tomcat

To bend the 1/8 key stock just put it in a vise and hit it with a mallet, it won't break. I can't seem to load anymore pictures so i will go to another post... A picture of the "stuff"

First drill a small hole in the end, about 1/16 unless you know what tip you are going to use...I use Bob Douglas for $15, i think one of the best out there...His measures 1/8....The hole doesn't have to be centered so don't worry, and round it off somewhat so see what you want it to look like....then drill and tap a screw hole 6/32 ...Remember not to go too far down or it won't secure the tip....Then do another to secure the guide....On the side you can see i drilled a 1/8 hole, now you need a small square file to make the hole square, and round off and polish the holder to whatever shape is good for you....... More pictures to follow...

I've been wanting to get a stitch groover and while looking at them the inexpensive ones work somewhat, and the expensive ones work well but are er expensive....So i decided to build a holder and use the expensive tip, to have the best of both worlds... I started using a piece of Key stock 5/16 square x12" and a piece 1/8 square x 12" that you can get here at McMasters or and any auto parts store or Home Depot, but McMasters has them for .88 cents and .85 cents ( i said this would be inexpensive lol... http://www.mcmaster.com/#98830a150/=2e8ht3 More to follow in next post...

Here is Harbor Freights verison of the Tormek, and don't forget the 15% off coupon..lol.. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=95236

I while ago i watched Norm Abrams from the Yankee workshop do a piece on one, he seemed to like it a lot, and was impressed with the sharpness of his chisles, i have always wanted to get one but was stopped buy the price...

Mattsh, Everything you asked how to do is shown is Al Stohlmans book "How To make holsters", and its on sale at Tandy's now for $7.50....You won't be sorry, it shows several thongs and how to fasten them, all kinds of patterns, sewing, how to attach, different holster angles, carvings, etc.

Tkleather, if you are uncomfortable with hardening or tempering, you can make the basic head knife and send it to this company and they will do it for $5.50 per piece, you would have to use a different steel like D2 because they only do air hardening, you can call them, they are very helpful and tell them what you want to do and they should keep you on track...Tom.. http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/privacy.php#services

Shorts, let us know how you like it, i had Steve send me a brochure, and i can't stop thinking about one, lets say i'm about an inch or in this case a stitch away from buying one....thanks, Tom

Thank you all it was my pleasure to do it....I, like a lot of others have gotten tons of infomation from the unselfish people on this forum who readily give their secrets away...If something is not clear, feel free to contact me, and remember the info for heat treating and tempering is for O1 steel only, other steels differ, some greatly...Have fun and above all be safe...Tom

I had a piece of cocobolo that i had left over from another project that i used, you can use anything even leather....I drilled two holes where i wanted to attach the handle, then i sanded everything together, also i put tape over the Blade to protect myself...I also got some brass screws and cut other slots with my Dremmel, and put the nuts on another screw and put it in my drill and made the nuts round by holding a file against them....More pictures coming....

Now the steel should be cool enough to touch, run a file across where you hardend the steel, and it should kinda skate across, if it does you did it right, if it doesn't and files very easy, that means it wasn't hot enough...Now lets assume everything went well, now you have to temper it...what i did was got an old toaster oven, and set the temp. to 350 for 2 hours...You can use you regular oven if you want its only a piece of steel it won't hurt anything....Also some other things to mention, before you first heat the steel with the torch make sure its cleaned of all the preservative oils and when you quench it it will become black, and if you sanded and polished it before it should polish back up again..

Now we come to the heat treating....O1 is an oil hardening steel whick means that after you reach the proper temp. you quench it in oil....At this point you need a mapp torch, you use the same tip as on a propane torch, assuming you have one, you can get Mapp gas at Lowe's or HD, its in a yellow container, and produces a much hotter flame...Now you have to get the steel to 1500 degrees, or until the steel becomes anti-magnetic....What you do is while you are heating it have a magnet in you hand and keep touching the steel with it, until you no longer feel it sticking ( usually around cherry red).....Then you quench it in oil...Now what i did was got an old metal icecube tray and put enough oil in it so you can dip the edge in it...I used some motor oil i had...Also be careful where you do this and have a fire extinguisher ready, the oil will flame up but should go out very fast...I should mention that you put the knife in slowly, too fast and it might crack....More pictures and info coming next....

Her is a picture of me filing away....Now if you notice i started to make an edge, at this point don't make it sharp, looking down at the point leave about a 1/32 of an inch in the center, in other words file it even on both sides but don't come to a point, you will do that last little bit after you harden it...In case you are curious, if you made it very sharp now, the edge won't stand up to the heat, it will be too thin.....

For some reason i can't do more than one picture at a time, so i will have to have only one picture in every post... I cut out another piece out of the steel to make a handle, in my case i welded it, if you don't have a welder or know someone that will do you a favor and weld it for you, don't worry, you can bolt or rivet it together, Hey if your a leather worker you should have plenty of rivets around lol....

Thanks everyone for the kind words, like i said i will keep this as simple as possible...The first thing we need is a good tool steel, all steels have a number or letter, the steel i want you to use is a great all around steel, knife makers still use this because its simple and keeps an edge......O1 tool steel here is where you get it... http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=87_72 Get the 1/8 x 12" i think its $10.95 and you can make at least 2 of them .... When you get the steel, its not hardened so its easy to drill and file, remember this is your design, and its custom, so if you think of wanting to do something different, by all means do it, just be careful, and be safe, remember we are dealing with a sharp knife and heat and flames, so follow all necessary precautions.... Here is a picture of the steel, and the halfmoon shape i cut out with a hack saw, and filed....

I had a piece of O1 tool steel laying around and i wanted to make a head knife as simple as possible in case someone who couldn't afford one, and with some basic skills, a hack saw, a file, a mapp (propane type torch), a nice piece of wood, could make three for about $10 (the cost of the steel), assuming you have the wood and the torch ...I took a few pictures of building it, and if you like i will make a small tutorial of how to, including heat treating and tempering....

Great, I hope it works out for you...Tom

qarawol, some of the leathermakers here use this, and seem to be happy with it.... http://www.lasergiftcreations.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=20

You're welcome Rayban, you won't be sorry, the collet will tighten down to zero.....

Barry King makes a half that fits the Douglas diamond awl, he has 2 sizes large and small, i bought the large and he also send 2 collets with it...The handle is made of Cocobolo and is beautiful..... http://www.barrykingtools.com/handtools.htm