kenklose
01-22-2005, 10:38 PM
Since I first got into this hobby, I've been a little put off by the price of the leather shot/sand bags. That was until I got it into my head to make my own and found out how expensive the raw material (leather) is to begin with :D
So I went searching for a suitable alternative and found fiberglass fabric at McMaster Carr (item 8816K1) and put together this bag:
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic28-med.jpg
Then I went searching for a suitable mallet. I liked the idea of a single mallet body with multiple faces. I found this
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic29-med.jpg
also at McMaster-Carr (item 5877A157). I got four faces in different hardnesses. The black and white faces on the hammer body, along with the yellow one were round to begin with. The white wedge came in that shape, but I find the white stuff is too soft.
I filed the black and white one on a lathe to take away the edge and give them different radii. I turned the yellow one to a taper with idea of having it for deep reaching into tighter places, but I don't like the result. The head wasn't long enough to begin with. I'm going to try again with a UHMW blank that I'll put a threaded hole on one side and a long taper on the other. I'll post that when finished
I've also begun making a tucking tool inspired by Joe Andrews design and the discussion that followed it. Someone had recommended using some sort of tapered pin (I forget what they are called) that are used for lining up holes when bringing large things together (at least thats how I understood it). I found a whole bin of them at Joseph Fazzio in South NJ for $2.90 each, but they were in rough shape. So first I put them on the lathe and went at them with a file to smooth them out and round over the end. Obviously the tapers aren't exact (but are pretty close to 4.5 degrees). I then cut one of them at a 4.5 deg angle with a slitting saw on a Bridgeport (all at intro to machine shop night school -- I don't own any machine tools -- yet :lol: ) and mounted it to some steel plate I got from the school stock room. The results are less than spectacular:
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic31-med.jpg
This is the same tool unassembled along with a second (uncut) tapered thing-a-ma-bob I got from J. Fazzio to make another tucking tool. As you can see, when the tapered pieces sit flat the adjacent sides are parallel to each other as they should be.
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic34-med.jpg
I'm having every bit as much fun making tools as I do shaping metal, even if I am equally as bad at it :oops:
So I went searching for a suitable alternative and found fiberglass fabric at McMaster Carr (item 8816K1) and put together this bag:
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic28-med.jpg
Then I went searching for a suitable mallet. I liked the idea of a single mallet body with multiple faces. I found this
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic29-med.jpg
also at McMaster-Carr (item 5877A157). I got four faces in different hardnesses. The black and white faces on the hammer body, along with the yellow one were round to begin with. The white wedge came in that shape, but I find the white stuff is too soft.
I filed the black and white one on a lathe to take away the edge and give them different radii. I turned the yellow one to a taper with idea of having it for deep reaching into tighter places, but I don't like the result. The head wasn't long enough to begin with. I'm going to try again with a UHMW blank that I'll put a threaded hole on one side and a long taper on the other. I'll post that when finished
I've also begun making a tucking tool inspired by Joe Andrews design and the discussion that followed it. Someone had recommended using some sort of tapered pin (I forget what they are called) that are used for lining up holes when bringing large things together (at least thats how I understood it). I found a whole bin of them at Joseph Fazzio in South NJ for $2.90 each, but they were in rough shape. So first I put them on the lathe and went at them with a file to smooth them out and round over the end. Obviously the tapers aren't exact (but are pretty close to 4.5 degrees). I then cut one of them at a 4.5 deg angle with a slitting saw on a Bridgeport (all at intro to machine shop night school -- I don't own any machine tools -- yet :lol: ) and mounted it to some steel plate I got from the school stock room. The results are less than spectacular:
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic31-med.jpg
This is the same tool unassembled along with a second (uncut) tapered thing-a-ma-bob I got from J. Fazzio to make another tucking tool. As you can see, when the tapered pieces sit flat the adjacent sides are parallel to each other as they should be.
http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3534/4596CamPic34-med.jpg
I'm having every bit as much fun making tools as I do shaping metal, even if I am equally as bad at it :oops: