Make Stuff With Your Hands

Bird on a wire, well, technically – a string…

Jim — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:12:24 +0000

I haven’t been able to get into the shop for a bit now but today, I had a few minutes to make something for a little one:

This one is mulberry wood on a cherry base with maple wheels – an old button to pull it with.

Happy making,

Jim

Wooden Arrow Shaft Making Jig

Jim — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:39:36 +0000

Someone asked if I would show my arrow shaft making jig today, so here it is:

I start by milling the wood that I am using to 3/8″ by 3/8″ by about 3′.

Here are some milled shafts with a square blank in the center.

The jig itself is a straightened piece of hardwood (anything will do probably) with small blocks affixed to the side with screws. I drilled through the center of each block and lined them with bronze bushing parts that I found at my local hardware store.

On my router, I replaced the base plate with a 3/8″ thick piece of Lexan. I drilled a hole in it and I drive a machine screw through to affix the arrow shaft jig to the base (In the previous picture, you can see I used a wing nut to tighten the machine screw) :

This machine screw is really critical. It allows me to pivot the base of the jig closer or further from the router bit. This allows me to fine tune the jig to get the exact thickness of shaft that I need for the arrows I am making.

I run a few test pieces through, pivoting the jig back and forth until I get the precise thickness I want. Once it is just right, I clamp the jig to my router table tightly:

Using a round over bit, I run all the shafts through. The line of bronze bushings is there to keep the shaft from whipping around as it spins at high speeds. Without these, things get kind of emotional. Ask me how I know…

I use a 3/8″ allen wrench head socket bit in my electric drill to hold my square stock. I chuck it into the drill backwards, with the allen wrench bit in the drill, and put the square stock into the socket end. This works just great to spin the square stock across the moving router bit:

All this allows me to make traditional archery wooden arrows from hardwoods that are difficult to find or just really expensive.

Here are a few from this jig:

Happy Making,

Jim

Old fashioned Wooden Tops

Jim — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:16:24 +0000

A friend found me a great used lathe recently. I was able to get it set up and work up a couple of new tops.

Happy Making,

Jim

Making a fixed blade pocket knife in O1 and micarta for every day carry

Jim — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:15:32 +0000

I got to spend a great day with my dad making knives. I have been interested lately in having a fixed blade pocket knife so, I put together this pattern and we each made the same knife.

Here is how mine turned out:

It is sized like a neck knife, but I specifically designed it to be carried as an EDC (every day carry) pocket knife.

And here it is in its sheath. I made the sheath with the Loveless style cam so it makes a great ‘snap’ when you put it away.

It is comfortable in my front pocket or the leg pocket in my work pants.

Happy Making,
Jim

Two Bob Loveless Style Hunters in 01

Jim — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 03:35:55 +0000

I plan to make this a set of three knives. I have two roughed out and plan to cut the third in a similar style to the Loveless chute knife.

Here is how far I got tonight.

These are in 01 steel.

Happy making,

Jim

Making a drop point hunting knife

Jim — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:03:24 +0000

I am starting work on a set of three hunting knives all based on Bob Dozier Patterns which are based on Bob Loveless patterns.

Here is your treat for tonight, the first patten:

If you make knives or are interested in making knives, go get a copy of ‘Knifemaking with Bob Loveless‘ right now and read it. This book is a good one.

Happy making,

Jim

The Finished Dagger

Jim — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:31:32 +0000

I finished the dagger today!

Making a two edged knife was a bit of a stretch for me but I am really pleased with how it turned out. It has a 5.5″ blade length and 10″ OAL. It is made out of 1095 steel. The fittings are hammered bronze.

The pommel is heavy and almost 3/4″ at its thickest. Having the weight there offsets the weight of the blade and makes the knife feel agile in your hand.

Because this was a gift, my friend gave me a silver coin so the knife would not cut our friendship. I expected a nickel but instead I got this beautiful solid silver handmade Baron Guglielmo Bardicci coin!

This was a great project. Next up, hunting knives.

Happy Making,

Jim

Making a knifemaking file guide for for two dollars

Jim — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:51:03 +0000

For my current dagger project, I am worried about getting the plunge lines straight and equal; that and the edges of the ricasso where they meet the guard. I have known about file guides for a while but have a hard time spending fifty dollars to get one. Or even $150 to get the really nice carbide faced one from Uncle Al’s.

Here is one I made last night in the shop.

The most expensive parts on this jig were the bolts. Two of them for $0.98. The rest is scrap from around the shop. I spent a couple hours getting it together.

The jaws are O-1. The guide rods were scrap 3/8″ rod stock. I drilled four holes and tapped two opposing holes in each piece. I checked that everything was ground flat, square, and parallel as I could get by hand. I don’t have a mill. I hardened with straight soybean oil from the grocery store. I just barely tempered the O-1 (350 for an hour). I wanted to leave the face hard so files will not wear thorough them.

These are not as pretty as store bought but I think they will work just fine.

Oh Happy Dagger…

Jim — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:34:48 +0000

Making a dagger from a file.

A friend had this blank for years. It was started by his pal. He told me that he wanted to make or have it made into a finished dagger so he can return it to its original creator as a surprise. Maybe there is a little romance in the fact that he has carried it around all this time. I get sentimentally attached to objects myself, so this project interested me.

I’m all in when I think there is a little history or romance in a project. I spent a little quiet time with it last night and here is where we got:

The blank was still hard as diamonds when I got it, so it went in the forge and got annealed. After, I ground the sides flat just enough to put the purple layout dye on it, scribe a center line, and begin to layout the tang.

More to come soon as I can get back into the shop.

Happy Making,

Jim

Reworking a Swiss Army Knife – EDC folder rework

Jim — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:10:56 +0000

I love the blade on the Victorinox florist knife. It has a great shape for what I need in my EDC. I do wish though, that it was a little more sturdily constructed.

This weekend, I set out to remedy this issue.

Here is my trusty apple slicer:

You can see that it is well loved! Well, I loved it so much that I felt the need to grind the pins out and take it apart

This knife is really well thought out and well made but I wanted it to be a bit heavier. Also, I am really surprised that they do not put a half stop in the blade. A half stop makes the blade pause at 90 degrees when you are closing it. A nice thing if your fingers might be in the way!

Here are the new brass liners (to replace the light aluminum ones that came on the knife), red liner material, and micarta scale blanks I planned to put on this lovely knife. I also ground a flat on the end of a blade to make that half stop I was wishing Victorinox would have done for me.

A little time passes (internet magic and epoxy…) and here is the spine:

And here it is, sitting so safely at that hoped for half stop:

My knife now has the heft and safety features I was hoping for. My lunch apples are very nervous!

Happy Making,

Jim