Sign In
Register
Help
I found some metal strapping on a crate at Harvard and I cut it up–I have recently wanted to make some nice trimming tools. I took Dolan tools as my mental guide and headed to Home Depot.
Here are the basic necessities. I knew I’d need some type of bonding agent. Gorilla glue was waterproof and the most bang for my buck at $4 and some change. You’ll obviously need it to be waterproof. Next a small dowel. Mine was hardwood, but I just got the cheapest kind. It is a 1/4″ dowel that started at 3′ in length @ $.65. The thicker dowel on the right of that is the handle of the tool. this should be larger than the width of the metal strapping so you don’t have bothersome metal parts scraping your digits. This was about $3. for 3′ in length. I also bought a drill bit that was the same diameter as the small dowel, 1/4″ for $4. The bit is made for wood and metal both. And lastly there is a piece of the metal strap I had cut previously. Steel.
Oops, I forgot about the mason’s string. I wanted something to put on at the end to really hold the whole thing together tightly. I am not sure how well this part will work, but I did test it on one as a dry fit, and it worked well. Almost as well as glue, so maybe just choose one or the other. But mine are going to have bright pink accents and rock! They will definitely be easy to see. $4.I think my total came to about $16 or $17. That is a Dolan tool and a half. Good reference point, Phill.
To make the tool, you will need a power drill, a hand saw, pliers, a 2×4 scrap piece of wood (optional), sand paper, some newspaper or old rags, and a bench vise is a nice addition.
Take the wood dowel and saw off a handle-sized piece. Just eyeball it you perfectionist. I sanded the handle’s ends and edges next. Then stand the handle straight up in the vise, and saw a vertical line through the center of the wood about 2″ down. Try to keep it straight Jimmy! Take your strapping and cut it to about 10″ in length. This is just trial and error with how you want to shape it. I used the end of a 2×4 and put it in the center of the strap. Then i bent the two wings of metal upward to the 2×4 walls. This center flat part between the two bends is the main cutting edge of the tool. Take the two end pieces and bend them equidistant the other direction from the center bends. Now take your two ends of the metal strap and push them together back-to-back pretending it is sitting in the trimming tool saw slot you just cut. You may need to cut a bit off of one end to make the ends match up. I used a heavy duty metal snips for that. Slide the metal strap now bent to how you want into the handle slot you sawed earlier. You want the metal to go down far enough so that there is no back-to-back metal neck sticking out of the tool. All I mean by that is the handle is choked up all the way to the triangle point of the metal trim shape. Put the tool in the vise grips horizontally and so you can drill two holes all the way through both the wood and metal. Drill the holes carefully trying not to enlarge them any. Saw off two small 1″ pieces of the 1/4″ dowel and stick it in the holes you just drilled out of the tool handle. Take the piece out of the vise. The tool is almost done. Take one dowel out at a time and wet it, then glue it (gorilla glue needs water to bond.) and stick it back in the slot. Repeat with the other small dowel piece.
Let the glue cure before you cut off the tabs of the dowels sticking out. Then cut them off, sand the piece, finish the wooden parts with a sealer of your choice, and there you have it!
Once you get the hang of making these, they go pretty fast. If I had more power tools I would have been really whippin’. Try to do a production-line style of making these as it helps with not wasting time. Have fun! These are a blast to make!Phill
PS - Sorry, this was copied from my blog here if you want a little bit clearer way of reading this.
MultiQuote
