Lead Knife

Description
The lead knife is used to cut the lead cames. There are many kinds of lead knives on the market. They fall into two basic types – the curved blade and the straight blade.
This is a necessary tool because lead dikes can't achieve acutely angled cuts readily.

Use
The important things to remember are to lubricate the blade, to maintain the proper angle, and to keep the blade sharp.

The blade is lubricated by wiping it through beeswax. Beeswax is slightly sticky so it will adhere to the metal better than ordinary wax. This greatly increases the ease with which the knife will slip through the lead.

The proper angle is maintained by keeping the blade in a line between your eye, the handle, and the blade where it contacts the lead. To push the blade through the came, you need to wiggle the blade from side to side (for a straight edge) or to rock it (for a curved blade) as you apply downward pressure. Too much pressure in relation to the wiggling or rocking movement will cause the lead to be crushed. Too little movement, will make the cutting slow.

Additional use
The lead knife can also be useful in positioning the lead around the pieces of glass, usually by gently pushing on the heart of the lead.