Knife Wall

A little step forward. I cut what will become the outer leg shoulder that meets the apron. I used the knife wall technique. I hold my hands up, I had never heard about the knife wall until recently. I was shown to knife mark and cut to that knife mark at College and at work I was expected to cut a shoulder to a pencil line and for it to fit “off the saw” (those joints would be confined to joinery rather than cabinet making). The only reference I had found on knife walling was in “Practical Home Woodworking” from the 1950′s. It says of knife walling “As an aid to keeping the shoulder line square, some less experienced workers prefer to chisel a shallow groove into which the saw can be placed for starting the cut”

In addition to the aid of starting the saw I found it worked well in terms creating a border so the edge can be planed back neatly. Was it that much better than just cutting to a knife line? I just can’t say right now. It’s something I will try out more to get a feel for it, it does though seem a useful skill to have. I will post a video of my attempt soon.