Back on SMC - with a few shop made tools

[Kala Raymond]

Aloha hand tool enthusiasts,

I've been off and on sawmillcreek for at least 8 or 10 years. Couldn't remember any of my account names or even associated email addresses >.< so I'm starting fresh.

I'm away from my shop for a few months staying with my folks in Utah. There is a TINY shop in one of the barns here with the bare minimum of tools, and I'm working on changing that. I scored an #4, a nice block plane, and 15 chisels off ebay and got to work. After a few days of tool rehab I'm up and running and have started some projects. Making some tools of course

No machining tools here aside from 2 files and a hacksaw so the hardware is either off the shelf BORG or pretty crudely machined by yours truly.

1st tool I made was a marking gauge (cutting). I want to build a toolbox for all the tools I'm starting to amass, but I dare not attempt cutting dovetails without a gauge . . .

gauge.jpg

In the middle of building a bowsaw (coping size) for cutting waste on aforementioned dovetails I decided that the 3.5" bench vise I was using wasn't up to the task so I made a Moxon portable vise with some big heavy doug fir scraps leftover from the barn . . .

moxon.jpg

It isn't exactly a thing of beauty, but it holds a board super tight and has about 20" capacity.

So now with a working vise I got back to the bowsaw. It is nearly finished. Needs a little more shaping, some sanding, and a coat of finish . . .

bowsaw.jpg

I have really enjoyed working in this tiny shop with hardly any tools. My sawing, chiseling, and planing are all noticeably stronger than when I am working in my own shop, and I am having a lot of fun figuring out how to get er done with the bare minimum.

Thanks for looking if you made it this far

Here's the lot of chisels I got pre rehab as they were posted on ebay

chisels.jpg

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Excellent work. Watching closely. I am loving how you are building all the tools from scratch.

[Frederick Skelly]

Welcome Kala! If those are bare bones tools, Id sure like to see what comes out of your fully equipped shop back home. Im especially interested in your bowsaw. Did you buy a kit or improvise? What did you use for a blade?

Fred

[Jebediah Eckert]

Wow. Nice stuff for what you had to work with, or with a whole shop of stuff for that matter. Impressive, keep it coming. Sometimes I even get hung up in the threads that debate buying a $5k or an $8k for a first tablesaw. Haha. I like this pace of things better.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Nice looking set of shop made tools. What is the marking guage made of and what are the dimensions? I'd also be interested in seeing a few more pictures of both it and the moxon vise from different angles. Is the chisel in the Moxon picture one of the 15 you scored from eBay?

[Kala Raymond]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I think the wood on the gauge and the bowsaw is alder, it is leftover trim wood from my folks house.

The gauge reaches somewhere over 4", I've been a bit lax on dimensions lately building this stuff mostly on what looks about right.

The bow saw uses coping saw blades I got at the BORG, I wanna say they are 6.5".

Yep that's a 1/2" buck bros chisel that I got in the ebay lot. There were some great chisels in there for $30. I didn't really like the feel and shape of that particular chisel, but I have been really impressed with both how fast it is to sharpen and how tough it is. Holds and edge really well, and stands up to some chopping without any chipping. I'll post some more pics of the vise and gauge shortly.

[Kala Raymond]

Here's the parts to the bowsaw which might make it a little more clear. The radius shoulder and tenon are the only tricky part, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as I was able to do it by eye with a half round bastard file after cutting the mortise and tenon with ryoba saw and chisel.

bowsaw assembly.jpg

I made the hardware for the bowsaw using a 1/4" plain steel round rod from the BORG. I made the split cuts and the intersecting diagonal blade holding cut with a hacksaw and cleaned them up a little with a needle file. I cut 1/4 - 20 threads on the other end and put a threaded brass insert in the handles. At the moment I can fine tune the tension of the blade using the threaded handles, and I may leave it this way and add 1/8" pins going through the 1/4" rod on the inside for adjusting the cut angle.

bowsaw hardware.jpg

The moxon vise is really simple. I've seen some nice one's but this is temporary and it gets the job done (ain't shipping 20 lbs of doug fir back to Hawaii). 2 bolts mortised into the back of the larger piece provide the traction. I screwed washers over them to prevent them from coming loose when I push the front face in. The handles were the most work and came out pretty ugly sadly. They're meant to be easy to turn with one finger, which they do, so I'm OK with their awkward look. The pics tell the story . . .

the back
moxon back.jpg

Handle is pinned through bolt and all thread
moxon screw.jpg

easy attachment to bench, holds really well. I cut a 1" hole with a paddle bit then chiseled the bottom flat.
moxon clamp.jpg

birds eye view . . .
moxon wide.jpg

[Stew Denton]

Kala,

Nice job, thanks for the pictures.

Stew

[Steve Voigt]

Nice work! Nice tools! Welcome (back) to SMC!

[Pat Barry]

I like the marking gage. Clean and simple. Nice work! I would need a router to get that screw slot looking as nice as you did, not to mention the ogee type detail..

[John Sanford]

Nice tools there, overcome and adapt. If you need some machine time, and aren't way down in Mexican Hat or the like, just get contact me.