I found a nice piece of Black Walnut to use on the scratch awl hardware I made.  I was going to nickle plate them but decided to just polish the parts and let them go to a natural patina from there.  I have a small collection of awls and like the patina the older ones have.  I had to buy the acorn nuts so I bought stainless steel nuts and washers.  I turned a small shoulder on the acorn nuts to center the washer as the holes were a bit larger than the bolt.  Take a look.

 

 

These are a bolt through design and therefore would not benefit from a ferrule.  Here is another look at the hardware I made on the metal lathe and a link to that thread.

 

 

 

When I went to turn the handles I realized it would be a chore to recess the heads.  I did cut the heads all the same size but didn't think to size them to a drill size, duh.  I ended up using my boring head I purchased from Craft supplies.  @lew posted this video in his January 15, 2020 Wednesday's Wisdom thread and I was inspired to purchase one. 

 

 

 

Got it dialed in and everyone was a great fit.

 

    

 

Now those are classy! 

 

Looks like that boring head is a really precise piece of machinery. 

Beautiful!!!

9 minutes ago, lew said:

Looks like that boring head is a really precise piece of machinery. 

 

Yes it is.  It mounts in the M2 tail stock taper.  Had to make adjustments for the small amount of slop in the "tail stock" but it worked great. 

3 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

 

Yes it is.  It mounts in the M2 tail stock taper.  Had to make adjustments for the small amount of slop in the "tail stock" but it worked great. 

How much was it?

6 minutes ago, Gunny said:

How much was it?

 

 

Here is a picture of the set.  There are 9 cutters come with it.

 

Really nice work Dan! Beautiful.

Well done!

I've been thinking of getting a CBN wheel for my Tormek but that boring head looks like a great tool to have around....hmmm

Dan you continue to improve on what you have done in the past.Great work

I am awl in awe of your work Dan

1 hour ago, Cal said:

I am awl in awe of your work Dan

I wish I'd said that!! Good one.

 

@HandyDan

That's Awl I didn't need to see...another toy to add to the list. 

Those look great Dan.

Would good stainless steel bolts do ok?  Those are awesome and better than you can buy from Amazon.  I ordered a couple and they fit into a shirt pocket.  So, I need to make a couple as I will certainly loose one.  

Stainless can be a pain to cut.  Some of it gets hard when it gets hot from machining.

After the heat, will stainless get brittle?  Making it subject to breaking under pressure.  I'm not much of a metal nut.  

It must get some type of brittle. Long ago I was making a vat to use with furniture paint and varnish remover and had bent the sides up then and was soldering the corners with a torch. It was like 3 foot square and 5 inches tall. I only used enough heat to melt the solder into the spaces but when I went to fill the thing up with remover there were many very small cracks had formed kinda looked like lightening strikes in lots of places in each corner of my great idea. I finally went and bought some flat steel and continued with my project and finished making the vat and added a drain valve so I could strain it up each night so the liquids would not evaporate over night.. I also added a lid that would seal the licquid in  during the day to keep the odor down..

This stainless steel was like 1/16" thick and since then I use regular steel it my building of things..

Dan what metal did you use for the awls.

20 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Dan what metal did you use for the awls.

 

(Grade 5) 1/4" x 4" bolts with the point at the head end.  Not easily turned to a taper.  Sharp tool and keep it oiled.  I was going to use some 5/32 7018 welding rod but wanted a taper.