Make A Tool

it changes everything

It’s probably abundantly clear that I am fascinated by tool making. Once you’ve made a tool, you see everything from a completely different perspective. Luckily, woodworking tools tend to be pretty simple and the knowledge to make a working tool is easily attainable. I think the blade is what stops most people in their tracks, but not having a deep understanding or skill in metal work shouldn’t stop you. When I was working with Kelly Harris on her excellent tapering plane we were looking for solutions the the blade issue. Low and behold, the blades made for Bosch hand held power planers were easily adapted to our need. She has them custom made now, but that has more to do with her needs as a producer than what can be made to work. I have a curved scraper that I believe is a great introduction to making tools. It’s a small scraper plane I made to shape the back of the crests on my Temple Chair (yes, the full plans, video and handbook will be out soon!). This tool is meant to be made fast and ugly, but it cuts like a dream. The blade is just a regular card scraper cut to shape and ground or filed to an edge. The edge doesn’t have to be perfect, just filed sharp.

Even the act of cutting a scraper with a fresh hacksaw blade will open your eyes to the hardness of steel. Yes, it’s tough, but you can saw right through it. Of course, this is because the steel in the scraper isn’t hardened like the steel in a chisel, but once you spend a little time sawing through the stuff, even the steel in your chisels will seem more malleable. A couple of tips for cutting with the hacksaw, use a fresh blade and only use pressure on the down stroke, it only cuts one direction!