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Yesterday, I made a couple of screwdriver blades (if that's the right word).

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A lot of the old Stanley planes have slotted (yuck) screws (e.g. the fence and depth stop screws as well as the "nicker" screw on the #45 shown in the photo). I currently tend to get a screwdriver bit holder handle and then rummage around for a bit that's the right size. I've got some bigger Wiha heavy-duty screwdrivers that would do the job too, but I wanted something fairly short and dedicated to dealing with old-fashioned woodworking tools. These two are sized to suit the screws on the #45 but they seem to fit quite a few others as well).

Starting with a couple of bits of silver steel, I ground these to shape on the bench grinder, filed a flat on the shank (to help some epoxy bind them into their handles) and then hardened to cherry red and tempered to purpley-blue (as per the recommendations for screwdrivers in the little book I use for reference). I then gave them a good clean up with wet and dry paper.

Today I turned a couple of handles for them:

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Very nice.
Making your own always worth considering making the very tip parallel, reduces the chances of it camming out.
 
Very nice.
Thanks
Making your own always worth considering making the very tip parallel, reduces the chances of it camming out.
Yes, I did that: the tips are hollow ground which (assuming it's ground with the bit near the tip on a tangent to the grinding wheel, which I was careful to do) has the effect of making the tip parallel.
 
I made one of these a few months ago using some wet Birch (1st pic) which warped a little into a more organic shape when it dried.
I enjoyed making it and I decide to have another go but using some dry Walnut to see how it turned out. I'm happy with the result but at around 40 hours each I think that's enough.

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I agree: stunning. I can't begin to imagine how you start something like that let alone how you get to finish it without breaking. What technique do you use? Is it carved from solid?
 
I made one of these a few months ago using some wet Birch (1st pic) which warped a little into a more organic shape when it dried.
I enjoyed making it and I decide to have another go but using some dry Walnut to see how it turned out. I'm happy with the result but at around 40 hours each I think that's enough.

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Did I see these in a woodturning magazine? Someone at my local clubs open day had also made one, not as nice as yours though
 
Well, made myself a new mini hi-vise, hand tool only build.

Like a leg vise but sticks up above the bench.
This one has a built in clamp or can, optionally, fit in a face vise.

Yes I know it's a vice, but I use vise to avoid confusing Americans.
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I agree: stunning. I can't begin to imagine how you start something like that let alone how you get to finish it without breaking. What technique do you use? Is it carved from solid?
Thanks, it starts as a solid piece and I turn the outside shape and drill through the centre. I mark it up into 9 sections then I use a dremel to do the carving followed by a lifetime of sanding!

Did I see these in a woodturning magazine? Someone at my local clubs open day had also made one, not as nice as yours though
Possibly, the original design I have pinched from a french sculptor called Alain Mailland - here's a video of his process.

 
Thanks, it starts as a solid piece and I turn the outside shape and drill through the centre. I mark it up into 9 sections then I use a dremel to do the carving followed by a lifetime of sanding!
Hell of a lot of work then, looks great, but I can see why you don't want to make too many more :D
 
Well, made myself a new mini hi-vise, hand tool only build.

Like a leg vise but sticks up above the bench.
This one has a built in clamp or can, optionally, fit in a face vise.

Yes I know it's a vice, but I use vise to avoid confusing Americans.
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I can see a lot of work went into that. Looks like it would be great for sharpening saws. Older you get the more a raised up vice becomes a good thing to have.
Regards
John
 
I can see a lot of work went into that. Looks like it would be great for sharpening saws. Older you get the more a raised up vice becomes a good thing to have.
Regards
John
Thanks John, this one is more for shaping parts, made a prototype out of construction lumber about a year ago that has been in pretty constant use, so I figured it was time to make a decent one.

The mini one doesn't have the depth for a saw vise.
The full size one does though.
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This is the drawers I was rabbitting on about in another thread. I actually started making them 2 years ago, made the bottom 2 fronts a few days ago. Been levelling the wonky drawers - it was originally supposed to be quick and rough! Oh well. So some of those drawers have been used as shelves for a long time. You can see the there's still a couple of fronts to do at the top. Wonder how long that will take me!
The carcass is made from 1/4" ply reclaimed from some divan bed drawers, the hardboard bottoms and back rescued from some different divan bed drawers. The runners are offcuts from the pallet wood I was using to make my (still unfinished) long heavy bench.
I used router upside down with a dovetail bit to cut shaped slots and edges so the bottoms could be a bit more secure. Worked reasonably well.
Cutting 3mm+ slots in the backs of the fronts was an interesting process using (abusing) my press drill!
 

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I made one of these a few months ago using some wet Birch (1st pic) which warped a little into a more organic shape when it dried.
I enjoyed making it and I decide to have another go but using some dry Walnut to see how it turned out. I'm happy with the result but at around 40 hours each I think that's enough.
They are gorgeous! Are they art pieces or do they also have a function?
 
I think this is the first thing I made that didn’t go wrong in any way. I found a plane in an emporium of sorts:

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I was obviously having an off day. I thought, “Ooh a No 5 for only £10. Yes please.” I think I knew something wasn’t quite right…
I cleaned and polished the sole and sharpened the blade. It still didn’t feel right in the hand… D’oh!
My friend Bob encouraged from afar and lathed me up a new threaded rod (original bent) and front screw (MIA) out of steel and brass respectively. He said the calculations needed for the gearing to cut the odd imperial thread nearly did for him. I worked out the angles, drilled the through hole vertically and then cut off the calculated triangle. Amazingly, it fitted:

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I think I did OK shaping it. I’m used to this from making knife handles. Rasps and dowel wrapped with sandpaper did the trick along with final hand sanding. A bit of oil and done.

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I am impressed with it in use. It is the first larger plane I have used. Bob was helpful in sharpening advice. I’ll be using it tomorrow on the current project, a hedgehog hotel.
 
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This pencil-case sized box is my take on a Japanese toolbox. The toolboxes are typically made with extremely simple construction, relying on nails to hold everything together. I didn't want to use nails as I was more interested in practising joinery techniques.

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The lighter coloured wood is ash (which had a lot of changing grain direction and was pain to plane); the darker wood is wenge, which was very nice to work with. The (4 mm diameter) dowels were made using my home-made wood turning lathe and a dowel plate.

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I wrote up the process of building the box as I went along; you can read all about it on the 12-page build log.
 
Not a wooden thing but I couldn't find my favourite old Japanese marking knife so I made one instead of tidying the workshop. Used a worn out flat Stihl chainsaw file. Probably took me 45mins but in all honestly I prefer it to the lost one. It's a nice size, takes a great edge and the texture makes it perfect to hold.
 

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