What is "race knife"

Race \Race\, n. [OE. ras, res, rees, AS. r[=ae]s a rush, running; akin to Icel. r[=a]s course, race. [root]118.]

1. A progress; a course; a movement or progression.

2. Esp., swift progress; rapid course; a running.

   The flight of many birds is swifter than the race of any beasts.
   --Bacon.

3. Hence: The act or process of running in competition; a contest of speed in any way, as in running, riding, driving, skating, rowing, sailing; in the plural, usually, a meeting for contests in the running of horses; as, he attended the races.

   The race is not to the swift.
   --Eccl. ix. 11.

   I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race.
   --Pope.

4. Competitive action of any kind, especially when prolonged; hence, career; course of life.

   My race of glory run, and race of shame.
   --Milton.

5. A strong or rapid current of water, or the channel or passage for such a current; a powerful current or heavy sea, sometimes produced by the meeting of two tides; as, the Portland Race; the Race of Alderney.

6. The current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel in which it flows; a mill race.

   Note: The part of the channel above the wheel is sometimes called the headrace, the part below, the tailrace.

7. (Mach.) A channel or guide along which a shuttle is driven back and forth, as in a loom, sewing machine, etc. Race cloth, a cloth worn by horses in racing, having pockets to hold the weights prescribed. Race course.

   1. The path, generally circular or elliptical, over which a race is run.

   2. Same as Race way, below. Race cup, a cup given as a prize to the victor in a race. Race glass, a kind of field glass. Race horse.

      1. A horse that runs in competition; specifically, a horse bred or kept for running races.

      2. A breed of horses remarkable for swiftness in running.

   3. (Zo["o]l.) The steamer duck.

   4. (Zo["o]l.) A mantis.

      Race knife, a cutting tool with a blade that is hooked at the point, for marking outlines, on boards or metals, as by a pattern, -- used in shipbuilding.

      Race saddle, a light saddle used in racing.

      Race track. Same as Race course (a), above.

      Race way, the canal for the current that drives a water wheel.

n. A cutting tool with a blade that is hooked at the point, for marking outlines, on boards or metals, as by a pattern; used in shipbuilding.

Race knife also known as a timber scribe (scorer, tree marker) is a knife with a U-shaped end sometimes called a scoop knife for cutting marks in wood by lumbermen, carpenters, coopers, surveyors, and others. The reasons for making marks varies and includes keeping count (tally marks), identifying parts (carpenter's marks), numbering, and tracing patterns around a template as a part of marking out. The gouges left by the timber scribe are more durable than pencil or chalk marks.

Two basic forms of race knife are a simple, fixed or folding, scooped blade and a scooped blade paired with a point around which the blade cut a circle or partial circle. The circles and partial circles allowed more variety in the patterns of marks rather than only using Roman numeral-like marks.

The numbering with a race knife resembles Roman numerals but the number four is usually marked IIII rather than IV and nine VIIII rather than IX because the four and nine could be mistaken for a six or eleven.