Okay, here's a couple I use:
Junior Jigsaw/Coping Saw Blade in an X-acto knife holder
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1790/43206791352_1ac64509d3_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/28Q36Lu)
I got this one from a Punished Props video. the X-acto holds on to a blade surprisingly well, and with a little patience, it can go through aluminium, no problem. it works like a miniature jab/keyhole saw. I normally have thin coping saw blades in there, which makes it great for inserting into drill holes and cutting into those hard to reach places.
Miniature chisels made from sharpened Jeweller's screwdrivers
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/833/43206784082_3e7ee0f8e5_k.jpg)(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/834/42537259264_591b218112_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/28Q34B9)
Not so much a metalwork tool, but I've ended up using these somehow on every build of mine. really useful for shaping 3D printed parts- especially Shapeways prints. I've also used them as improvised turning tools for my attempts at turning things on my drill press, to great success.
Got to give a shout out to Milliput epoxy putties. great stuff for filling him holes that shouldn't be there, and it's water sculptable. I know old modellers who swear by the stuff. the only downside is that I understand that it's one of those products that hasn't made it Stateside, so it might be hard to get cheaply outside the UK.
I also use high-grit scotch brite-type pads. I can't remember the proper brand name, but I get it at a wood shop in the polishing section. I use it for finishing instead of wet sandpaper, or before anodising. It gives as a good a result as sandpaper, and can be cleaned out, dried and re-used, unlike sandpaper.
Here's a quick video demonstrating how I cut my blade stock. Using a bit of 1/2" pvc and a pipe cutter (as noted earlier), you can have a clean, dust free blade ready to go with a nice rounded edge perfect for inserting into your blade holder!
Always wonder why more people don't do this
Love it. I havent done many diy blades but I've always done hacksaw. And yeah, the dust sucks. This is much cleaner and efficient.
Okay, here's a couple I use:
Junior Jigsaw/Coping Saw Blade in an X-acto knife holder
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1790/43206791352_1ac64509d3_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/28Q36Lu)
I got this one from a Punished Props video. the X-acto holds on to a blade surprisingly well, and with a little patience, it can go through aluminium, no problem. it works like a miniature jab/keyhole saw. I normally have thin coping saw blades in there, which makes it great for inserting into drill holes and cutting into those hard to reach places.
Miniature chisels made from sharpened Jeweller's screwdrivers
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/833/43206784082_3e7ee0f8e5_k.jpg)(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/834/42537259264_591b218112_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/28Q34B9)
Not so much a metalwork tool, but I've ended up using these somehow on every build of mine. really useful for shaping 3D printed parts- especially Shapeways prints. I've also used them as improvised turning tools for my attempts at turning things on my drill press, to great success.
Got to give a shout out to Milliput epoxy putties. great stuff for filling him holes that shouldn't be there, and it's water sculptable. I know old modellers who swear by the stuff. the only downside is that I understand that it's one of those products that hasn't made it Stateside, so it might be hard to get cheaply outside the UK.
I also use high-grit scotch brite-type pads. I can't remember the proper brand name, but I get it at a wood shop in the polishing section. I use it for finishing instead of wet sandpaper, or before anodising. It gives as a good a result as sandpaper, and can be cleaned out, dried and re-used, unlike sandpaper.
Genius!!
Okay, so here's one I've been debating about making into a tutorial for a couple of months, but decided not to (mainly because it's too derivative of existing tutorials) But I figure that as a tip/trick, it's been a lifesaver on my last and current builds, so I might as well share it here.
Using electro etching/saltwater etching as a layout technique for shaping with hand tools
I'm assuming everyone should have a passing familiarity with salt water etching. There's tutorials on practically ever saber forum I've visited, as well as dozens on the internet/youtube. Now, they're mostly focused on using etching to make something look pretty. But instead, I'm talking about using it to lay out cutting, filing, and drilling marks on your workpiece. Now, the main catch is that to do this, you will need a vinyl cutter. you could try doing all this by hand, but I wouldn't recommend it.
So here goes: Last december, I started my Sith Rose build. I had a fair amount of complicated cuts to make, so I figured that instead of marking them onto the aluminium, I could just use my hackspace's vinyl cutter to make some stickers that I could apply to the aluminium, and then cut around them
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4680/39118246921_d9f897e1c5_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/22AKeX8)
It worked. kinda. the caveat was that my vice's jaws would grab the vinyl and stretch it, distorting the cut lines. I nearly screwed up every one of those cuts. That's when I had the lightbulb moment of realizing that for my next series of holes and cuts, I could just use the vinyl stickers as resists, then etch everything directly onto the aluminium. that way, there's a clear delineation between what to cut/drill/file away, and what to leave alone, ie: if it's etched, destroy it, if it's not, leave it alone. more importantly, it it's etched into the metal, as opposed to a line scribed on the surface, the mark will stay on, not matter how hard you manhandle it. once it's etched, it's not going away unless you remove it.
So I went into Inkscape and designed a vinyl sticker that described all the holes and cuts I wanted to make, had it cut, applied it to the aluminium tube I was working on, and etched the holes on. I did have to use a bit of nail varnish (another improvised tool with a million uses, btw) to seal up the gaps in the resist, but everything was good. after that, it was just a matter of cutting, drilling, and filing away anything that was etched.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/38408392004_34c9a341f5_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21w23Pf)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/38408389394_a8f2489d53_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21w233f)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/25251673638_7c25521a7c_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EtpqPq)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/27340913889_11d929db62_k.jpg)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4598/27340909529_09fa9c4ce8_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HE2ka4)
One thing I learned is that it helps a lot to drill an undersize hole, and then sneak up on the line with some careful file work. you'll work up quite a sweat, but hey, if it's good enough for the guy from Clickspring, then it's good enough for your saber. :azn:
I made the three mini-blade holders in the same way. Make stickers, apply to aluminium bar stock, etch, shape.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4599/38408462904_e379d6a244_k.jpg)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4686/39087435482_a73b63f329_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21w2pTE)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/24988939117_7e9d34b6c0_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/E5bQZT)
in this case, I used my drill press to do most of the bulk of the material removal, then cut between the holes with my trusty coping saw, and filed everything to final shape before drilling more holes and final anodizing.
Same thing with my current build: Make stickers, apply stickers, etch, remove stickers, shape
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/914/42368265775_095117674d_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/27xWrjX)(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1809/42368261485_6e5169dfef_k.jpg)(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1804/43272372561_874bd089c2_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/27xWq3Z)
End result.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/915/42368253315_4d26241b9d_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/27xWnC8)
So, there you go, I hope it helps.
...I imagine that now I've written all this up, someone will chime in and mention that this was worked out on some other forum years ago, and they've made every saber of theirs since the late 90's this way. :tongue: oh well, can't be the first to discover everything.
Anyway, if anyone is interested in how I go about designing the stickers vinyl stickers, let me know, and I'll try and get a write-up sorted as soon as I can.
Okay, so, not really as much an obscure tool as a site, but if you have access to an FDM 3D printer, Thingiverse is a godsend. There is a bit of saber specific stuff (although you've got to wade through a lot of 3d saber models to find it) but the real gold is the Tools section. Drilling jigs, tool holders, vices, you name it, someone has probably made a 3d printable version you can download for free. Here's a 3 Jaw lathe chuck I downloaded and printed:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1913/45681614082_cc9daaf02d_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2cAJdkU)(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4905/44817928845_dda904d256_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2bhpAP8)
I have it mounted in my drill press. It's not sturdy enough for lathe work, but it holds onto cylindrical objects well enough to make sanding just so much easier. And when unmounted, I can use it to hold round objects for drilling, which has always been a pain with a regular two jaw vice.
And if it, or some part of it gets destroyed, no big whoop, just print out another.
Link to that 3 Jaw chuck: 2.5inch Three Jaw Chuck by mdkendall - Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2670620)
Okay, got two more, both reccomended to me by a friend from my local hackspace
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4826/45218442924_f846487c94_k.jpg)
Bottom one's a handheld swivel deburring tool. I got it to remove the elephant's footing you get on the first layer of 3D prints, but it cuts steel and aluminium, too. Very sharp little blade on that thing.
Top one is a tube of solder paste. The stuff is meant for surface mount/reflow soldering, but it can also be used with a regular soldering iron, and it melts at a much lower temperature than wire solder, and you can blast it with a heat gun, in a pinch. Just splice or twist together two wires, slather on a bit of solder paste, apply heat, done.
The major downside is that I've yet to come across a brand that isn't loaded full of lead, so it's not 100% safe, health-wise.
*editted 9/01/2020 to add this warning: Don't use leaded solder paste. It works great, but I had to stop using it after a few months, because even with ventilation and fume filters, I was getting these vile, nasty migraines for a few hours after using it. Turns out commercial hobby fume extractors don't handle lead fumes all that well*
Also, general advice: have a google and see if there are any hackspaces, hackerspaces, makerspaces or anything like that around you, and give them at least a visit on an open evening (or whenever they're open to the public). I couldn't have completed my last four sabers without joining my local one, and using the 3D printers and laser cutter they have.
Also, on the subject of different cat skinning methods: Actual Quartz Neocrystal!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48330271666_e8435c6518_k.jpg)(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48330407382_02837d94a4_k.jpg)
While it was fun to break out the diamond tipped dremel tools, I think your cast Neocrystals are significantly easier to make. Less quartz dust in the air, for one. :wink:
Okay, here's one I've been using today. If you've ever hung around YouTube's carpentry/woodwork sections, you know there's just hundreds upon hundred of videos on chisel sharpening. Maybe watch them, and buy some chisels.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48852394327_a7e1fdb332_h.jpg)
Because when they're REALLY SCARY SHARP, they can totally shave aluminium. :evil: