Race knife

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.