[ Power saw whirring ] [ Mid-tempo music plays ] Get a group of woodworkers together and the discussion is soon to turn to talking about tools -- which ones to get, which ones you have, which ones are on your wish list.

So, on today's episode of "The Woodsmith Shop," we're going to build three tools in your shop.

They're all projects that you could easily complete in an afternoon or an evening or two.

And what you'll find is that, not only are they fun to make, you'll really enjoy putting them to work on your next project.

So, on today's show, Logan's going to kick things off in making an awl.

Now, these are a great general purpose marking and layout tool.

Next, I'm going to build a wood-bodied scraper shave.

You may not have heard of this kind of tool, but they do a great job of smoothing and refining curved shapes and the process to make them is really easy.

Finally, Chris is going to make a marking knife and these use just two pieces of wood and a length of steel.

He's going to show the process of heat treating the metal, so it holds a great edge, and you can use these for layout, carving, and general shop tasks.

So, I hope you enjoy today's episode.

Announcer: Major funding for "The Woodsmith Shop" has been provided by... Old Masters -- offering wood stains and finishes for the woodworking enthusiast and professional.

And by... Kreg -- from the first cut to the final assembly, providing woodworkers with products that help to simplify woodworking challenges.

Kreg.

Additional funding provided by... Titebond Wood Glues -- the pro's advantage.

And by... ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So, recently, one of my favorite tools in the shop, at least for layout work, has been an awl.

I find that they're super versatile.

You can mark layout lines with it.

You can mark hole locations.

And, with something like a birdcage awl, that has a square tip on it, you can even start holes for screws or nails.

So, they're super versatile.

So I think that's the tool that I'm going to make today.

Now, the design that I'm going to do, I think, if I have a chance to turn, I'm going to turn, so I'm going to turn a handle, but I kind of like the looks of this octagon twisted shank on this one, so, I think I'm going to do a combination of these two.

We'll do the octagon shank with the twist on it, but then a turn handle.

I think it'll look really cool.

So the first thing we need to do is create this twist.

And, to do that, I have a piece of the octagon stock here and we'll position it in the vise.

And then we're going to use a MAPP gas torch to heat it up.

I'm going to heat this up until it is glowing red.

Then I will slip on one of these tap-and-die handles right above where it is heated and then I will give it a full twist.

And that heated part is going to twist up into that nice spiral look.

So, while our awl shank is cooling down, we can go ahead and address the next part, which is going to be the ferrule.

Now, on these ones, we made these out of brass.

Some of them were brass plates.

Some of them were brass pipe fittings.

But, because my plan is to turn this handle out of ebony, I really like the looks of the dark ebony with a silver ferrule.

To do that, I'm going to make it out of pewter.

Now, pewter's simply a mixture of tin, some nickel, and a couple other elements in it and, anything that was made after the 1970s is going to be lead-free.

But you do want to make sure, if you're melting down pewter, you want to do it in a well-ventilated area.

One of the nice things I like about pewter is it melts easily -- a MAPP gas torch is plenty hot to melt it -- and it turns very well on a lathe.

So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to melt this down, then I'm going to pour it into this hole that I drilled into this scrap piece of wood.

Once it is cooled down enough, I'll be able to pop it out and we'll be able to chuck it in the lathe and attach it to our handle.

Okay, so, now that our shank has cooled down enough, I've went ahead and cut it to approximate length that I'm going to want.

The length on it doesn't really matter.

So, now, we can go ahead and start shaping this tip and we have a couple of ways we can do that.

So, really, what we're looking for is we're going for a long, continuous, easy transition from the full diameter, right below that twist, down to a point, because that's what's going to give us our edge on our awl.

So, to do that, we can position this guy here in the vise.

And then we can start tackling this just with long, smooth strokes.

Okay, so, about a half an hour with a file.

It's left me with a nicely tapered shank for our awl.

I've left the tip.

While it's still fairly sharp, I have not put an edge on it.

I'm going to harden it, first, and get it mounted on the handle.

Then I'll come back with a final diamond stone to put a good edge on that.

So, now, we can go ahead and harden this.

And, to do that, we're going to heat it with the torch until it's red-hot and it's going to have to get really hot.

And I'm really only concentrating on the -- let's call it the last inch and a half or so on this awl.

I'm going to heat it until it no longer sticks to this magnet.

Once it's nonmagnetic, I know it's at the proper heat treating temperature and then we will plunge it into a glass of oil.

This is just vegetable oil.

And we're going to make sure that we plunge it in perfectly straight.

There we go.

Now, this has a little scale on it from the heat treating, but that's perfectly fine.

At this point, this does need to go into an oven, probably about 400°, for a couple of hours, just to temper it, and then it's ready to mount on the handle.

Before I shove it into the oven, though, I am going to go ahead and turn the handle.

So, let's go ahead and put that guy there to cool off.

Okay, so, turning this awl handle is going to be a three-step process.

First thing I'm going to do is take this blank of ebony.

I'm going to turn it round.

Then I can go ahead and get the drive spur out.

Then I'm going to switch these jaws on this chuck to be the smaller, pen jaws.

And, in that, I'm going to mount the piece of pewter and turn it round, then I'm going to turn a tenon on the end.

Once that's done, I will go ahead and remount this ebony blank in the chuck, go ahead and shape a mortise for the tenon on the pewter, and then glue that in place.

Then we'll go ahead and shape the entire handle.

Okay, I think that will fit.

That's going to be a friction fit and, once I put epoxy on there, it's going to be perfect.

So, now, I'm going to go ahead and replace the chuck out of the tailstock with the live center and we'll go ahead and rough this down to shape and then glue that in.

Okay.

So, I have this pretty much where I want it.

There's some final shaping to do after I glue on that ferrule.

But I think the shape's pretty decent and we'll tuck the back end in after everything's all done.

Now, on something like ebony, super hard and super dense, I still prefer traditional cutting tools, but something like a scraper, like this, works really well also and I like to use that to kind of blend any toolmarks out that I have.

But at this point, we can go ahead and get this ferrule in place.

And then, after the epoxy's cured, we'll go ahead and drill this, just like we did the hole for the tenon.

So, now, I have to apply some finish.

One thing I like about ebony is that it polishes really well.

It gets a really glossy shine on it.

So, what I'm going to use is some polishing wax.

This is just a mixture of some wax, some mineral oil, and some rottenstone.

And, as you apply it and apply friction to it with a paper towel, it's going to really add a nice polish and it's going to actually add a little bit of finish to this as well.

Okay.

There you go.

So, now, all I have to do is cut it off and glue in the awl shank.

Two of my favorite hand tools in the shop are a card scraper and a spokeshave.

Now, the card scraper does a great job of smoothing out surfaces, of all kinds -- edges, faces -- and removing tear-out.

Now, the spokeshave is great for shaping and smoothing surfaces, especially when they have curves in them.

But I found that you can combine these two tools into something that's brand-new.

It's kind of a Frankenstein tool, called a scraper shave and it looks like a spokeshave, but the blade, instead of being more like a plain blade, is, instead, a piece of card scraper.

The best thing is, is that these are really versatile tools and easy to make.

So, there, you can see that the blade is pretty small.

It's easy to sharpen.

We'll get to that in a little bit.

But let's look at the body of the scraper shave here.

I'm going to take off these two nuts here and, on the inside... ...you see that?

It's just a hardwood body with a large notch cut in it.

Then there's this toe plate... ...that you can use as a contrasting material or the same material.

On the inside is a ramped surface and that allows the shavings and the chips that you form as you're using it to come out of the tool easily.

You can see that it's just held in place with a couple of brass screws and some knurled nuts.

So, I'm going to get started on making one of these.

And I have a piece of hickory here.

And you'll find that you just need a piece that's 1 inch thick, and 1 1/8 inches wide.

The overall length is about 11.5 inches.

I'm going to work with something a little bit long here, just to get things started.

The first thing to do is to cut this wide notch.

I'm going to take care of that over at the table saw, using a dado blade.

Now, with a wide cut like this, you're going to have to make some overlapping passes here to get the full width.

I needed to cut a thin toe plate to fit inside that notch.

Then I attached it with some double-sided tape, headed over to the drill press, where I drilled two countersunk holes that will hold that toe plate in place and secure the blade at the same time.

What we want to do now is cut our scraper shave to size here at the band saw.

So, I've attached a pair of paper patterns that you can find with the plans online.

And the pattern also indicates the order of cuts to make.

As you go along, you're going to kind of cut away some of the material that's going to be on the pattern on the adjacent face.

It's not a big deal.

Just take a little masking tape, wrap it around there, and then you can still go ahead with those cuts.

Everything here goes pretty quickly.

Band saw leaves blade marks on the body of the scraper shave, so it took some time to just sand and smooth those all out and then kind of ease the edges, so you have a nice, comfortable grip in both directions on there.

You can go as far as you want on this, for whatever shape you're looking for.

What we need to do now is spend a little bit of time on that toe plate because we have to create a relief area for those shavings to come out as you're creating them.

So, what I've done is laid out the sides of the relief area, as well as its maximum width, up at the top.

And I'm going to do that with some hand tools here, just with a back saw, to cut the sides.

Alright, now, I'm going to use a chisel to just remove, start peeling away the waste from there.

You don't have to be too fussy, in forming the ramp on the toe plate here.

All you're looking for is enough space for those shavings to come out easily.

The blade, itself, like I said before, is made from a section of a card scraper.

You can snap that to size in a machinist vise or use a hacksaw to cut it to shape.

The blade is sharpened with a bevel on one edge and then flat on the other, and then you'll turn a hook, just like you would with a card scraper, away from the bevel.

It gives you a really nice edge that stands up to a lot of hard work.

On our website is a video on making and sharpening the blades.

Now, once that's done, you can put the blade in place with the bevel facing the back of the tool, fit the toe plate in place, and insert your screws here to lock everything down.

Then we'll secure it with the knobs.

And you want to set the blade so there's just a little bit of projection from the bottom of the tool.

I find the flat-bottom scraper shaves to be the most versatile, but as easy as these little guys are to make, it's pretty tempting to start going crazy with all kinds of other profiles.

Like, for example, you can go with different curved bottom shapes, to help you refine and smooth round parts that you're working on, depending on the types of projects you have.

We even have, in the plans, one that has a V-notch in the middle, to allow you to create quick and easy chamfers.

Now, why would you choose a scraper shave over a card scraper or a spokeshave?

Well, the high cutting angle of the scraper shave won't cause tear-out.

So, that means you can use it in any direction on the grain and you'll be able to get smooth results.

And you're taking just small amounts of material away with each pass, so you can really work on finessing that shape to exactly the way you want it.

So, I think, if you have a scrap of wood around that you've been hoarding for a special purpose, scraper shave just might be that one.

-Well, for our final project today, I thought a good tool to complement the scrapers and the awl would be a shop knife.

So, I've got two examples here.

One of the great things about making your own knife is you can make it for whatever purpose you need.

This was originally made as a marking knife and it has a left-handed bevel.

You could also use the same knife pattern and put a right-handed bevel on it.

This knife has a double bevel, so it is a great knife for small carving details and all sorts of shop uses.

The construction of these knives is very simple.

We begin with a core, the blade, which is O1 steel, which means oil-hardening steel.

It's 1/16-inch-thick piece.

And then there are wood scales on both sides that are held in place with rivets.

Now, you can have a lot of fun using all sorts of exotic woods.

This knife is actually a pin-turning blank and it's one that has been infused with both dye and an acrylic resin under pressure.

And so it's pretty exotic-looking.

There's all sorts of fantastic choices, if you're into turning pins.

Where we're going to start with this project is making the steel blade.

So, here I have my piece of O1 steel and, in order to lay out the location of the rivets and the overall shape, what I'm going to do is use a marking fluid.

This is a blue marking fluid, which I'm going to apply to this end of my steel.

And it's going to make it a lot easier to see what's going on when I do my layout work.

So, once that dries, I'm going to take the scribe, my ruler, my square, and I'll do the layout work.

Well, with the knife blade all laid out, the next step is going to be to drill the holes for the rivets.

First thing I have to do is use a punch and put a little dimple on each of these crosshairs and that little dimple will give a place for the drill bit to bite into and reference.

So, I'm going to use a spring-loaded punch.

With that done, it's off to the drill press.

Well, it's time to go ahead and start cutting the final shape of our knife blade out.

So, to do that, I'm going to use a vise.

I've got some no-mar liners in the jaws... ...and I've got a hacksaw.

The first thing I'm going to do is cut the blade length and, from there, we'll start cutting the top and bottom.

Well, now that I have the basic shape of the blade established, it's time to go ahead and dress my sawn edges with a file.

To do that, I'll clamp the part in between two wooden blocks and in my vise.

I'm going to want to use a course file.

I want to do long strokes across the whole length... ...of the knife.

Alright, now, this thing's cleaned up pretty well.

Next step is going to be to file a 25° bevel, to establish our blade.

With the blade all shaped, it's time to harden it.

So, what I'm going to do is use the torch -- some MAPP gas, the brush flame -- and I'm going to get this edge a nice, bright orange.

And, when it's a nice, bright orange, into the oil it goes to be quenched.

When we're done with that, it'll be time to anneal the blade.

Now, annealing is when we actually pull some of the hardness out of the steel.

And we'll do that by putting the blade in an oven at 325° for about an hour.

But, first, let's get it hot and get it quenched.

Well, now that our knife blank is out of the oven and fully annealed, it's time to move on to putting the wood scales on our knife.

So, what I've done is taken a piece of 1/4-inch padauk.

You can use any wood you like.

And I'm laying the blank on... ...my wood and I'm just going to trace around it.

So, with that done, I'll make two scales, and that's what I have here.

So, there is a sequence to applying the scales.

The first thing I'm going to do is take some CA adhesive and glue one scale in place.

Once that's dry, I'll head to the drill press and go ahead and drill through the holes in our blade, using them as a guide, all the way through the scale.

When that's done, it's back to the bench, more CA.

I'll glue the other scale on.

We'll flip the whole package over.

Back to the drill press and I'll repeat, using the holes that are in this scale as guides, drill all the way through.

With the holes in place for our rivets and the scales on, then we'll proceed to doing some final shaping.

Well, as you can see, I finished shaping my knife scales on the belt sander.

I've put a taper from this point forward, and a taper from this point back.

Now, what we need to do, at this point, is concentrate on rounding over all these edges.

I'm going to do that in two different ways.

One is I'll use a file.

And the reason I'm going to use a file is because I can maintain a nice, even roundover the whole way.

Then I'm going to use some sandpaper.

Once I have these corners knocked off and a good shape and a good feel, I'm going to take a time-out and we're going to go ahead and set the rivets to hold those scales on permanently.

With the scales and the rivets all finished and everything sanded nicely, it's time to go ahead and apply a little oil to our handle.

One of the reasons I want to do that is not only to make it pretty, but I want to go ahead and seal things up before we start the process of sharpening the knife blade because that might get a little messy and I don't want the wood to get stained.

There we go.

Easy to do.

Fun project.

Hope you've enjoyed it.

The three tools we built on today's episode -- Logan's awl, my scraper shave, and Chris' knife -- can be easily made in just a couple of afternoons or a weekend in your shop and then you can put them to use on your projects.

And the other reason that we chose them for this episode is that they're easy to customize.

You can vary the materials, the shape, anything that you want, to be able to make sure that this tool is your very own.

And there's a real pleasure in using the tools that you make.

Now, if you'd like to try one of your own, the plans are at our website... You'll also find some bonus videos on sharpening the knife blade; making the scraper blade, and how to sharpen that as well.

You'll also find other videos, plans, project ideas, and more.

And then we can meet right back here in the Woodsmith Shop.

♪♪ ♪♪ If you'd like to get more video tips and techniques, sign up for the free weekly Woodsmith eTip.

Every week, you'll receive an e-mail with a video tip to get more out of your table saw, router table, and more.

Sign up at WoodsmithShop.com.

Everything in today's show comes from the newly expanded Woodsmith Guild Edition with shop projects, plans, tips, and techniques.

To get a free preview issue of the Woodsmith Guild Edition and a free Woodsmith book, go to WoodsmithShop.com.

In addition, past seasons of "The Woodsmith Shop" are available on DVD, or you can watch them online from your computer, tablet, or mobile device.

For more information, go to WoodsmithShop.com.

Announcer: Major funding for "The Woodsmith Shop" has been provided by... Old Masters -- offering wood stains and finishes for the woodworking enthusiast and professional.

And by... Kreg -- from the first cut to the final assembly, providing woodworkers with products that help to simplify woodworking challenges.

Kreg.

Additional funding provided by... Titebond Wood Glues -- the pro's advantage.

And by... ♪♪ ♪♪