Marking Knife: One Piece of Tool Steel, Skewed Single Bevel

A marking knife cuts a fine line across the grain, held like a pencil against a straightedge or square. The simplest is one piece of tool steel with a skewed end bevelled on one side only, like the Japanese shirabiki; the flat side runs against the square. Forge the strip, grind the skew, harden and hone. The picture: a shirabiki, a one-piece marking knife with a skewed single-bevel end.