Wolverine Timber Scribe

Recommended by our good friend Christopher Schwarz of Lost Art Press and covered in some detail on his American Peasant Substack (a very worthwhile subscription), the race knife/timber scribe is a very tight-sweep gouge attached to a knife-like handle. Many of the symbols cut into Eastern European vernacular pieces use tools that are similar to a race knife or are indeed a race knife. The tool is used against a scrap of wood to make a straight line, or it can be used against a curved pattern to make arcs. 

The timber scribe also goes by other names such as: scriber; race knife; scorer; scrieve or scrive hook; scriving knife; skiven iron; raze knife.