I was visiting a good friend of mine at his engine machine shop.  We were in the head reconditioning area and I noticed some valves in the scrap bucket.  They had the thinnest stems I had ever seen before and I joke with him that he was working on toy engines now.  Turns out a lot of the newer engines had thin stemmed valves.  A light bulb went on and I said I bet I could make some awls from those and he gave me some to try out.  They are so hard that a hacksaw just skated across them so I chucked them in the lathe and used a cut off wheel in a die grinder to get the heads off.  I used an angle grinder while they were spinning to start the sharpening process.  I was careful of the heat while grinding but was thinking the hot combustion gases they are surrounded by while the engine is dunning.  They would discolor as any metal does with heat.  I do have an old wet grinding wheel that next to never gets used so I used it just to be on the safe side.  After grinding I brought them to a smooth 600 grit finish with sand paper.

 

 

 

 

These measured out really close to 7/32 inches so I drilled a 13/64 hole in the handle wood for a press fit.  I used some brass candle holders for the ferrule after straightening out the inside taper on the metal lathe.  I installed the ferrule as a press fit and then drilled for the shaft and hammered the handle on with the shaft held between aluminum jaws in a vise to keep from marring it.  Put it back on the lathe to finish turn it.  I reverse chucked it to finish the handle end holding it by the ferrule after wrapping it with masking tape to protect it.

 

Edited October 17, 20214 yr by HandyDan

That is awesome! Bet it will hold a sharp point for quite a while.

I've seen a few folks recommend valve stems for burnishing tools for scrapers. You worked out the process nicely to get them sharp...and the awl is really awl-some!

Beautiful work, Dan! As usual!!

Edited October 17, 20214 yr by HARO50

Very slick!!

Nice job!  Quality craftsmanship shines through. 

 

.40

2 hours ago, forty_caliber said:

Nice job!  Quality craftsmanship shines through. 

 

.40

You betcha! 

Beautiful work Dan! Great idea too.

Spectacular Dan!

And where is the link for "HandyDan's tools.com"? Awesome work.

Well a new Christmas gift in premium comes to the fore. Way to go

How do you get the motors to run smooth with a few valves missing?

12 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

How do you get the motors to run smooth with a few valves missing?

 

The engines weren't running smooth with the bent ones so?

Who would want to make an awl using a bent valve?

32 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

Who would want to make an awl using a bent valve?

 

 

Great idea and re-purpose. Those are awesome Dan. Should last two lifetimes.

 

One word of caution though when using engine valves especially from unknown applications.  Some exhaust valve have sodium filled stems to aid in cooling so could cause an unexpected hazard while cutting or turning on a lathe.

Edited November 3, 20214 yr by Grandpadave52

Exceptional workmanship!

 

Next you'll be repurposing pre-used titanium surgical pins!