Pencil Shave

[CedarSlayer]

This was made from one of the cutters in an old broken pencil sharpener. It was a bit dull so I sharpened the cutter using the ancient method old timers used to sharpen files. soaking it overnight in vinegar. Now it is nice and sharp. A bit of all-thread, between the knobs, holds it all together. Great little tool, Kind of a cross between a float, file and a spoke shave.



Bob

[Christophe Mineau]

It's really pretty !
I didn't know pencil sharpener had such blades ...
(in fact, pencil sharpener are not very often used here ...)

I will try the trick of the vinegar. Do you have an explanation how it works for sharpening (I would think it cleans up ?)
Thanks Bob
Christophe

[CedarSlayer]

Fresh vinegar is best, you don't reuse. It does expand wood fibers and make them easy to remove, but cleaning is not the total purpose. Submerge totally the metal near or at the fluid line will be eaten horribly.

Vinegar soaked steel will be eaten away. As you reduce in scale a tooth, the nicks tend to disappear and the slightly smaller tooth is sharper.

This also does another thing. The tool when you remove it, will be covered with fine black rust. Clean and brush this off so no further eating of the file happens. The layer that got eaten is black rust. After cleaning the black off, the metal will be a dull gun metal gray. Literally. In the old days this was a treatment done to guns to reduce rust. The grey layer is in fact one of the many forms of rust or iron oxide. This particular form is kind of nice to have. It is quite a bit more resistant to rust than bare metal, and when it rusts, it does not expand like the red rust does. So it does not tend to burrow into the metal like red rust will. It also will grow as a crystal when there is an opportunity, so small scratches will likely be covered by the grey coating preventing the destructive red rust from forming.

I have tested this many times. The coating is not proof from rust by any means, but it beats not having the coating by a lot.

After you have sharpened your file or when you get a new file, rub some sidewalk chalk into the file before using it. This makes it much easier to clean and much slower to clog.

I can go on for days with the old timers rules of file use, don't store them side by side, they will rub and dull each other. Don't buy files that are not separated at least by oiled paper. The seller knows nothing about file care. Don't rub a file the wrong way, It dulls it faster and worse than use. Always lift on the non cutting stroke. If you really treasure a file, send it to Boggs Tools instead of using vinegar. You can use the vinegar trick a few times on a file and is great for the common and available file. But if you want to take the best care of a valuable file or if you really want a good file you must start doing business with http://www.boggstool.com/ Some folk buy a fine file and then send it to Boggs before they use it the first time!

Bob

[Christophe Mineau]

OK, thanks for the explanation, it'svery clear.
I will try that.

[CedarSlayer]

I just noticed where you are from. I am a bit jealous since your country still makes decent files and rasps!

Not all pencil sharpeners have this type of blade. The classic old hand crank pencil sharpener mounted on the wall in US schools however usually does.

Bob

[kbalch]

Thanks CedarSlayer! I've added your Pencil Shave to our Woodworking category, as well as to your builder page: CedarSlayer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Pencil Shave by CedarSlayer

tags: file, hand tools

[Hotz]

Fresh vinegar is best, you don't reuse. It does expand wood fibers and make them easy to remove, but cleaning is not the total purpose. Submerge totally the metal near or at the fluid line will be eaten horribly.

Vinegar soaked steel will be eaten away. As you reduce in scale a tooth, the nicks tend to disappear and the slightly smaller tooth is sharper.

This also does another thing. The tool when you remove it, will be covered with fine black rust. Clean and brush this off so no further eating of the file happens. The layer that got eaten is black rust. After cleaning the black off, the metal will be a dull gun metal gray. Literally. In the old days this was a treatment done to guns to reduce rust. The grey layer is in fact one of the many forms of rust or iron oxide. This particular form is kind of nice to have. It is quite a bit more resistant to rust than bare metal, and when it rusts, it does not expand like the red rust does. So it does not tend to burrow into the metal like red rust will. It also will grow as a crystal when there is an opportunity, so small scratches will likely be covered by the grey coating preventing the destructive red rust from forming.

I have tested this many times. The coating is not proof from rust by any means, but it beats not having the coating by a lot.

After you have sharpened your file or when you get a new file, rub some sidewalk chalk into the file before using it. This makes it much easier to clean and much slower to clog.

I can go on for days with the old timers rules of file use, don't store them side by side, they will rub and dull each other. Don't buy files that are not separated at least by oiled paper. The seller knows nothing about file care. Don't rub a file the wrong way, It dulls it faster and worse than use. Always lift on the non cutting stroke. If you really treasure a file, send it to Boggs Tools instead of using vinegar. You can use the vinegar trick a few times on a file and is great for the common and available file. But if you want to take the best care of a valuable file or if you really want a good file you must start doing business with BOGGS TOOL & FILE SHARPENING COMPANY - WELCOME Some folk buy a fine file and then send it to Boggs before they use it the first time!

Bob

Bob ...
Thank you for this lesson, congratulations ..
Your tool has nice visual and harmonic.
I really enjoyed ...

[DIYer]

That's certainly an innovative use of pencil sharpener parts. How amazingly creative homemade tool makers are!

[CedarSlayer]

That's certainly an innovative use of pencil sharpener parts. How amazingly creative homemade tool makers are!

I cannot actually take credit for the concept of the pencil shave. It is one of the early shared concepts that woodworkers passed around back before the internet allowed us such ease. In the early days of computing this sort of thing was shared on dial up modem based bulletin boards. It is such a good tool that I try and share the idea every now and then. Sadly, while I remembered the concept years later, I have long since forgotten who originally shared this gem.

Bob

[Christophe Mineau]

your country still makes decent files and rasps!

Yes ! you're probably talking about that :

For those who have no time, you can jump to 6'20

It's a pity, I just have Auriou gouges, but not (yet) the famous "râpe fauteuil" (literally armchair rasp) or "râpe feuille de sauge" (literally sage leaf rasp), they are really loved by luthiers for shaping the necks and heels. They say they are really cutting tools, and not just sawdust making tools ...

Auriou is a good example of craftsmanship that survive, but in France, like elsewhere, there are so much being given up ...
I dream one day to get an occupation around that ...