David DeCristoforo
08-19-2010, 9:06 PM
I "needed a few things" and thought I'd take a shot at making them. (Look out Jeff and Randy... there's a new kid on the block!) The first is a small roundnose tool for getting into those tiny coves with. It's made from a reground star bit, the kind that are used for bashing holes in stone by beating on them with a five pound single jack as they are rotated by hand. Kind of the ancestor of the rotohammer. No specs on the steel but I can tell you it's a hella hard piece of steel. Took a long time to grind it because I didn't want to overheat it so it spent most of the time in a bucket of water. The shank is hex shaped so I also rounder the bottom "point" so it would roll on the tool rest.
158920158921
The second is a thin skew. My smallest skew is a quarter of an inch thick and too fat to roll into tight areas. This one was only an eighth thick and I thinned it down on the end to 3/32". Still need to regrind the bevel but I'm waiting for a wheel dresser I ordered to arrive first. I also ground the width down to around half an inch. You might wonder why I ground away the bottom of the steel which is the part that usually rides on the tool rest. I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this but the skew made absolutely no sense to me until I turned it upside down. Then, suddenly, I could make it roll just fine. So that's how I use it. I figure if Jimi Hendrix could play his guitar upside down, I can use my skew that way....
158922
Handles are cherry with bronze ferrules.
158920158921
The second is a thin skew. My smallest skew is a quarter of an inch thick and too fat to roll into tight areas. This one was only an eighth thick and I thinned it down on the end to 3/32". Still need to regrind the bevel but I'm waiting for a wheel dresser I ordered to arrive first. I also ground the width down to around half an inch. You might wonder why I ground away the bottom of the steel which is the part that usually rides on the tool rest. I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this but the skew made absolutely no sense to me until I turned it upside down. Then, suddenly, I could make it roll just fine. So that's how I use it. I figure if Jimi Hendrix could play his guitar upside down, I can use my skew that way....
158922
Handles are cherry with bronze ferrules.