Knife Repair

I got this knife to sharpen for a customer-it had sentimental value to him but was very dull and the handle was messed up. Either the leather on the handle shrunk, or a spacer fell off.

I made it a new spacer of brass. It looks nice to me, sort of WWI, but it made the knife back-heavy. If I could have done it again, I probably would have made leather spacers instead, but I am pleased with the result regardless.

It involved milling/filing a thin rectangular hole .75" deep, a bit tricky in itself. The knife was made roughly, so I didn't go all out on finish and precision. That said, the slot is a close slip fit and it only fits on in one direction as the tang is not entirely rectangular in cross section.

Waterstone Holders

I spend a lot of time using waterstones. The work is easier when the stones are securely anchored and the mess is contained. By making these holders for them, they are held firmly and the grit is mostly caught by the tub. I fill the tub with water, so it is heavy and stable. The dados on the holders are all tight press fits, so they don't wiggle. Nothing takes the bounce out of my bungee like a wiggling stone. 😔

One drawback is that the grit from the coarse stones settles down onto other finer stones soaking in the tub. I'll usually fill up two tubs, one for the stones below 1000 grit and one above. On the 'fine' tub, I make more of an effort to keep the water clean. If I am sharpening for myself, I don't worry about it nearly as much.

Below was the first stone holder I made of hickory, about six months ago. I coated it with mineral oil and beeswax. It got soaked and dried constantly for the whole six months, and it held up great!

I wiped it down with oil again. It looks even better than it did new!

11mm Brass Knobs

I will take custom orders for these knobs, see last paragraph in this post for details. From $5.50 to $8.50 per knob

I made 130 of these brass knobs for the wooden boxes and furniture my dad makes. They are 11mm diameter and 11mm tall, or 7/16" if dad measures them, or .435" if I measure them. The faces are lapped to a sharp, even finish. The backs are tapped as deep as I dare with 10-32 threads, finished with a bottoming tap. We secure them to the drawers with stainless button-head hex-drive screws.

I made a plate, held on the tailstock, to dress the faces of the knobs:

Info on ordering these-
Sizes: 1/4" diameter up to 3/4"
Materials: Brass, copper, stainless, open to others
Price: $5.50 ea for smaller brass/stainless knobs up to $8.50 ea for larger ones. Minimum order 12 knobs.
Mounting: Any thread that will fit. Fine pitch is better on small knobs.

Chain Keeper

The chain on my girlfriend's bike keeps falling off the inside of the chainring due to low quality shifters. The front derailleur is adjusted correctly, so I thought a positive mechanical guide for the chain would help. We spent some time in the shop and came up with this:

At the 8-o-clock position, the clamp is relieved to clear the down tube and weld. There is very little space between it and the derailleur clamp.

It is made of hickory--time will tell how it holds up.

I also started turning a bowl on the pole lathe-

If you live in NW Washington and know someone who would be interested in owning this lathe, let me know! I need to find a new home for it.

Stilts

I made stilts for my girlfriend for her birthday. The feet are rounded so they don't splinter. The ledges are made of hickory, rabbeted, screwed, and glued.

Here's a photo of her using them. Maybe I will make her a folding fan next year.

Electronic Leadscrew Control Panel

A year ago I started making an electronic leadscrew for the Taig lathe, which is a leadscrew coupled to a motor. The motor is controlled by a computer of some description. Generally an electronic leadscrew is used on an otherwise manual lathe, to allow threading or automatic feed.

Design goals:

• Keep a simple user interface
• No electronic displays
• Unambiguous if something isn't working as it should
• Intuitive

• Build it well
• Reliable connectors and enclosure

I designed this panel in CAD and paid Ponoko to cut/engrave it out of acrylic.

I'm right handed, so the most used buttons went on the right (9, 10, 11). With the three selector switches (6, 7, 8) and two-digit thumbwheel switches (5), the user can choose just about any metric pitch, any inch pitch, and a wide range of feed rates. Part of the project was a precise limit switch to stop the lathe carriage, indicated by the 'limit' light (3).

You can view the panel components here.

Below is a panel with screw 'holes'. Being laser cut, I also sized the holes differently in case the above panel was too tight/loose.

I mostly abandoned this project after being honest with myself: I hardly ever need to cut single-point threads. For my own purposes, I can usually just use a threading die or modify a screw.

I think it was a good lesson in not buying stuff. Despite the project never being finished, I like what I made.

Power Hacksaw and Wooden Bushings

I rebuilt this Craftsman power hacksaw. It is slow, but quiet and accurate.

Above is the belt tensioning assembly.

Here is the depth stop block and switch flicker. It turns the saw off once it cuts through the material.

I gave the saw to a friend who makes longboards--he will use it for machining.

I also made some lignum vitae bushings on the manual lathe. 3/4" OD. I think they look really cool! Accurate as well, and fun to machine.