a lockpick

My friend's father is a locksmith, and my friend commissioned me to make a lockpick for his dad as a gift a couple months ago. His dad liked it and wanted me to make another type of pick for him. I finished this one yesterday.


*****

I have most of the piercing done on my copper vase, all that's left are the difficult areas. The areas that are hard to get to even with deep saw frame. Now things are going much slower. I am looking forward to getting this piercing finished.

piercing

I am still working at the piercing on my vase. I am working slowly but steadily. I would guess I am about half done. I have been keeping track of the number of saw blades I have broken, just out of curiosity. I have broken 36 so far. I don't have a lot of patience for piercing, which is why I work at it for short periods of time.

chasing hammer

I really liked making my other two hammers, so last week I started making a chasing hammer. I did almost all of it on the lathe, except for the hole for the handle which I drilled on the drill press, then milled on the milling machine.


Milling the hole oval.


This is how it looks right now. I just need to clean it up and heat treat it. I don't have wood for the handle yet, so there's no hurry to get this part done.

Still Putting the Band Back Together

The exhibition Putting the Band Back Together, which I am participating in, will be at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, GA, Aug 23 - Nov 2, 2008.

2nd hammer

I finished my 2nd hammer today. I hardened the head and finished shaping the handle. The handle of this one is kingwood.

I like both of them, but I think I will keep the 1st hammer at my bench to use. I like the feel of the lignum vitae better.

finished hammer

I finished my first hammer today. The handle is lignum vitae, a very hard wood. I ordered it as a 1" x 1" x 12" block and shaped it on the belt sander. It took a lot longer than I thought. The head seems to be on tight. I hammered it on and put a small wedge in the wood. I will need to wait till I use to to see if it stays tight.

I enjoy making tools, and using tools that I have made. As long as they are equal or better quality than ones I could buy. And of course they must look better, that's just as important.

My first piece

I thought I would post a photo of the first piece I made in metal. It's a spoon. I made it fall semester 1996 in the beginning jewelry and metalsmithing class at the University of Iowa. Its aluminum with brass rivets. I remember I considered anodizing it, but decided not to cause it seemed most people got pretty poor results.