Made Me a Brunisher :)

[Johnny Kleso]

I have had this Claro Walnut for a few years as well as a ton of HSS Drill Blanks with plans to make a ton of them.. Well I finally made myself one, I just hope this is a new making something tread is here to stay for me..

Thanks for looking

[Ganthan Rhodes]

Very nice, Johnny -- I really like the handle design and the workmanship.

GR

[Gary Herrmann]

Very well done, Johnny. The accent at the end of the handle is an especially nice touch. I going to have to look for some drill bit blanks and follow your example.

[Danny Thompson]

Beaut. Nice, high-quality, professional look to it.

[Joel Goodman]

Beautiful!

[Mark Stutz]

Nice job, Johnny! How did you do the brass accent ring?

Mark

[Johnny Kleso]

Mark,
The front and rear ferruls is from brass tubing I bought at eBay over the last few years, I also buy my drill blanks there...

ENCO has good prices on Import drill blanks too..
The tubing is not all that hard to find @eBay if you check one a week..

I used a plumbers tubing cutter to cut it to lenght..

[Mike Keers]

A very nice piece of work!

For those of us that know more about wood than metal, can you comment on how the HSS compares to other types of steel one might find or use? I'm currently just using a shortened Phillips screwdriver. I've never owned a 'real' burnisher, I used to use the tang of the same file I was flattening with, and thought my screwdriver was an improvement, but I'm not that pleased with it, doesn't seem 'hard' or aggressive enough, the file metal was harder (duh).

[Johnny Kleso]

Hi Mike,

HSS is about as hard as steel comes before they start calling it Carbide.. Carbide is so hard you can break it kind of like a File or Glass..

The harder the steel the smoother the polish it can take..

A good quality screwdriver or a chisel back works but may scrap a groove in the screwdriver over time, the chiesl may last a little longer...

What works best is a really hard piece of steel..
I would say a chisel back might be a lot better than a screwdrive..

Also the shank of a fluted drill is not a good thing to use as they are softend so the drill chuch jaws can grip it better.. Drill blanks are hard threw out and only cost $3-$5 each and in my opinion the best thing I can think of to use.. They are M-42 HSS same thing most turning tools are made from these days..

In fact an old 3/8" bowel gouge might be great with the handle sawed off..

[Mike Keers]

Thx for the comeback and comments. I worked as a millwright, apprentice machinist (basic industrial stuff) and iron worker ina previous life, but never realized that HSS drills were softer at the shank end...thanks for that! Hey we didn't make em, we broke 'em!

Now that you mention it, if you spin a bit in a chuck, it usually does chew it up, and it never dawned on me if the fluted end was as soft, it probably wouldn't drill for long (in metal).

None of my metal working experience involved more than soft steel or SS or aluminum fabrication, we didn't get into the various types of steel and alloys or tool making, other than to grind and sharpen cutters for metal lathe work.

So now with your info and your beautiful example, I think I'm inspired to make my own from something other than an old worn out Phillips screw stick.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great.

Thanks for the inspiration.

jim

[John Schreiber]

In fact an old 3/8" bowel gouge might be great with the handle sawed off..

You do mean a bowl gouge don't you? I just don't want to think about it.

[Johnny Kleso]

LOL

I am bad at spelling but that just too funny

[Jack Camillo]

send it to me and I'll "review" it. Need my address?