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I recently made a Radius Cutter/Scribe. I love it, it is perfect, I use is for all sorts of things now, including measurements. That said, I need another, the first one does not make a circle less than 2.25 inches across. So far, here is what I have made:
I took about 20 minutes and tested what a pencil shave can do. Sweet little tool, made with one of the cutters from a pencil sharpener. Here, I am pushing it into some pine,
On the left is cut with the grain in pine stopped to show a curl or spill. On the right is cut against the grain. Here, I mitered the endgrain of some soft cedar. Same block, I mitered an edge with the grain. Now for a rough test, mesquite Mesquite against the grain Mesquite with the grain The finish is about on a par with 180 sand paper. The shave dissected. The big end, one end of the cutter has a large hole, where the gear is wedged in. You could just grind down the gear, but I was not sure about the pot metal in vinegar, and I want to be able to wash off all the vinegar when I am done, so I removed the gear. Pine spills made by the shave! Bob I have been wanting one of these for about three years. I finally made one!
This was made from one of the cutters in an old broken pencil sharpener. It was a bit dull so I sharpened the cutter using the ancient method of soaking it in vinegar. Now it is nice and sharp. A bit of all-thread, between the knobs, holds it all together. Great little tool, Kind of a cross between a float, file and a spoke shave. Bob Johnathan, recently posted on Woodnet his rendition of an inlay radius cutter. The design is one that Steve Latta showed in an article on Fine Woodworking. Lie-Nielsen sells one based on that design. The tool is a very stable compass that can cut. My current need is one to mark a radius in steel. So I threw one together. It of course is a bit different.
The body is osage, the knob is mesquite, and the angle adjustable cutter/marker holder is ash. The points where ground from old high speed steel drill bits and tempered hard. I need them hard because I am marking steel. In the picture below, you can see the radius cut into the edge of a head knife that I am making. The red just outside the cut is to show me where I need to grind off steel. I am using the thread end of a Chicago bolt to put the pivot in to give fine precision.
The arc on one side of the cutter tends to pull in as it cuts. This tends to reduce slop and make for a more precise cut. The holder is tapered to fit into a tapered hole. The drilled hole in the end of the holder was drilled with the same bit that became the cutter. A pair of slices into the wood makes it grip the blade quite tightly when wedged into a tapered hole. I even have a point for scribing instead of cutting. I will make another holder to wedge a pencil into the hole as well, when I need it later.
The hole was drilled, and then I used a sanding fid to taper it.
This is my sanding fid. A drill bit pushed to hard into wood so it locked in. Then the wood was turned to make a cone. A slit was cut in the end.
Now sand paper can be fed into the slit and wrapped around the cone.
Once it is wrapped, is is ready to sand out a nice taper.
The locking mechanism is simple, a threaded insert and a knob turned with a bit of brass thread and a nut epoxied into the end.
Opened up this can make a really big circle. Best of all, it is rock solid stable once set into position.
Bob Here is my endless loop. I make stuff to make stuff to make stuff. Seriously. I have a theory that a leather tool box might be ideal. In any case I want to experiment. One thing that I need for this is a few leather tools. A lot I have bought, but one of the tools that I want can be fairly expensive for one as nice as I want to have. I want a top notch, none better head knife. Sadly the economy is destroying my economy, so to afford a great tool, I will have to make it. To start with, fortunately, I have a bit of Classic NOS Sheffield O1. Best stuff for holding a great edge, and stropping easily, so the next step is laying it out. I usually make a couple of tools at a time, in case I mess up. In this case, I decided to go ahead and make a few. Since I have scant leatherworking knowledge, I may make a few mistakes on the way. Here is my initial layout.
Sadly the cuts were not going to work with the tools I have at hand for cutting. I had to make a less efficient layout that I could actually cut.
As this is nice tool steel, I tried to cut out to make good scraps for other tools.
After drilling and cutting, they are beginning to look more like head knives!
So I need to make a tool for that purpose. Fortunately the Texas heat has cooled down a bit this week. Bob |
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