A chisel and gouge I made. G.Wilson

[george wilson]

These were made back in the 70's,and aren't very large. These were just something I doped out in a few evenings in the shop because I like making things out of Turkish boxwood. The chisel is 3/32" thick,made from a 6" jointer blade. The cranked neck gouge is made from 01 drill rod.

The mortise chisel was hand pushed. I used it for cutting the narrow mortises in bass wood keyboards for the pins they pivot on. I needed the small cranked gouge for a carving I was making at the time.

The gouge was formed by drilling a deep hole in the 1/4" drill rod,and filing and grinding half of it away.

The handles are Turkish boxwood,turned round,and filed octagonal,a variation of the London pattern handles. I don't know if I'd make them again. I like them,but haven't decided about the raised mouldings near their turned front ends. They are not intrusive on the small sizes of these handles. They were shellacked with Super Blonde shellac. As you can see,shellac does get ground in dirt into it,so now I don't recommend its use. It was available in the shop at the time,so I used it.

The ferrule on one needs to be replaced.

They worked fine,and I used them often in the Musical Instrument Maker's Shop.

[Terry Beadle]

I like that mortice chisel the best. The handles are an interesting design. I'd call them a 3/4 London pattern...what do you call them?

Where did you get the Turkish Boxwood....? Trip to turkey?

[george wilson]

I was just playing around when I made the handles. Not sure what I'd call them.

I got the Turkish boxwood from Unicorn Lumber Co. in Canada in the 70's. The trouble with ordering from Canada is that most of the wood they'd send was not suitable for use. They probably figured they were too far away for me to return it.

[David Weaver]

George - what did you use to drill a hole of that depth with reasonable accuracy?

[george wilson]

David,I used a regular twist drill in the tailstock of a metal lathe. The drill would have to be in good condition to do it. It would also have to be a good quality drill,and not bent. You have to use light pressure,and not push the drill too hard,frequently removing it to clear the chips. It's called pecking. Use cutting oil. Start the hole with a center drill in the lathe,not just a punch mark. If you don't start the hole straight,the hole will get progressively off center.

You are very observant to ask how I drilled that hole,because it is indeed very deep for its diameter. 3/16" hole drilled as deep as I could,allowing a minimum for the tailstock chuck to hold.

When buying a drill bit,even good American brands can be curved. Lay them on the counter,and run them back and forth under your index finger. Look for any wobbling at the ends of the drill. Reject any that wobble. I have seen 1 1/2" diameter good American brand drills drill holes with deep scratches in their sides because they were bent. That's one and one half inch diameter drills. The smaller ones are usually the most inclined to be bent.

[harry strasil]

That's the process I used to make my spoon bits George, then sawed and filed half of it away and forged the end rounded and sharpened.

Jr.