My awl for you.....

[Michael Stafford]

A while back some of my internet friends contributed some pen blanks and some other wood to a project I have been working on with my son. I promised many of them a project in return.

The two attached pictures show some awls I made for them. Besides the wood the awls are made with 3/16"X6" drill bits and 3/16" brass compression nuts.

The first picture shows from left to right: 2 redwood burl, 2 claro walnut, 3 honey mesquite, 2 skolgo, and one cherry burl I made for myself.... ;)

The second picture shows from left to right: 2 Bolivian rosewood (morado), 2 olivewood, 1 curly maple, 1 cocobolo, 2 quilted bubinga, and 1 koa. Most of these woods I got from my good friend Rodger Barrows at East Wake Hardwoods.



Skolgo: some kind of local grown oak.... :p :)

[Mark Singer]

I love them awl:confused:

[Ernie Nyvall]

Those look great Mike. Your friends will be very pleased.

Ernie

[Jerry Clark]

You AWL a great turner! :cool: Those are really great.:)

[Dick Parr]

They are Awl beautiful Mike. ;)

Glad I got the Curly Maple one. :D

Thanks Again. :rolleyes:

[Rick Simmons]

Very nice indeed!

[Keith Burns]

Those are really great. You can send one my way if you have a spare. Thanks for sharing.

"I'm tired of being arm candy for my wife."

[Rick Simmons]

The LOML said if you were from the South like us you would've titled your post:
"Here Are Some Awls for Y'all's".:D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Awl Right! Those look great!

[Andrew Alexander]

Mike...very nice awls indeed!!...would you mind sharing your finishing technique and maybe the secret source for the compression nuts?...would the oak be what we commonly call 'scrub oak' in these parts?...keep up the excellent turnings..

Thanks
Andrew

[Michael Stafford]

Andrew, indeed the oak could be scrub oak but I think it is actually some white oak. The compression nuts are available from auto and plumbing supply houses but I bought most of them from McMaster-Carr this time around. These are fun to make.... :D

[Keith Hooks]

Michael, those are really beautiful. Did I read that you make the pokey parts from drill bits? How'd you do that?

[Michael Stafford]

Thanks Keith! Yep the pokey part is indeed made from a drill bit. I use a 6" long bit.

I used my belt sander to grind down the shaft end of the bit while keeping it constantly rotating and making sure it did not get too hot. Once I had a nice sharp point on it I chucked the fluted end in the drill press and sanded the part sticking out until it was a nice and smooth and shiny.

Then I mixed up some 5 minute epoxy, rolled the fluted end in that and inserted it in the turned handle. And voila a finished awl! Not that hard really... I like making small tools like this.... :)

[Mike Ramsey]

I am Awl-struck, Awl-inspired, Shock & Awl-ed, but they are not Awl-ful! :D Great job Michael!!

[Jim Becker]

To my eye(s), those look great, Big Mike!!! Nice job and I like the visual effect that the compression nuts add and suspect they make a fine place to put the fingers for fine placment of the point.

[Andrew Alexander]

Mike...could not find compression nut in McMasters can you provide a linky....also what finish did you use on the wood??...thanks for the info

[Michael Stafford]

Andrew I do not know how to construct a link. The nuts I am referring to are on page 126. They come in two length and I use both equally well.

The finish is a mixture of BLO, tung oil and varnish one part each thinned with two parts mineral spirits applied on the lathe and buffed dry.

Andrew, I figured out how to create a link:

http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagenum=126

[Andrew Alexander]

Mike...thanks so much for sharing the information!!