Homemade hand tools

[Timmy]

Yesterday I got a little adventurous, threw caution to the wind and instead of buying some tools, I made my own. I first made a cabinet scraper. I had to clean up the metal a little. After I got the metal almost all nice and shiny I had to make an edge on one side. I slapped a file in a vise and slid the scraper along it laying down. You have to make sure that the scraper to the file is 90° so the it creates burrs on both sides. This is how the scraper works. I got some little shavings while using it on a piece of red oak. I still need to fine tune my scraper, but I’m off to a good start. The dimensions are 5″x3 1/5″. It is right at a millimeter thick which is kind of thick for a scraper. I will see how it works over time.

One tool that I have been wanting for a while is a froe, or also known as a shingle splitter. It is a blade turned upside down with a handle. It is used to split wood, I believe into thinner pieces. Most of the blades I see come in about a 10-15″ length. I had a piece of metal that was about 25″ long. To start making my froe I first had to heat the metal up.

I ended up getting a descent hole for the handle. It isn’t perfectly round, but good enough to get a handle in there. To hold the shape a weld was done to connect the hole to the blade.

Well the fun is just beginning as we cool down the blade and get the rest of the rust off of by using a wire brush. I took it over to the vise and grabbed a grinding wheel and started to shape the blade. After that a coat of black enamel paint was applied to the whole blade to help with rust prevention.

Then came the final stage of making this blade. I let the paint dry and took it back over to the vise, grabbed a file and started getting the blade sharp.

Now I just have to make a handle for it and it will be ready for action.

[MikeH]

Nice job on the tools. One thing to remember is to burnish the edge of the scraper so you get a nice sharp edge on it.

Here are a few links:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/te...arpen_scrapers

http://www.woodsmith.com/files/issue...-a-scraper.pdf

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Repa...ed/i-3416.html

[LeftyTom]

Nice job on the tools. One thing to remember is to burnish the edge of the scraper so you get a nice sharp edge on it.

Here are a few links:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/te...arpen_scrapers

http://www.woodsmith.com/files/issue...-a-scraper.pdf

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Repa...ed/i-3416.html

+100 Nice add-on with the stewmacc link

[Gofor]

Great job.

As for the scraper, the one I use most often is a Lie-Nielsen that is .032" thick, so 1 mm ( .0394") should be fine. Many made from old saw blades are around .040". Mine is 2 1/2" x 6" and I can get a good scraping curve with it. If yours feels too stiff, you may want to reduce the 3 1/2" dimension some.

Looks like all that froe needs is a good hickory or white oak handle and a big beetle to smack it with!! I use a store bought one, but would like one that is thicker at the spine, and deeper for more leverage. Someday I will get around to trying to make one myself, but first I need to build a forge, and then I need some tongs, and then I need .... You get the picture LOL.

The great thing about home-made tools is that you can tailor them to your own preferences.

Go

[jhreed]

My family made their froes from leaf springs from under the car. Only have to cut it to length and sharpen. The spring steel makes a good froe.

[Sealeveler]

Fine looking job there.
Tony

[Timmy]

Thanks for all the comments and tips. I will check out all those websites. I have heard about using the spring steel, maybe I'll give that a try on the next one.