One of the projects I had on my list was to make a set of ferrule station cutters. I wanted ones that were big enough to hand hold as I had some scary moments with some cutters that were fixed in the tailstock. I figured I could make them okay but I was intimidated with the prospect of heat treating them. I made up the cutters in 01 tool steel 3/4" dia. by 1". I found some fire bricks for $1.50 ea and using six of them I made a little cave and blasted them with the torch I used for flaming. It took about 3 minutes but I got the head bright red, quenched them in oil (they caught on fire) and them tempered them. I ran a file over them and it would not make a mark so it looks like I am good to go. I sharpened one and will do the rest tomorrow. Have a look, they should work great. They were shiny when I started and now they are "Hock blade blue" they look stealthty!
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It appears you can get a lot for five bucks these days, for the price of a fancy coffee at Starbucks you can get a Plano mini tackle box with moveable dividers. These things are well made and incredibly handy for small stuff, ferrules, guides, drills, end mills reamers, reel seat parts, fly tying stuff or whatever your heart desires. The only thing that would make them better would be to have them Made in Canada but, hey, Made with Pride in the USA ain't too bad. They are $5.99 in Canada so they have to be only $4.99 in the States.
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AuthorI am a cane rod builder and co-founder of Canadian Cane Archives
February 2019
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