A Few Birdcage Awls

[Mike Peace]

I enjoy making these awls as gifts, not just for woodturners but anyone with a tool box. I use music wire by K&S Engineering available from true hobby shops not hardware stores or home development centers. Also available from Amazon. Birdcage awls have the 1" point sharpened on 4 sides on a belt sander so the 4 sharp edges can easily cut a hole when pushed into wood and twisted.
birdcage awls_1525 (Medium).JPG
I did a YouTube videos on making these a while back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlAlUhTWyTM

[Reed Gray]

For sure, an essential tool for every tool box. I got my first one for leather work back in the 50's, and have a number of others. I can't count the number of different uses I have found for them. Ice pick is the cheap version, well, if they even make them any more. I got several from an old friend who worked at a radiator shop and they were used to straighten the fins on the cores out. I may have to try some...

robo hippy

[Hayes Rutherford]

Mike, nice job on those. Do you think re tempered chainsaw files would work?

[Lori Kleinberg]

Great looking project, Mike.

[Mike Peace]

Someone else will have to chime in on annealing and tempering files. I really don't know anything about that.

[John K Jordan]

Nice! That's a clever variety of ferrules too!

JKJ

[Keith Outten]

Mike,

Thanks for the video, I have a couple of the awls to make. One for my shop tool box and one for my sign install bag, I hope to get them done next week.
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[Hayes Rutherford]

Mike, in answering my own question about files, I found the popular opinion among blacksmiths is that they are not worth messing with and it is better to obtain the right steel for the job as you point out in your video.