Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Make special purpose homemade tools from allen keys - DIY














Tools and materials I propose:



In this video I show you how I made a few special woodturning tools. This way you save money and get the satisfaction of making your own tools. 

In the past I have made several homemade tools. And believe me, you save money and get the joy of making your own tools.

To make tools you will need tool steel. You can use old files, chisels, saw blades, drill bits and the list goes on. 

For this project I used allen keys, to make a few special purpose wood turning tools.

First  of all I flatten two sides on the belt sander.

Once in a while I dip the tool in water to cool it down. You don’t want to burn the tool, and loose it’s hardness.

Next I grinded the bevel of the tool. I wanted something close to a scraper.

Once I set the angle on my grinder’s base, I begun grinding the bevel.

When you see sparkles flying over the bevel, you are almost there. Then I used a flat sharpening stone to clean the burr.

To make handles for my tools, I used iroko wood. Iroko is a beautiful hard wood, but it’s toxic. So using a respirator is a must!

Next I found my centers and removed as much material as I could on the bandsaw. This way I saved quite some time on the lathe. 

I turned the handles on the lathe. I then cut pieces of tubes and glued them on the handles with 5 minute epoxy.

When the epoxy dried, I sanded the handles flush on the belt sander.

I wanted the steel part to fit snuggly. So I sanded it until it fitted perfectly.

Finally I glued the steel in the handle with 5 minute epoxy again.

I finished the handles with 3 coats of spray lacquer. To speed up the drying process I used my heat gun.

Finally I buffed the handles on my buffing wheels to make them feel nice in my hands.

If you need tools for a special project, chances are you won’t use them so often. So making your own tools is cheaper and also gives you the satisfaction of creating something unique!

I hope you enjoyed that project, see you soon with a new project video!


Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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