Home-Made Hand-Tools

sweet tools. Though I’d expect nothing less than these one of a kind beauties.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Very nice Rob….I need to go make a mallet.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Nice job Rob. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for an osage orange branch.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Very cool Rob!

When I was a kid in Indiana, we had hedge rows. When I was in 4-H I learned that they were Osage Orange. In ‘68 I went to Mississippi and was introduced to “Bo-dock”. Any way you call it, it is some of the toughest wood I’ve ever seen. We made fence posts from it and after it dryed you couldn’t drive a staple into it. But it never rots. It makes one heck of a mallet. Nice work,Rob.

-- Thos. Angle

cool tools indeed !

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

I Like them!

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

that’s interesting that you mention the MicroPlane—they are on my list of interviews but I haven’t heard back from them.

Wonderful tools. Well done

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi Rob;
—-your are truly a ‘worker of the wood’....one who makes his own hand tools and then uses those tools to make beaut-i-full works of ‘wood art’!

And then where you find your wood at is also amazzzzzziiiiinnngg, I mean….Possum Kingdom Lake. Does this mean that when you go off to ‘other’ places, that you come back with more then you went with? Also I liked what you said here, “The nice thing about this tool is it’s straight from the backyard. While trimming an osage orange (bois d’arc) tree I happened to catch a glimpse of this mallet amongst the fallen branches.”

I mean that is an awesome ability….to be able to see into the woodpile and see your mallet amongst those branches. Keep it up….I believe your imagination has slipped the ‘gripper’.

Great story, great two projects….rasp and mallet, and two hand tools I would be proud to own….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Thank you for all the great comments.

Thos. – Yes, the tree has many names (horse apple, for another) and many stories of its uses, from indian long bows to hedge rows to wagon wheels.

MsDebbie – The microplane rasps are awesome, I have a small one in addition to this, they are always kept within arms reach.

Mr. Frank – I do tend to return with a few “finds” and I often “see” “glimpses” of projects within my finds. Always testing the brain to arrive at new ideas, keeping the spirit of the wood at the forefront.

Thanks again for all the posts.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Nice work Rob. Yep, that’s a couple of treasures you created. Fine.

-- Gary, Florida

Nice tools.

-- Jiri

Great looking tools. I love the mallet.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.