Thanks: 0
Likes: 0
Needs Pictures: 0
Picture(s) thanks: 0
Results 1 to 12 of 12
Thread: Re-designed scratch-awl
-
15th December 2010, 03:30 PM #1
Re-designed scratch-awl
I was sorting out scraps of this & that which have accumulated, on, under & over various benches during the last years or so, deciding which to keep, & which to finally get rid of. As I was about to drop a worn out 6"DEST file in the bin, the mean side of me insisted there MUST be a use for it.
The long tapered shape suggested scratch-awl, and it occurred to me that the triangular shape might be more useful than the round taper normally used. So here is my impromptu re-interpretation of a scratch-awl. With the the teeth lightly ground off, and a bit of shaping, I have a flat side to run against an edge, and a diamond point like a marking knife.
The bits of brass are small scraps that were almost too small for the lathe chuck to hold, but after a small amount of head-scratching, I came up with this solution - 3 bits threaded together to make a holder for the tang of the file, which is lightly silver-soldered in place.
The wood is a scrap of ring-gidgee, which has taken on a very nice sheen under some U-beaut Shellawax.
It seems to work well, though I may need to flatten the back a bit more to fit into fine dovetail slots, but so far, I'm quite pleased with my rescued bits. I've dashed off a note to the patent office.......
Cheers,IW
-
15th December 2010 03:30 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
- Join Date
- Always
- Location
- Advertising world
- Age
- 2010
- Posts
- Many
-
15th December 2010, 05:35 PM #2
I wish my scraps were as useful as that
Nicely done Ian
-
15th December 2010, 05:36 PM #3Hewer of wood
- Join Date
- Jan 2002
- Location
- Melbourne, Aus.
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 12,746
Lovely result.
A vindication of 'never throw anything out, you never know what it'll come in handy for'!Cheers, Ern
-
15th December 2010, 06:01 PM #4
That's a sweet looking little tool.
.
I know you believe you understand what you think I wrote, but I'm not sure you realize that what you just read is not what I meant.
Regards, Woodwould.
-
15th December 2010, 07:14 PM #5
Very clever use of what would have been rubbish.
Cheers steve
-
16th December 2010, 09:49 AM #6Senior Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2010
- Location
- Adelaide
- Posts
- 191
Hi Ian,
Did you turn up the brass you used there on a lathe? Looks great, just wondering how the file is secured in?
I imagine it's similar to the one I have at home (the file that is) designed to fit a standard(ish) file handle, along with a dozen other files that can use the same handle...
Cheers
-
16th December 2010, 10:37 AM #7
Hi Simon - yes, I now have a mini metal lathe, which I used to make the fittings, but I have turned similar simple things from brass on the wood lathe. It's not that hard if you take it slowly & use the right-shaped tools. The tang of the file was shortened & rounded a bit on the grinder, then lightly silver-soldered into a matching hole drilled into the brass spigot.
Yes, you could use any sort of handle you had - this was just a way of using some scraps constructively (and wasting an hour that should have been spent cutting the grass! )
Cheers,IW
-
16th December 2010, 02:55 PM #8gravity is my co-pilot
- Join Date
- Apr 2010
- Location
- Melbourne
- Posts
- 562
very pretty!
-
19th December 2010, 10:10 AM #9
Very nice bit of recycling - point of interest, a triangular tool like this is actually called a Birdcage awl.
Very useful for amending the position of a small hole if it's slightly 'out' or boring small holes like for Birdcage wires.Dragonfly
No-one suspects the dragonfly!
-
19th December 2010, 03:18 PM #10
Thanks dr4gOnfly - actually it's not that kind of awl, it is definitely meant for scribing, and although I suppose I could use it as a birdcage awl at a pinch, the way I've formed the point & rounded over the edges mean it would'nt do a very good job in that role.
I already have a 'birdcage' awl, but it's not a particulary effective one, so maybe the next worn-out file will have another life as an 'improved' version of that....
Cheers,IW
-
26th December 2010, 10:35 PM #11furn maker
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
- Location
- australia
- Posts
- 115
awl
nice, looks good, maybe the top brass nut projects too much though, in use it may not fit in the hand smoothly
what you think
-
27th December 2010, 09:30 AM #12
mrmoon - funny you should say that. I decided the brass knob just didn't look right, too, so I filed & sanded it down a bit to get rid of the extra decoration & repolished the top. It looks better, & feels quite comfortable in the hand. I gave it a good workout over the weekend marking out dovetail pins from the tails (which is what I wanted it for). Although I had rounded the edges, I had to do a bit more work on them to stop it cutting into the egde I was marking from. It's now functioning as intended.
Not sure it is all that radical an improvement on the simpler tool it replaces (made from an old 1/8" chaisaw file tapered on the grinder) but it's got more brass on it, so it MUST be better......
Cheers,IW
Similar Threads
-
Designed a bookcase - how do I Proceed?
By Razorwire88 in forum WOODWORK - GENERALReplies: 4Last Post: 22nd November 2010, 10:34 AM -
Who designed this Shaper
By Col2310 in forum METALWORK FORUMReplies: 3Last Post: 20th May 2010, 09:10 PM -
Rowley-designed Lathe Bench
By Kerry Blue in forum WOODTURNING - GENERALReplies: 9Last Post: 21st August 2009, 01:17 PM -
stars and dots designed box
By jow104 in forum BOX MAKINGReplies: 17Last Post: 7th July 2009, 06:12 PM -
Tool wear from non designed use
By Burnsy in forum HAND TOOLS - POWEREDReplies: 6Last Post: 1st August 2007, 10:14 AM