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fREW Schmidt
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More from fREW Schmidt
Try square
Hey folks! I should have posted this a couple weeks ago but forgot. I recently made my own try square. The blade is black walnut and the stock is cherry.
I sawed both pieces out by hand (if you look you can see that I could have done better; more to learn!) I shaved the dowel myself with just a chisel. My trick here was to pre-bore a hole into some hardwood so I could test the dowel in progress.
I decorated the edges with a coping saw and then cleaned that up a bit with a rasp and file. When I glued it up I used old brown glue, as recommended in The Anarchist's Toolchest, due to it's slow drying time. I really enjoyed working with hide glue! It cleans up much better than yellow glue. Will use more going forward.
I finished it with BLO and then soft paste wax (which I made as part of this project.)
If I had it all to do again I would have been more careful with my sawing, but the marks left aren't too bad.
I sawed both pieces out by hand (if you look you can see that I could have done better; more to learn!) I shaved the dowel myself with just a chisel. My trick here was to pre-bore a hole into some hardwood so I could test the dowel in progress.
I decorated the edges with a coping saw and then cleaned that up a bit with a rasp and file. When I glued it up I used old brown glue, as recommended in The Anarchist's Toolchest, due to it's slow drying time. I really enjoyed working with hide glue! It cleans up much better than yellow glue. Will use more going forward.
I finished it with BLO and then soft paste wax (which I made as part of this project.)
If I had it all to do again I would have been more careful with my sawing, but the marks left aren't too bad.
3 Comments
It looks like a functional square, and you can always clean up (or carve?) the surfaces later if you want. And the best part of making your own tools is that you get to use them regularly down the road. Nice work!
May you have the day you deserve!
Nothing beats using your own shopmade tools. Kudos!
Knowing how to use a tool is more important than the tool in and of itself. - Ron Aylor
Tools can be addictive to make, and they are fun. Even better is that you get to use them for future projects.
Main Street to the Mountains
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