Finely tapered and fine point scriber tips will give you a thinner, more accurate scribe line. The point is less obscured on a finely tapered point making it easier to scribe accurate lines close together.
The disadvantages are that finely tapered and fine point tips wear quicker so require more frequent sharpening and are more likely to break.
Fine pointed diamond tip scribers
The diamond mounted in the end of a scriber tip can have a cutting face with an angle ranging from 30 to 120°. The smaller the angle, the finer the line that the scriber makes will be.
These narrow angle diamond points are, in effect, fine point scribers.
Scribers with angled or hooked tips
Angled tips are used to mark areas of a workpiece that are awkward to access, such as inside a hole or recess.
Replacement tips for this type of scriber are often threaded and designed to screw into the body of the scriber.
Knife-edge scribers
A knife edge scriber is used to mark lines on soft materials such as wood or plastic. Scored lines in wood help to prevent frays and splinters (known as tear out) at the edges when later sawing.
Scriber lines on a wooden workpiece are thinner than a pencil line so are more accurate.
The groove created by the scribed line in the workpiece can also serve as a guide to help locate saw blades or chisels in any subsequent operations.
Double bevelled knife edge vs. single bevel
When looking at the knife blade down its edge, a single bevelled blade will feature one flat side and one bevelled or angled side. A double bevelled blade will be angled or bevelled on both sides.
Double bevelled blades are stronger and will scribe a deeper, thicker line, but a single bevelled blade allows you to accurately scribe right up to the edge of a ruler or square. This is important if you need accurate lines for making strong tight fitting joints such as dovetails.
Scriber sets with different tips
Scriber sets are available for scribers with replaceable tips and are useful if you want several different angled tips for your scriber.
Sets are most common for diamond tip scribers as they rarely have a double ended tip; the set allows one scriber body to be used as both a straight and angled tip.
Diamond sets will often feature a variety of tips with different angles and diamonds with a range of point angles (these are the diamond tip equivalent of standard and finely pointed tips).