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How to Make a Metal Scribe

A metal scribe is, in a way, the metalworker's equivalent of the carpenter's pencil. A metalworker uses it to draw directly onto metal, often along the straight edge of a metal rule. Although there are many ways to make a metal scribe, author Joanna Gollberg's method is easy to do.

Things You'll Need

6-inch nail
Metal file, such as a bastard file
Vise
Scrap piece of metal
Metal saw (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Secure the nail in the vise with the point upright and at an angle, so the jaws don't clamp down on the head of the nail and flatten it.
- 2
  File the traditionally irregular conical point of the nail to a regular cone shape. Work first to file a little at one side, covering about a quarter of the point's entire surface, then a little at the other side.
- 3
  Rotate the nail 90 degrees in the vise to file the other two sides of the point. Test the sharpness of the point by running a scrap piece of metal across it rather than touching it with your finger.
- 4
  Turn the nail the other way in the vise so the head is pointing upwards if you wish to saw the head off. Note that this is merely a cosmetic alteration, as the presence of the head in no way diminishes the sharpened nail's effectiveness as a scribe. Saw the head off close to the end of the nail. File the end to a dome shape for safety.

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