Thread: And nothing gets wasted

Ian Where did you source your brass from? Also, did you turn and knurl the locking screw yourself? Damien.

Originally Posted by goodwoody

Ian Where did you source your brass from? Also, did you turn and knurl the locking screw yourself? Damien.

Damien - I get my brass from George Weston & sons in Carole Park. They have a minimum order of $20, which is a bit of a nuisance if you only want a couple of small bits (though it doesn't take a lot of metal to add up to 20 bucks' worth nowadays!). There are a couple of suppliers who sell brass in various sizes via the web, 'Hobby Mechanics' is one, can't think of the name of the other one I've dealt with atm, but they have similar sizes & prices. They charge a little more, but they don't have a minimum order.

So yes, I turn & knurl my own screws. You could use the brass screws and threaded inserts from LV, or adapt these if you don't have access to a metal lathe. I used to use the LV knurled screws, but their thread is a little coarse, and they need a very firm cinch to lock them down. By making my own screws & inserts, I can use a finer thread, which locks more positively. If you want to try the LV screws, PM me - I have at least one spare left that I'll probably never get around to using, so it's yours for the asking....

Cheers,

Ian, the wear strip is dovetailed into the body? If so, do you mill this or file the angle. Damien.

Originally Posted by goodwoody

Ian, the wear strip is dovetailed into the body? If so, do you mill this or file the angle. Damien.

Hi Damien, yes, the wear-strip is dovetailed in. The groove is made with a router & dovetail bit. I use a 1/4" bit because it's easier to control, & take a few passes to get whatever width is required.

The brass (1/8" plate) is rough-cut with a hacksaw, & filed to fit (how primitive is that?). I don't bother trying to mark out the slope, just eyeball it. As I've said elsewhere, it's amazingly easy to get a near-perfect fit. If the wear strip has to sit across the grain, I pin it with a screw in the centre, If you drive a screw through a slightly tight hole in the brass, cut off the head, and sand flush, it disappears completely. If the strip sits long the grain, I epoxy it in, with a mm proud at each end, which is filed & sanded flush after the glue sets.

I polish the brass parts with buffing compound on a felt wheel, which is a bit of overkill - you can get a nice satin sheen by sanding to 1200 grit, or using some 0000 steel wool...

Cheers,

Lovely work Ian. But what comes next? Surely you must have a use for the wood shavings and brass filings.

Originally Posted by jimbur

Lovely work Ian. But what comes next? Surely you must have a use for the wood shavings and brass filings.

Funny you should say that, Jim. I have saved a tin full of brass filings, in fact, because another forumite likes to mix it with casting resin to make pen blanks. It's been sitting on the shelf for months waiting for me to see if he still wants it....

Haven't found any really good uses for wood shavings other than mixing some of it with the compost.......

ROFL. Mix with compost, use to help grow some trees and the whole cycle starts again.

Originally Posted by IanW

Funny you should say that, Jim. I have saved a tin full of brass filings, in fact, because another forumite likes to mix it with casting resin to make pen blanks. It's been sitting on the shelf for months waiting for me to see if he still wants it....

Haven't found any really good uses for wood shavings other than mixing some of it with the compost.......

Love the gauges, but I think you know that .

The philosophy I adopt with timber, and not all of it is by any means special, is that if I think it is remotely useful and I have the room, I keep it. If I acquire something and need to keep that, but have no room, the least valuable pieces from the supply are hoisted. Consolidated!

I have a number of different sized containers just full of offcuts. I have for instance a box of timber wedges just because they are so useful. When it comes down to the more valuable pieces I'm a little like the pen turners except that I have never made a pen.

When I saw first saw this thread it prompted me to hurry up and finish a little project. I did find a use for some tiny pieces of casuarina oak as below. These damascus style kitchen knives are a kit (from PWS). Only the handles are my work.

I had about twenty pieces of this timber from which to choose. I needed four cheeks for the two knives and only these were either big enough or suitable.

SWMBO reckons that Steptoe has nothing on me as my hoarding fettish is not limited to timber .

I don't throw the wood shavings away. They too are stored for lighting the slow-combustion fire in winter. Loved the concept of the brass filings for the pen turner. Interestingly, maufacturing jeweller's carpets are usually sold secondhand for quite lot of money as they contain significant quantities of gold and silver dust.

Regards
Paul

Really like that paring knife, Paul. There's something very appealing about Damascus steel, & the She-oak complements it beautifully. I would advise you to be careful with water on the She-oak, though, it's not one of those woods that is happy being wet & dried again quickly, but you probably know that already...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Really like that paring knife, Paul. There's something very appealing about Damascus steel, & the She-oak complements it beautifully. I would advise you to be careful with water on the She-oak, though, it's not one of those woods that is happy being wet & dried again quickly, but you probably know that already...

Cheers,

Although I have used this timber for a knife handle before, it was not a kitchen variety and I had'nt realised it is not good with water. I deliberately used a gloss varnish to protect the timber as opposed to an oiled finish, which I generally regard as more subtle and prefferableand also SWMBO knows not to imerse them in water. They are wiped and put away immediately.

I had a choice of marine varnish and conventional (I don't know what else to call it) varnish. I went conventional because apparantly the marine type, while better in wet applications, does not behave well with detergent.

There is certainly a definite appeal to damascus steel. I don't know if it is the look, the Samurai tradition or the performance. Quite probably all three.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

SWMBO reckons that Steptoe has nothing on me as my hoarding fettish is not limited to timber .Regards
Paul

(russian accent) You are my brother!

Originally Posted by pmcgee

(russian accent) You are my brother!

.

Regards
Paul