Wood cutters are an essential tool for any carver. However, the quality of shop cutters often leaves much to be desired, so if you plan to seriously engage in woodcarving, then you should make wood cutters with your own hands.
Band Saw Wood Cutters
How to make a wood cutter with a do-it- yourself band saw? In fact, it is not so difficult, despite the fact that such cutters hold sharpening very well. For work you will need:
- Oak trim for handles.
- Electric sharpener.
- Hacksaw.
- Belt grinding machine.
- Grinding skins of different grain sizes.
- Actually the blade from the band saw.
- Respirator to protect the respiratory system.
- Joiner's glue.
Blade making
If you plan to make wood cutters with your own hands, then you will need a piece of saw blade about 8 centimeters long. Of these, 4.5-5 centimeters should be left on the shank, which will be attached to the handle. With the help of an electric sharpener, the shape of the future knife is cut out of the canvas. The master himself determines the form, depending on the requirements. Then, on a belt sander, you need to grind the form, making a large chamfer for it with an angle of 10-15 degrees. This narrowing from the butt to the cutting edge is necessary so that the cutter can be operated. A cutting edge with an angle of 25-30 degrees, which will participate in the cutting process, is created later.
This work must be done slowly, otherwise the metal will heat up, become soft and stop holding sharpening. You can sometimes cool the workpiece in water.
Handle manufacturing
To make handles for items such as tool cutters, do-it-yourself wood needs to be shaped in a special way. For handles, oak bars about 12 centimeters long and 12x22 millimeters in length are suitable.
Next, do the following:
- Sand the tail of the metal workpiece around the edges to knock down burrs.
- After putting the tail on the stick, circle the shape with the handle.
- Chisels to select wood to a depth identical to the thickness of the workpiece. Periodically, the workpiece must be tried on, applying the second bar on top. The pit should not be too deep or too shallow - in the first case, the blade will stagger, and in the second - the handle will simply crack or not stick together.
- After you have made sure that all the parts fit together perfectly, they can be glued together. Glue must be applied to the nest and to the surface of the bar. On the second piece of glue can be applied less.
- Then connect the parts as accurately as possible and tighten with clamps. This must be done strongly, but in order not to split the bars.
- Remove excess glue with a damp cloth and let it dry for about 12 hours.
After this, the density of the structure must be checked - grab the handle with one hand, and try to loosen the blade with the other. If you hear the characteristic creaks, then the work will have to be redone. Do not be lazy - if hand tools on a tree with your hands are poorly made, then the blade will quickly become loose and may ultimately lead to injury.
Handle adjustment
Do-it-yourself wood cutters are good in that you can give the shape to the handle yourself, as you wish. Although some general rules should be followed:
- Leave the back part round and wide, much wider than the one closer to the blade. Therefore, it is better to pre-make the handle blanks in the form of an elongated truncated pyramid.
- Be sure to make a notch on the handle under the index finger.
The edges of the handle can be turned with a grinder. This must be done with a respirator and goggles so as not to damage the organs of vision and breathing. Turn the handle around, and then manually work with a fine sandpaper. Then, if desired, paint the handle and be sure to varnish it.
Creating a tool from a milling cutter for metal
The cutter can also be made from a cutter for metal - it is extremely durable and made of carbon steel, so that your cutter will remain sharp for a long time and become dull very soon.
Do the work to make wood cutters with your own hands, in the following order:
- Apply the cutter pattern you wish to receive to the cutter. Carvers have a particularly popular jamb knife. The shank must be made longer than the blade.
- Using a metal cutter, cut the cutter exactly as shown. So you get a knife blank.
- Sand the blade, sometimes dipping it in cold water.
- Make a hardwood handle from two halves. Cut a recess for the workpiece in one half. Glue everything with PVA glue and sand the handle.
As you can see, the answer to the question: "How to make a wood cutter with your own hands?" - It is quite simple and practically does not require any special skills from you.
Sharpening wood cutters with hands after manufacturing
After you make the blade blank, you will need to make a small chamfer - directly the cutting edge of the blade with a sharpening angle in the region of 25-30 degrees. The sharpening angle of 10-15 degrees is not enough for you because the blade, when cutting even soft wood, will eventually chip and crease.
A small chamfer can be formed with a sandpaper or bar. You need to go from smaller to larger - first take a skin with a grain size of about 240, and when the bevel is formed, bring it with skins to 800, and then 1000 grain. After that you can polish the blade on a leather belt with GOI paste.
Sharpening check
Tool sharpening should be checked. If it is sharpened correctly, then even the hardest wood will be easily cut not only along, but also across the fibers. Also, the sharpness should be checked on a soft tree, making sure that the cut is shiny and even, as if "oily". For this test, for example, pine, which is very easy to get, is suitable.
Sharpening if the knife is dull
Over time, your knife will, of course, become dull. Then it can be sharpened with a sandpaper and then polished on the back side of the leather belt with GOI paste.