Thread: Show us...the tools you've made

Thank you for the kind words.

Wouldwould a suitable plastic box in the lemon studio may solve your problem

Ian the head of the hammer is a 1/2" "Yorkshire" brass plumbing tee with a small piece of 1/2" bright steel in one side and a piece of brigalow I made into 1/2" dowel and then ebonised, and used in the other side.

Derek I was thinking of making the Moxon vise but thought Jeff Millers design would prove more useful & this has imho proved to be the case.

Regards

Originally Posted by IanW

Answer: All of the above.....

Plus - what else do you do with precious bits of wood that are too small to make tables & chairs from?

Cheers,

That's exactly what I thought too Ian. Don't suppose you have any more of that lovely Lancewood lying around, nudge nudge. A truly beautiful saw handle you've made from that which is most definitely worthy of being classed as tool .
Tom

Here are two tools I have made that can come in quite handy from time to time. Not sure what the name for these is but they are used to check for square in drawers by locking the arms into opposing corners then moving to the oposite corners. If both distances are the same, it is square. They are also handy for checking inside dimensions. With a slight modification they could be set up to do outside corners or dimensions too. The smaller one made of poplar, is about 9 inches closed and 13 inches fully open. The large one just made today is oak and measures about 20 inches closed and 36 inches fulliy open.

A couple of not very flash ones from me: A mallet and a basic Japanese-style marking gauge, both made from some offcuts of English oak. They both seem to work well enough...

Very nice Stu

Good Morning Everyone

I came very late to this thread and am amazed by what some forumites have created. For us basic wood hackers it is aspirational; for the craftsmen it is probably inspirational; Derek is inspired by something Bob made, who is inspired by Ian's work, who likes something done by Basil, and so on. This is one of the great threads, so many ideas, such great design and craftsmanship. A great future resource and reference.

This raises the question as to whether this, and other similar threads, should be hived off into a dedicated forum so we can find articles later. Perhaps headed "Hand Made Tools" or perhaps "Shed Made Tools" or similar. What do others think ??

Cheers

Graeme

Not near as refined and sexy as so many of the amazing tools in this thread you all have made, but never the less I am quite proud of this Moxon vise I made out of bits and pieces I had laying around my shop. It is the first tool I have ever made and even though it may be a bit rough, it works very well...

When I moved into my house last year and started cleaning up the shop the previous owner left in a bit of a state, I came across the threaded rods and 1-5/8ths nuts that he had left on top of a dusty old cabinet. I almost threw them out but decided to hold onto them for some reason, and I am happy i did. The back piece is made of a piece of Alder I was given, and the front is a piece of curly maple I picked up on a deal from a company closing down and moving shop.I got a 12 foot piece for $25.00 and used only 3 feet of it for this project. The handles were made by recessing and sandwiching a nut between two pieces of walnut from a $5.00 short and gluing them together with their grains crossing for strength. Overall I am into this vise for less than $10.00...

Thanks for looking!

Hi all,

well I've wanted a marking knife for a while now, finally got off my backside and made myself one:

Attachment 186238
Attachment 186239

The blade is made from an old HSS hacksaw blade. The handle is made of wood (ok ok, it's scrappius woodiensis, it used to be a bit of a stair gate) with a brass ferrule. Oh, and there's some epoxy holding the blade in.

Not totally elegant, but good enough for a first go. Oh yeah, and it marks lines pretty well.

What d'you reckon?

Philip.

Yep, looks like the goods, Philip, and nothing better than making a useful item from scrap!

Judging from the pic, the bevels look a bit steep to me (around 45 degrees?), but I might be mis-reading it. Don't know what others find, but I like a bevel around 25-30 degrees, which seems to be easier to control than a steep bevel.

Cheers,

Thanks Ian, I'm pretty happy with it as a first attempt, though I think next one, I might use some fancier timber - Tas. Blackwood might look okay.

Originally Posted by IanW

Judging from the pic, the bevels look a bit steep to me (around 45 degrees?), but I might be mis-reading it. Don't know what others find, but I like a bevel around 25-30 degrees, which seems to be easier to control than a steep bevel.
Cheers,

That's a good point, I had no idea what angle I'd made the bevels, I set the grinder rest by eye and went for it. So I just went and checked - they look to be around 30 degrees (I'm using this, which is really meant for a thicker blade, so I'm having to eyeball it a bit) but it's around that region, maybe a shade under 30. So by dead reckoning (or happy coincidence?) I seem to have got it about right.

I've been making a few of my own marking tools lately. Made a few scratch awls too, this one came out alright IMHO:

Attachment 186305

Blackwood for the handle, which I rather like (plus it's free from the firewood pile).

Cheers, Philip.

Very nice Philip - glad to see people still posting here too

Hi all,
Not real elegant but very useable I made this chopper for dicing the leafy waste from the vege garden prior to its going into the compost bins.
I used an old saw blade attached to the sheoak handle by two 1/4" rivets. The handle is about 2" diameter which is easy to grip with my slightly arthritic knuckles.
Just put a short pine plank across the wheelbarrow and chop away.
And the blade sings to you!
Regards,
Geoff.

This is my first post on the forum so finding out what to do. I love all the homemade tools, it is just another area to go into. I have made a pole lathe which isn't really a handtool. Does anyone know where I can find polelathers or green woodworkers on th forum??
Im also getting making a wooden treadle scrollsaw..
Too much fun is to be had.
Laurel

Originally Posted by growmore

Does anyone know where I can find polelathers or green woodworkers on the forum??
Laurel

Hi laurel
Welcome.
Try "Woodworking Forums" then left click on "Woodworking All" on the left hand side then go 2 down to Green Woodworking.
Not sure if I have explained it right.
Good luck
TT