Not sure what group to put this in yet. Anyone have any experience with making a modeling tool such as these? I have done some rudimentary experiments at home with less than ideal equipment.
General idea is to pound out 3mm stainless steel into the general shape then take to a grinder to shape, then polish. Am I missing anything? I heated up a few stainless bolts with my kitchen torch. Seemed to work okay. I just need better equipment to use and an anvil that doesn’t move when you hit it.
I am not checked out in with the Blacksmithing tools or metalshop yet. Should I be?
Thanks for the help.
Mark
I’ve made petal lifters for leatherworking. Pretty much the same thing with a different handle.
I’ve used small diameter carriage bolts with the head and threads cut off and straightened garage door springs. Handle is turned from a cedar branch from yard trimming.
The metal was ground on a belt sander, then heated with a torch and oil quenched, then tempered back with a torch to a straw color. Sanded with sandpaper to remove the temper colors/soot from quenching.
If you want to get a tapered point, I recommend putting the metal into a cordless drill chuck and spinning it while sanding.
Interesting. I am making these for leather work. I’m not tracking on the use of the drill for these. If I was making awl or something that makes complete sense. With the thin, flattened edge would a drill still help on that point? I may just try it and see how that works. Maybe it’s early and my brain is tracking right.
Thanks, I didn’t think about quenching. The handle is about what I was thinking as well. Did you use epoxy or just glue. Looks like a nice pedal lifter.
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The grey tool’s bottom end looks like a sharp point (like a scratch awl). If you put your metal rod in a drill chuck, you can spin it. Spinning it while sanding/filing it will allow you to sharpen it to a point centered on the rod.
If you want a ball-tipped stylist (for tracing patterns, marking lines, etc. ) you can use the same approach, but stop short of a sharp point.
For a spoon tip, I would not use a drill. I would sand/file a bevel similar to my petal lifter, then round off and soften the edge. Heating/flattening with hammer and anvil is an option but probably not needed.
Stainless steel would not rust, but is much harder to work. Regular steel is easier and should be fine for leatherworking. I’ve made tooling and stamps from regular mild steel and spring steel - never bothered with stainless.
Re: my handle
Turned on the lathe. Flattened one side on the sander so it won’t roll away on the workbench. Drilled a hole using the drill press and a wooden clamp to hold the piece. Five minute epoxy secured the shaft in the hole. Vinegar can by used to remove any excess epoxy from the shaft before the resin cures.
Re: Blacksmithing tool at DMS
I can check you out on using the KMG 2x72 grinder/sander and the Blacksmithing tools if you’d like. PM me to set up a time. I’m usually there Thursday nights.
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