Some new work... *PICS*

I mind

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native now in Jax Fl.

>Leif,

Dang it all, you caused me to drool all over my keyboard! I really Love that etch and all of your work. Truly inspiring. What did your blades start life out as?

Todd O.

Re: I mind

L. Hanson

>Thanks, Todd...

The steel started out as 1095 tempered blue spring steel from McMaster Carr...

Leif

www.norsewoodsmith.com

Re: I mind

Alan Turner

>Leif,

Beautiful work, as always. I have a question on the steel. I went to McMaster's website just to look at what you were using, and it seems that this steel is pretty well priced. Do you use your offcuts as cabinet scrapers? A length of .020" would make scrapers at a cost of about $1.50 each. This is just a thought as I am not in the tool selling business. I do use old saw blades, which are thicker, for scrach stock blanks, when I can buy them for a buck or so, and so my mind just wandered a bit. Any comments?

Closeup needed

Adam Cherubini

>Leif,

Can we get a close up of the etch? And how do you do that again? I thought I remeber seeing a real beauty on your website.

Adam

Re: Excellent work

John in NM

>And thats quite a web site you got there too. I can see I'm going to spend a lot of time reading through it all.

Man do those handles look comfy!

John

Re: Some new work... *PICS*

Derek Cohen (in Perth Australia)

>Wonderful work yet again Leif. I particularly like the contrasts between the sap- and heart woods.

Between you and Mike, the bar keeps getting raised a few more knotches.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Wandering OT - beading stock

Bill Houghton, might be Spring in Sebastopol, CA

>I've got a Stanley No. 66 hand beader that came with one blade. Would this stock also be suitable for making beader stock? Is it spring tempered, or annealed, as delivered?

Re: I mind

L. Hanson

>Alan,

I'm afraid I'm entirely too cheap to actually have much in the order of offcuts!!! I tend to use every square inch of steel I buy. However - the steel would be a good choice for scrapers, and is available in a good many different thicknesses. The .020" stuff would make good finish scrapers, but is a little thin for heavy duty work.. I think I would get something more on the order of .035" - .040" for a good general purpose scraper.

I too use old sawblades for scrapers and many other things - I have a stack of old cut-up blades I dig into whenever I need a small scraper or piece of steel for some other purpose - just the other day I fixed a piece the pivot on the arms of my magnifying lamp with a chunk of old sawblade...

HTH

Leif

www.norsewoodsmith.com

Re: Wandering OT - beading stock

L. Hanson

>It would make great beading stock - it comes tempered to Rc 51 or so... The thinner stuff used in a dovetail saw might be a bit of a stretch for larger beads, where an old sawblade or something thicker would be better - but it would still work, I'm sure... See my post above for more rambling...

Leif

www.norsewoodsmith.com

Re: Closeup needed

L. Hanson

>Adam,

Here's a close-up of one of them from earlier in the process:

Another photo:

Here's a link to how I did the etch:

Experimenting With Etching

The etches don't always look as black as they are in those photos... So right now I'm experimenting with a home-built electro-etcher to see how it works... Currently I keep blowing fuses, so there's still more work to be done there... I don't know much about electronics, so it's a real challenge!

Leif

www.norsewoodsmith.com

Re: Some new work... *PICS*

Richard A. Gillespie, Jr.

>Beautiful work. Like Todd O., I'm now trying to bail out my key board.

Re: Some new work...

Dave Thompson

>Beautiful work Leif both in the tools and the website. Very nice handles. Nice of you to take the time to share in such detail how you make the tools you have.

Re: Closeup needed

Adam Cherubini

>That's awesome thanks. I especially like it when folks say stuff like: "this wasn't quite as easy as I expected...". I'm really glad you stuck with it and found a solution. The finished product looks just great.

Adam

I'm happy to see this...

John K in Hastings, MN

>because that means my set is coming up soon! I'm getting a 10" open handled and 12" closed handled saw in cocobolo.

Re: Wandering OT - beading stock

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Lie-Nielsen #66 beader blades will work just fine in a Stanley. They are also quite a bit thicker than the Stanleys, for less chatter, and a bit harder, too, for better edge retention.

I know that

Bill Houghton, might be Spring in Sebastopol, CA

>I was looking for lower-cost alternatives - though it's obviously higher in labor cost to buy the stock and whittle my own.

Re: You might try an old metal cutting BS blade...

John in NM

>A bit thin perhaps, but often free if you can find a steel fabricator that uses a big DoAll or Ellis horizontal band saw. Blades break pretty often, or just get dull, so there's usually one in the trash. I've used them for scratch stocks, but never a 66 replacement.

Just a thought,

John

Re: Wandering OT - beading stock

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Bill,

The blades from a Woodmizer bandsaw mill are thicker than typical bandsaw blade and work fine for stock for making beaders or scratch stocks. Maybe there is a sawyer in your area that has an old worn out blade that could be a donor for your tools.

Another option is two man crosscut saws, I have used material from one of them for scraper stock and for a chair devil. They are considerably thicker than a handsaw blade and soft enough to work with a file.

Jim

Re: Wandering OT - beading stock

mikew

>Hi Bill,

Like Leif mentions, handsaw blades make good bead/scratch stock material. A $1 handsaw from a garage sale would net you many, many pieces for making your own profiles.

Take care, Mike

Re: scratch blade stock material

paul womack

>I've had good results using old power saw circular blades.

If you get the old carbon steel ones (not carbide tipped), it's about the right temper and thickness. The larger blades tend to be thicker, so there's a good range to choose from.

And rusty, blunt circular saw blades come cheap at yard sales (&c).

On a different note I deliberately used a 10", and rather thick, circular saw blade as stock for some tiny dovetail checking try-squares I made.

I gave one to Alice

BugBear

Re: Wandering OT - beading stock

Alice Frampton, UK

>Illegible steel rules are another source.

Cheers, Alf

I almost asked...

John in NM

>what are the rules concerning illegible steel. But then it clicked. Funny how the brain works, or doesn't on occasion.

John

Just after I posted...

Alice Frampton, UK

>... I did wonder if brevity wasn't going to lead to confusion instead of clarity :~)

Cheers, Alf

Re: Wandering OT - beading stock

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I thought they were washer stock.