# Why a Project Like This



## ronboley (Jun 3, 2014)

Why, with all of the great quality screw drivers available for very little cost would you spend countless hours machining aluminum or brass ferrules and tops, turning wood handles, grinding and polishing stone caps and assembling the lowly hand made screw driver?  Well I guess to use all of those tools you've been collecting for so long, make something that is useful, and hopefully be able to give something unique to those friends or relatives that maybe appreciate tools like you do...  

Anyway...I've produced my 2nd project, the "prototype" screw driver using my new machining equipment, my old wood and stone working machines, some aluminum round stock, some scrap oak and some new screw drive tangs from Veritas (very reasonable $$).  As with the first project (ball turner) I'm learning a lot and making plenty of mistakes.  In the photos the wood is not yet finished and the stone cap is yet to be placed.   My ball turner did come loose and put a couple of gouges in my otherwise neat concave ferrule turning.  From this prototype I've decided to add a brass spacer between the wood handle and the aluminum top to fill that space and add another color element, bevel the leading edge of the aluminum ferrule and use only one pass on the knurling on the ferrule so the detail looks the same as the top.  I'll also grind down the bottom of the set screw so it sits flush with the ferrule surface.

I'll finish the prototype and post more photos.

I have lots of exotic wood scraps laying around for handles so the plan is to make sets of two or three (flat and Phillips or different sizes), place them in a wood gift box (carved so as to use my CW mini cnc carving machine and personalize it) and give them at Christmas...no I didn't say which Christmas...

If you have the time maybe it's not so bad a way to use it after all.

Cheers!


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## ddmunroe (Jun 3, 2014)

Hi 
I like your workmanship ... ) !
dd


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## jumps4 (Jun 3, 2014)

very well done 
steve


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## xalky (Jun 3, 2014)

So...You gave it to your favorite son in law for Christmas and the first thing he does is tear up the tile in his bathroom with a hammer and that beautiful hand made cold chisel.:lmao:


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## Analias (Jun 4, 2014)

I'd be proud to have that in my toolbox. Nice work. 

-Freeman 


Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk


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## Marco Bernardini (Jun 4, 2014)

ronboley said:


> Why, with all of the great quality screw drivers available for very little cost would you spend countless hours machining aluminum or brass ferrules and tops, turning wood handles, grinding and polishing stone caps and assembling the lowly hand made screw driver?



The same question can be asked to pen turners, or to watchmakers… :biggrin:
You did a wonderful job!


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## dave2176 (Jun 4, 2014)

These are fun to make.  This is one of the projects I work with the cub scouts on for their craftsman pin. Of course a pen is another. 

Nice job,
Dave


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## jam (Jun 5, 2014)

you    ((( Why, with all of the great quality screw drivers available for very little cost would you spend countless hours machining )))
ever time you use it youll know that you made tool and that makes you fell good inside   hell you made  a tool that you can use to fix tools with 
 nice job  keep it up  

   and PS  ill take one


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## cityhick (Jun 16, 2014)

Looks great. I would like to give this a try. Could you post a link to where you got the blade/tang? I searched and didn't come up with anything...unless im staring right at it and don't see it. I have done that many times. Thanks.

Mike


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## ronboley (Jun 17, 2014)

Here's the link for the screwdriver shanks.  Great quality and reasonable price I thought. http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=64983&cat=1,43411,43417&ap=1


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