apologize if not.
Can you post a video of yourself transferring a knife nick around a squared component? Maybe someone will spot some error in your technique.