Miniature Tools

[Ralph Juarros]

Thanks, Dan. The miniature wheelbarrow was fun to build, though challenging.
I've started a new project - light on wood and heavy in Brass, but I think that it may be of interest to some.

The first challenge is to build a set of wheels to resemble old time implement wheels.









The hubs were turned and drilled with equal spacing to accommodate 1/16 inch spokes.

[Ralph Juarros]

Two wheels built to resemble antique equipment.





Then two more and we have enough to build a four wheeled creature.

[Ralph Juarros]

Main frame fabricated -- "T" beams measured, cut and silver soldered for strength and rigidity: Ralph

[Ralph Juarros]

Progress every day. Ralph

[Ralph Juarros]

The miniature horse drawn road grader is finished.


The blade detail:











The Evener and Double Tree:











All the parts came together:














See the action video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/xiIoYGwTtaI?list=UU-...qMJcEsSWF5Eu5A

[Ralph Juarros]

After some diversions, I'm back to building miniature tools and thought that some might find this interesting.
This is a sterling silver plane with Ebony tote and knob, brass turn knob and a sharp steel blade.
It was a challenging build in that polished silver reveals highlights as well as every little imperfection.
The Ebony parts carved like brittle stone but polished up like glass. Ralph

[Jim Ritter]

Very nice Ralph. Was the body cast or made up from plate? Glad to see you are still at it.
Jim

[Ralph Juarros]

Thanks, Jim. Perfect question -- I have used both procedures in the past.
Some models were cast in the "lost wax process".









And some were assembled from pieces cut from flat stock as with this earlier model:





And poised together then silver soldered:





This latest model was cut from silver flat stock and silver soldered.
I must declare that the casting process is much more complex requiring more operations but is often used when a piece is of complex shape
or when flat stock is not available or just can't be formed properly.

[Ralph Juarros]

I have posted some smatterings of miniature tools in my collection - some with limited exposure.
This post features my miniature rendition of the Knowles Patent Block Plane of 1827, thought to be the earliest American patent for a metallic plane.
Other plane makers manufactured this type of plane, either with or without license, and similar planes are known of various sizes and with minor design changes. Ralph



A stylized model was fabricated of flat stock silver with Ebony wood accents








This was a lost wax cast piece with Walnut accents and a sharp steel blade.