Homemade Cabinetmakers Screwdrivers
Pat Riley
>In my recent zeal for older tools, I have decided I dont particularly like plastic in my too cabinet.
I have never been able to find any nice wooden cabinetmakers screwdrivers with phillips or robertson heads, so I finally broke down and made some.
The smaller of the two is rosewood and houses extra bits in the screw off end. I canibalized it from a nice little craftsman screwdriver. It has some very fine tips - great for tiny brass screws.
The mid sized driver is made of ebony and has a magnetic bit holder glued inside it. That way I can have a phillips, flat or robertson drive - my personal favorite. The ferrule is just a piece of brass water pipe with a plug soldered into it. I then drilled a hole and used a needle file to make the hex.
I am in the process of making a larger driver that will have the magnetic holder glued and pinned inside it. The handle will be oval instead of round and should stand up to tons of torque. If any one is interested, I will document its construction in much more detail. All in all, a very fun project.
