Make your own trimming tools

[Geoffrey Barst]

I save the stainless steel strip used to stiffen windshield wiper blades when I change them.  There are 2 kinds, one is a flat strip and the other has bevelled edges and is identical to the strip Kemper uses in their trimming tools. Both work well. All I do is bend the strip to a shape I find useful and bring the two ends together for an inch or so.  Drill a hole in one end ( or both if you want 2 tools on the same handle ) of a hardwood dowel to make a snug fit and glue the  two ends into the hole with CA glue. I usually bevel the end of the dowel to 45 degrees on a sander first and wipe on some polyurethane finish.

[Bam2015]

Thank you Geoffrey. Are you willing to share a picture?

Betty

[Pres]

For me it has been band saw blades. I used to have a source of overstock blades when I taught HS. Cutting them to length 2-6" long would make great scoring tools and worked well to flatten the bottoms of forms when trimming. I used a belt sander to clean up burrs and round corners. Take it a little further with a torch to soften the blade, then use a vise and hammer to bend to a desired angle for a trimming tool, Sharpen on a grinding wheel. They last a long time, and will work well for classrooms.

 

best,

Pres

[Magnolia Mud Research]

for me: the following
steel straps from shipping pallets, metal spoons, long thin bent metal nails, stiff steel rods, crooked tree limbs, bent metal table and cutting knives, the metal lid from can of peas, and a shard from a trashed bisqued pot have been converted to trimming tools.  Some worked better than others, all got the job done. 

LT
 

[Bill Kielb]

Hacksaw blades, bandsaw blades. Heat, grind, re-harden. Chattering tools from hacksaw blades. Goose neck chattering tools from Hack saw blades for beginners. Usually Heavy wall heat shrink handles ………. (have a bunch of it) Hardened they last quite a long time, resharpen as necessary. Most are square sharpened on three sides, round and triangular have been useful though. Pretty much Hsin’s tools shapes copied as home made.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Bill Kielb

[Pres]

I would think I should move this to In the Studio.??

 

best,

Pres

[neilestrick]

1 hour ago, Pres said:

I would think I should move this to In the Studio.??

 

best,

Pres

Maybe. I guess it depends on if trimming tools count as equipment?

[Mark C.]

I rarely use steel trimming tools at all . My go to is carbide made special bison tool. -very close to a kemper R2 6 inch ribbon tool. Its a double ender oval on one side square on the other. Its in my. hand or in a plastic tube on the wall when not in hand as the break easy. Only broke one in last 25 years. . I have 3 so about every 5-8 years I send it in for new ends. Its made by bison tools-not for everybody for sure but a must for prodution work like mine. I use to buy 6 inch ribben tools by the gross. sure I made ones from metal banding etc. one carbide outlasts 2oo steel  tools with porcealin trimming .I'm a believer in not wasting as well.

Home made tools are great I will add-I like a beach found  stick to cut a foot with.

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Mark C.

[Bill Kielb]

2 hours ago, Mark C. said:

My go to is carbide made special bison tool.

Nice! - A make your own order tool!
Just kidding, there are many nowadays as Hsin, Xiam SPD, have made available a variety of tungsten carbide versions of their tools including loops etc…. For folks who like a specific shape.  I can’t repurpose that stack of used saw blades that way though.