For a while now I've been pretty busy in my shop making tables, etc. Thought I'd drop a note here to say how much I love woodworking! Ya gotta love it! Here I'm making dowels and the shavings were just awesome.

It does really feel good when the shavings come off in fine curls.

A couple years ago I was learning to make banding and took some pics of the shavings (which I probably posted then too). A fine shaving is delightful.

3 hours ago, JWD said:

A fine shaving is delightful.

Could I ask what this tool is used for?

As far as I know it's a homemade rustication tool (or rusticator) used by pipe makers to add texture and a craggy finish to the wooden bowl or shank of a tobacco pipe.

It's a stippling tool, used for a grippy finish on something like an anschutz rifle. I don't have any pics on this machine but I can do a link:

[img]https://i.ibb.co/bsNYfDW/IMGP6514.jpg[/img]

I've made a bunch of different ones, everything from a handtool hammer kind of thing to pneumatic. Generally the hand tool works the best but is super slow. The pneumatic is fast but a bit hard to control. Lately I've used a combination of the pneumatic and fill in clean edges with the one you see there that is a modified Foredom chisel handpiece.

6 minutes ago, JWD said:

It's a stippling tool, used for a grippy finish on something like an anschutz rifle. I don't have any pics on this machine but I can do a link:

[img]https://i.ibb.co/bsNYfDW/IMGP6514.jpg[/img]

I've made a bunch of different ones, everything from a handtool hammer kind of thing to pneumatic. Generally the hand tool works the best but is super slow. The pneumatic is fast but a bit hard to control. Lately I've used a combination of the pneumatic and fill in clean edges with the one you see there that is a modified Foredom chisel handpiece.

Thanks for the image and explanation. Pretty cool embellishing tool.

Not sure this is the same but a scaling tool used by welders can be made into this tool by filing the needle to have a rounded end. Also called a stippling tool.

The pneumatic version I use is an inexpensive needle scaler from Harbor Freight. The internal end of the needles wear out fairly quickly, as one expects with Harbor Freight stuff. I grind the needles sharp rather than rounded.

I wouldn't recommend it for any kind of detail work, you don't want to get closer than 1/2" to anything that doesn't need texturing. It does go very fast however, so that's what I use for the bulk of the work. I can do 5 grips set up in my duplicating machine (just for holding the work) in about the time it takes to finish up the detail edges on one of them with the Foredom version.

I once tried making a version that went in the needle scaler and had a threaded end for the tip I made to go on the Fordom tool. It worked ok, but the needles tended to fall out and eventually it destroyed the threaded part. I fixed that and the needles continued to fall out. I might revisit the idea eventually, but for now I've shelved it and just use the needle scaler with the factory needles.

Stone masons use a similar method for roughing the field behind carved details. A company called Trow and Holden makes a very nice version of my cheap scaler.

On 10/3/2026 at 7:03 PM, MrRick said:

For a while now I've been pretty busy in my shop making tables, etc. Thought I'd drop a note here to say how much I love woodworking! Ya gotta love it! Here I'm making dowels and the shavings were just awesome.

Making one of your dowel jigs is still on my list of stuff to do!

On 10/3/2026 at 10:03 PM, MrRick said:

For a while now I've been pretty busy in my shop making tables, etc. Thought I'd drop a note here to say how much I love woodworking! Ya gotta love it! Here I'm making dowels and the shavings were just awesome.

Harbor Freight for bulk, Foredom for detail. Trow & Holden if you win the lottery. Makes sense