Guest DFogg Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 I am finding that I use micro chisels in much of my work so needing a special shape, I made up some out of music wire. For the pictorial go to Making Micro Chisels You can buy music wire from Precision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toscano Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Don! Thanks very much, that's very useful to know. Now, just to make sure my head has got things straight, the steps are roughly as follows: Shape the wire into the chisel you want. Smooth the cutting end. Heat up on hotplate till shiny ends goes bronze. Heat with a propane torch till the whole piece becomes a uniform bronze (this one I am not sure I got right). Dip in extra virgin olive oil and eat with a side of coleslaw. Am I getting this right??? Thanks again for the tutorial. -t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Almost, shape, heat to orange, quench in mineral oil (though olive oil should work) and then the hot plate. The first step is to harden, the second step is to temper or draw some of the brittleness out of it by reheating to a low temp on the hot plate. The V chisels and gouges would require special dies, not complicated, but also not worth it for one or two pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Pepper Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hi Don What are bicycle spokes made of? Would they be suitable to use for this purpose Rex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 I don't know anything about bicycle spokes. If you have some, heat it up and quench it. If it hardens enough to skate a fresh file it might work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Bonham Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hi Don, Thank's for the information on the music wire. I was looking at your tuitorials and saw your etching if the bird and it is beautiful. You draw very, very well. Could we see more? Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hi Dick, Actually, the drawing was done by my wife and sadly there aren't any more. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Delaunay Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 thank you Don! Do you know what sort of steel is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Precision uses 1085 high carbon steel. You can get quite a range of diameters and it is very useful to have around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Delaunay Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Thank you Don! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vjacheslav Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Don, tiny cutters can be made of spokes of a umbrella. It is qualitative steel.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Twilbeck Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Don what about spring steel. I have some that is about 1/8" wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Most spring steels will work. You may want to heat it to a dull red first and let it air cool before cold working to avoid breaking and cracking. Don't get it too hot or it might air harden. Hardness is easily checked with a file, if the file cuts it, you can cold work it. Color is best judged in dim light. After it has been shaped then go through the hardening and tempering steps. You only need to harden the end of the tool and it takes only a second or two with the torch to bring it up to heat. Be sure to get it into the quench oil immediately because in these small sections it can air cool below critical rapidly. If you miss the hardening temp, just redo it. Always check with a file to make sure it hardened before you temper. You can quickly make specialized tools for unusual jobs. I like hooked scrapers because you can get into really tight spots and take off whisps of material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janel Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Yeah, hooked scrapers! That is a group of fantasy tools yet to be made! Temper- is that the warming after the hardening, uh, hardening to straw color, quench immediately, then temper by__________ to what heat? Janel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DFogg Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Sorry for the confusion. Harden by heating to orange and quench in oil. Check with a file, if the file skates it has hardened, but will be too brittle. Tempering is reheating to add toughness. Temperatures run from 350F to 900F. The higher the tempering temperature the softer the tool will become, that is the trade off, toughness vs. hardness. You can roughly judge tempering temperatures by polishing a section of the hardened bevel and watch the colors change when you reheat it. The color will go through a spectrum from light straw, light bronze, dark bronze, purple-bronze, blue, light blue as the temps rise. For most high carbon steels a light straw to light bronze will make a good cutting edge without chipping in use. With the micro chisels it is possible to reheat or temper by using the hot plate and watching the colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.