Toolmaking

Make Your Own Totes? An Interesting New Veritas Router Bit

Submitted by Leif on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 6:19am



	The Veritas Variable Round-over Bit

Do you make your own totes or tool handles? It is one of the most time and labor intensive parts of toolmaking. I find when making a saw, it probably took as much time to form the handle as it did to make the entire rest of the saw.

Today I see that Veritas, the manufacturing arm of Lee Valley, has come out with a new router bit the likes I haven't encountered before - a variable width round-over router bit. Made specifically for handles, it promises to speed the process greatly...

Lee Valley has also come out with several templates of theirs and classic Stanley plane totes, free for download.

The instructions for the router bit are available here.

Kudos to Veritas. This is the kind of forward thinking and customer oriented design we've come to expect from Lee Valley and Veritas. They are constantly innovating and coming out with tools and products geared towards the hand tool user - and though this technically doesn't count as a hand tool itself, I think I can let that slide by this time.

Marking and Cutting Gauges

Submitted by Leif on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 3:12pm



	*Figure 1.* A freshly made set of marking and cutting gauges, ready for use.

Have you ever had a favorite old tool that you have used absolutely forever, and weren't willing to give it up even though it's worn far past the point of usefulness? I have two such tools - both, unfortunately, happen to be marking gauges. One is an old Stanley #97 wheel marking gauge, the other a Stanley #77 mortise gauge.

This errant devotion to these old tools finally led to frustration when I realized that on the #77, the pins had worn down to the point that there wasn't enough pin left to mark anything with. Over the years I had filed them down to tiny little nubs - there simply wasn't enough of them left to do the job anymore.

Something else - I didn't have a decent cutting gauge, something that I am going to need for my radio cabinet project. Very similar to a marking gauge in construction, they use a knife blade rather than a pin to cut rather than mark the surface, and are often used when cutting veneer parallel to an edge when installing inlay.

I could buy all the gauges I wanted, but getting all I wanted would cost a bit of cash, and the way things are I figured it might be cheaper (and funner!) to make them myself. Besides, I had all this brass stock laying around and also had this one, perfectly quartersawn piece of coco-bolo I have been hording since I found it years ago that was just begging to be used for some small tools just like these.

Recommendations on Sawmakers, Restorers, and Sharpeners

Submitted by Leif on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 7:37pm

Every once in a while I'm asked if I could restore or make a saw for a fellow woodworker. Unfortunately, my current employment situation allows me little time for personal endeavors (like finishing my shop!), much less that for others - so I've had to severely cut back work I do for others.

Gladly, I'm certainly not the only game in town, and my response is invariably to recommend one of the others I know that are in the business. It seems that just a few years ago when I first posted the article about making your own saws, there were only three premium sawmakers with product on the market(perhaps more, it depends on your definition of "premium"). Now - it seems - there are many, many more to choose from. When asked, I usually steer someone towards what I believe would fit them best, and wanted to compile that list in a single location - here, obviously. If I don't mention everyone that's out there, please forgive me - these are only the ones I've had some direct experience with.

Making an Awl and a Marking Knife

Submitted by Leif on Sun, 09/16/2007 - 8:53pm

Two of the most basic tools in a joiner’s toolbox are the lowly awl and marking knife - yet they are often two of the poorest tools, too. I know - I've been suffering with a pair of cheap hardware store awls for years - they are truly useless for marking, though. Thick and heavy, and don't hold a point worth squat. My main marking knife has been a utility knife, too - a poor substitute. Yet these are some of the most important tools to have for fine joinery. I decided it was time for an upgrade...

Experimenting with Etching Artwork onto Steel

Submitted by Leif on Wed, 09/12/2007 - 8:31pm

One of the marks of a quality saw, at least back in the day, was the presence of an etched logo on the blade. These etches were more than the laser-printed logos of today that practically wipe off the first time you use the saw - the etch was an acid process that actually ate into the metal, leaving the logo behind, etched right into the metal.

I have long searched for a economical way to etch a logo into the sides of my saw blades, and here's what I've found - here's my take on one of those logos:

The Artwork

First is to design the artwork. I had several iterations of logos and what-not, but this is the one I finally chose. Here's the original artwork for the logo:

Poor Boy Split Nuts

Submitted by Leif on Wed, 09/12/2007 - 8:26pm

The screws and nuts that hold a saw handle onto its blade are getting to be either hard to find, or are exceedingly expensive. The standard issue nuts from the hardware store are simple plated steel, and are not consistent in length in my experience. The brass split nuts are available, but are limited in supply and quite expensive at about $5 each plus shipping at the time of this writing. I thought to myself that I could make them almost as well using a few simple tools found in most woodworking shops - and then I would be able to claim that the saws I make are made entirely by myself, something I thought would be kind of cool to be able to do.

Toolmaking

Jonathan's "Saw Chops"

Submitted by Leif on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 5:27pm

The following dialogue is taken from portions of email conversations I had with fellow woodworker Jonathan Skipsey, whom I've corresponded with regularly for quite a while now. These particular quotes are in relation to a discussion we carried on concerning saw vises - Jonathan had seen field built vises and was considering making one for himself. I thought it might be of help to others, so asked if I could add it here.

Also, these plans are along the same lines as some saw grip plans offered up on Alice Frampton's "Cornish Workshop" web site, specifically located here: A Saw Grip for Sharpening - please review those plans as well.

Recycling an Old Hand Saw

Submitted by Leif on Wed, 08/29/2007 - 2:49am

COMMENT ADDED 7-08-04 - This was an incredibly fun project to do - I would highly encourage any fan of old saws to tackle making some of their own! It was so much fun, I've gone and bought myself a whole gaggle of old saws that I can mine for steel and saw nuts....

: Note: Notes formatted in this fashion were made later. in hindsight when I had a chance to reflect back on what had gone right or wrong. I thought it would serve both myself and anyone else reading this better to learn from my mistakes and comment on them, than just to pass over them. This seems like the easiest way to accomplish that.

Toolmaking

Making a Veneer Hammer

Submitted by Leif on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 5:51pm

One of the most basic tools used in veneering is a veneering hammer. These are used not like a hammer, but more like a squeegee - pressing the veneer down into place using back and forth and zig-zag motions. These also work best when using traditional hot hide glue, as it is sticky enough to hold down the veneer, where aliphatic resin glues will not always do so. I won't get into big detail on the process here, but generally you first coat the substrate then the veneer, and press the veneer into place with the hammer. Some methods of hammer veneering also have you coating the top (exposed) part of the veneer - the glue on top of the veneer helps to lubricate the hammer and stabilize the veneer so it doesn't warp.

You can purchase a veneer hammer, also - but they are so easy to make, I thought it would be fun to do...

Dimensions.

Toolmaking

Riveted Split Nut Screwdrivers and Carving / Marking Knives

Submitted by Leif on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 8:37pm

Here is a version of a split nut screwdriver appropriate for most classic split nuts, using a thin blade at its core. Thinner steels are not very well suited when using a tang to hold it in the handle. A better method for thinner steels is to rivet the two sides of a handle (or scales, as they are known to knife makers and blade smiths) onto each side of a blade that runs its full length, like the wooden scales on a steak knife.

Now, I am no master blade smith (more like a bleating novice, to tell the truth), so may commit a great deal of heresy to those schooled in that discipline. If you are one of those, look away now! My main focus for doing this is to show a simple and economic way of constructing simple tools in a wood shop, with tools available to most woodworkers.