Toolmaking

Re: Toolmaking

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Ellis,

I heated up a handful of junk files in my woodstove and started to turn them into antique style turnscrews.It's one of many projects that I've started but not gotten to for awhile.I managed to finish one that I shaped for the large screw that holds the chipbreaker to the iron on a stanley plane.I have another one partially formed but haven't decided what the final use will be. Making tools is rewarding work.I had thought about making a marking knife but since I got one of Chester Toolworks knives I haven't had the need.---Jack

Ellis, I like the idea, but

Eric Hedberg

>the challenge for us "urban woodworkers" is that the closest thing I have to a good wood stove is a badly abused Weber Grill/defacto fire ring. Any suggestions for suitable heat source alternatives that don't blow my budget, overworked fuse box, or fire departments good will? Eric (Who ironically still has the anvil (100yrs+) from the family farm in his shop)

Re: Toolmaking

Paul in NJ

>The marking knife in the fore-ground was one of my first adventures in tool making. It was made from a file, some old piano key ivory, and a bit of brass rod. I think I might have to try building a 'type 2' and see how it works!

Paul Dzioba

Re: Toolmaking

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Here are some photos of some striking tools that I made.

and details of the assembly of the first one

Someone else (St. Ron) made and heat treated the blades, but even that's not a big problem, if you have a few fire bricks and a propane torch. Hotter torches, or forges with coal and forced air work quicker, but for something as small as a marking knife blade, aren't really necessary. You also need to get SWMBO's permission to temper the blade in the oven after you've hardened it.

I prefer to start with a round hole, and turn the handle and ferrule around that. Also, I prefer to set my blades in epoxy and split dowels in the handle.

Re: Toolmaking

Alan Bierbaum

>The whole discussion makes me want to bring up a topic that has been aired here in the past but that is still germane, and that is making tools.

I do not enjoy metal work at all and I am not set up to do it. I do really enjoy reading about others' efforts in making tools. I buy my tools so that I can spend my time working wood,

Alan in freezing Denver

Re: Toolmaking

Todd Hughes

>Most Blacksmiths would not leave a file in a fire coals to aneal it because of the possibility of it warping.Also i think you run the risk of loosing carbon out of the steel though i am not certain about this.Far better way is to heat it up to an orange and let it cool slow in some ashes or vermiculite.Will get softer if you heat up a larger chunk of iron and put it with the file.

No fireplace ? no forge? dig a hole in the ground put some coals in it with a pipe to blow air in and you will be able to get the steel hot enough....No hole?....Well maybe I can sell you one! .....Todd

Rewards are where you find them

Ellis Walentine

>I appreciate your sentiments, Alan. I think a lot of people may be with you on this one.

Personally, I have not thought of toolmaking as a tangent to my woodworking but rather as a pleasant adjunct to it. I guess what has always motivated me the most has been the sheer joy of designing and building things, whether a tool or an entertainment center, or a clever fixture for the shop or just to get something accomplished.

All this brings me to a pet subject, the idea of woodworking in the service of design. It is the notion that the real objective of functional art is to fulfill a design premise, in whatever media. To get to the final result, we often have to venture outside the narrower comfort zone of woodworking. Sometimes we need to become conversant with other disciplines, such as metal, glass, stone, etc. To get there, we need to have a fundamental curiosity, as James Krenov would say.

I view tools as a means to an end, and if I can make a tool that increases my enjoyment or productivity, I'm gonna make it -- especially when I can get such excellent, time-saving guidance as these messageboards provide. I've made a lot of tools, jigs and gizmos in the past, but I'm always open to new ideas.

Ellis

Wood stove altrnatives

bill tindall

>For this and several other reasons it makes sense to buy annealed tool steel in the size suitable for the tool to be made. It's cheap and readily available in about any size imaginable.

I can understand that for some, part of the enjoyment is turing a worthless piece of metal (file)into something useful. But, if one is most motivated to get a reliable piece of steel to work and get on with the making, then puchase it.

Ditto for heat treating. I would venture that the amature heat treater does not get close to the optimum properties for the steel. There are heat treating shops everywhere and they are cheap. Ask a machine shop where they get stuff done.

Mapp gas and some fire bricks or

Ed Snow

>other items will go a long way to getting you there.

an article on small forge from simple parts;

http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/forges/microfrg.htm

Another cheap soultion is a coffee can and some lump charcoal. By perforating the bottom sides of the can you can use your air compressor to fan the flames. These will get hot enough to aneal and heat treat your file as well as O1 and W1. You one minor limitation will be the inability to do many parts at once.

Your best result will be one burn one anealing and one burn on harden. Once you have the blank up to its austenitic temperature (which means little to most but) meaning a magnet no longer sticks to it when hot, this occurs at a strong orange. At this point you are ready to begin annealing and speroidization which results in the normalizing of tensions and greater dimensional stability in the haredening and tempering process and a softer state making it easy to work. Hardening is done in the same fashion taking the blank up to its austinization point once more and quenching rapidly. Tempering is a more precise process but can be done in most home ovens.

If you have access to a welder and a cutting torch you should look up drum brake forges. The drum off a semi truck is about perfect and can be easily found.

An Easy Source of Blades to Hand

Garrett in Victoria

>I made these the other day from an old clasp knife. The lower one was the locking spring. I still have three other pieces to play with.

Cheers, Garrett

You're a tease aren't you :-)

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>Absolutely nothing said about the butt mortise plane (well that's what it looks like). Nada, Bupkiss, bugger all.... :-)

You are correct....

Paul in NJ

>It was made during the same time period as the marking knife.

Paul Dzioba

forge insulator

Steve Kubien

>I've been toying of trying this for a while and I have a couple of questions.....

This may sound like a dumb one but when people talk about temperatures in regards to annealling, hardening, tempering etc...are they talking �F or �C?

Second...In Canada we have an insulating product called Roxul (www.roxul.com). Their acoustical fire batting is rated for 2100�F and is non-combustible. Would this make a suitable liner for a can-type forge?

Thanks,

Steve Kubien

Clarification

Alan Bierbaum

>"I view tools as a means to an end, and if I can make a tool that increases my enjoyment or productivity, I'm gonna make it -- especially when I can get such excellent, time-saving guidance as these messageboards provide. I've made a lot of tools, jigs and gizmos in the past, but I'm always open to new ideas.

Ellis "

I don't want it to sound like I am not interested in tool making. I am interested and enjoy reading of others' efforts; I just am not set up to do metal work and don't enjoy doing it. About the only metal work that I do is tool maintenance and minor grinding (scratch stock, etc.). Jigs and fixtures are sometimes fun and almost always needed.

I start and end my day by reading the message boards and am always amazed at the expanse of knowledge displayed and information gleaned here.

Keep the tool making discussions going. I will read, and enjoy, them (I just will not be doing any personal metal work).

Alan

Sizing Question?

Brad in Ottawa

>Looking over the specs I noticed that the two samples have blades that are 5/8" and 9/16" wide.

Would a saw file, which is comparatively narrower, produce satisfactory results?

Brad

PS - Steve, Roxul is a pretty cool company, they are headquartered in my hometown, Milton Ont.

More on heat sources...

Peter Berglund in Denver

>I built a fairly inexpensive small gas forge based on plans from The Forge and Burner Design Page.

The forge is made from a discarded freon tank with ceramic wool (Kaowool) lining. The burner is made from a couple of bucks worth of pipe fittings. Biggest expense (besides the ceramic wool) was the propane tank & regulator.

More on Heat Treating

Peter

Re: Toolmaking

Doug Reynolds in Seattle

>I am interested in making some handplanes. All require some metalwork, some more than others. I was reading from Pearch (SP?) and Lee's book just this morning on making a plow plane. The woodwork I can do, making a depth adjuster has me stumpted. I need a moulding plane with a special profile that I have not been able to find on e-bay. So, the topic in general is important to me.

Tool Making

DaveK

>How about a seperate category on the message boards. There is a myriad of tools one could make. And a lot of quetions. Maybe there could some room for jigs and fixtures also.

Re: You are correct....

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>Both look real nice too. Good work.

Noris adjuster on Butt mortise plane?

Ian in Sydney

>Is that a Noris style adjuster I see before me.

Could you comment on how useful it is on this plane compared to the "mechanism" (soft taps with a hammer) present on a LN Butt Mortise plane.

Now, did I manage to spell mortise wright?

Variety is not only the spice of life...

Ellis Walentine

>...it is also occasionally the kiss of death. Jim and I used to bicker all the time about how many messageboards to have. My position was and is that when you add variety, you add confusion as to where to post and/or look for messages on a particular topic. I understand the desire for a place where the focus is narrower than "Hand Tools" but I don't predict that it will happen soon. Y'never know...

Whatever you folks do, don't stop suggesting improvements. That's how we evolve.

Ellis

No Noris adjuster on Butt mortise plane...

Paul in NJ

>You give me too much credit. The adjuster is similar to one on a LN low angle block plane, there is no lateral adjustment for the blade. I normally set the adjustment very close to the final depth of the mortise. I found it easier and faster to rough things out with a chisel and use the plane for the final fitting.

Paul Dzioba