New Beginner Project - Scratch awl

I have a new beginner's project up on the site. Making a scratch awl. I have used maple but fancier woods make a fancier project. Eventually I hope to have most of the Milton and Wohler projects done as instruction pages. Sorry not to have a video of this one but I will try when the Christmas/New Year rush dies down.

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Darrell Feltmate
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Hi Darrell, Thanks for gifting us with another good project; useful and clearly presented. I realize that it's primarily an exercise in laying out and turning useful objects to designed measurements, plus turning coves, beads and tenons and making ferrules. Here are some alternative methods that you know about of course. Variations not improvements.

Some timbers have grain patterns such that if drilled in the handle's tenon might divert a drill bit off center. Using a center drill is a cheap and handy way for assuring an axially centered hole. Some beginners might want to drill the hole in the blank first and hold it with a tapered tail center. ie. turning the blank to the hole instead of drilling the hole into the finished handle.

For not having to take the handle off the lathe, a short ferrule slipping freely over a rotating tail center can be pushed against a tiny taper on the end of the tenon to mark for a tight fit. A piece of the original ferrule stock can be used to press the ferrule onto the tenon, square & tight. A handled cut nail with a diamond point makes a useful tool for trimming, deburring and burnishing a rough ferrule while it's on the lathe.

One method of insuring a smoothly rounded & tapered central point without a jig is to chuck the nail in a hand drill and rotate it against a rotating grinder.

Drilling the hole for the nail to extend right thru the handle, even leaving the head on, allows the awl to be hit without cracking the wood or driving the nail further into a blind hole. Good for making center dimples in hard wood. Not so good as a scratch awl and somebody will surely ask, "why not just use a naked nail"?

Hope I haven't offended Milton, Wohler ....or Feltmate. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Arch

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