Have you ever made your own tools?

I have a broom handle in the kitchen for manipulating things out of reach.

@stanleybmanly -Does it have a grabber on the end?

I had to do some soldering on a small electronic device without it moving – I built a brace to hold it in place, and a sort of a soldering-iron mount to let me get to the right place.

Strictly speaking, I didn’t make a tool, but I made a device to better let me use my existing tools.

@elbanditoroso – I like that kind of innovation. Saves a lot of aggravation I imagine.

@lucillelucillelucille in my case, it let me fix what I needed to fix with a whole lot less hassle (and much faster) than otherwise.

All the time, some tools get used in unconventional ways too.

I make a Spanish Windlass to hold things in place while glue dries, like an old chair. I wrap the rope around the outside of the legs after gluing, then put dowel in a loop of the rope and twist to tightening it up.

@ARE_you_kidding_me – Do tell!

@Tropical_Willie – I have four old bentwood chairs I need to refinish-along with a broken slat in the back of a rocker. I’ll probably have to reglue some parts, or never sit in them. XD

@lucillelucillelucille that was the reason for gluing, decoration but you couldn’t sit on it.

@Tropical_Willie -The rocker I have has been through some trauma.
It has been refinished but people keep breaking it.
Twice, a guest has sat and produced a loud crack.
It’s almost worth the repairs to see the reactions of those in the room.

@lucillelucillelucille. No. It’s just a long stick, but very good at displacing lightweight things stored above the kitchen cabinets. Things like rolls of paper towels or boxes of cereal.

@stanleybmanly -I gotcha. You could leave the cereal open to test your reflexes!
No need to thank me for that idea

Only the unopened boxes are stored out of reach, precisely because it is of no consequence if I fail to field them.

@stanleybmanly I’m a bit disappointed to hear this:)

A short piece of welding or coat hanger wire, bent over double, with a short piece of emery paper slipped between the bend of the wire, inserted in a electric drill, for sanding the inside of small circular holes in metal or wood.

@lucillelucillelucille I’m building my guitar making tools and learning the trade. Often it’s easier to just make a jig or tool by modifying existing tools rather than pay $$$$ for the fancy specialized ones.

@kritiper -That is a handy invention.

@ARE_you_kidding_me -I feel the same about clay tools. I often make my own and they work just as well.
I have also found dental tools that work very well for sculptural stuff.
As for guitar making, what kinds of wood are used? Are harder woods more resonant than soft woods? Can the type of varnish or metal components used affect the sound?
Last but not least, have you seen the videos of people that make homemade stringed instruments out of jugs or cigar boxes like they’ve done in the past?
One more

@lucillelucillelucille All different kinds, tone woods, junk wood, fancy expensive wood. I make solid bodies at the moment. Metal component quality 100% make a difference, varnish not so much. I have seen cigar box instruments, I don’t really dabble in those.

@ARE_you_kidding_me -That is pretty interesting.
I saw a man at a Renaissance fair that was selling handmade dulcimers and the like. Some of those instruments are very beautiful as well as sounding nice.
I’ve seen demos on making ocarinas and have yet to do this.Also, some kind of recorder looking thing. If I do that, I am risking my life as my harmonica playing is enough torture for innocent ears.

@ARE_you_kidding_me -What are considered tone woods?

Depends on what kind of guitar. Acoustic spruce is best. Solid body can be maple, ash adler, basswood…

@ARE_you_kidding_me -I used basswood fora bird carving as it has a tight grain.
I looked acoustic spruce up & ran into a Les Paul forum. people seemed to have different preferences between a tight or wide grain within that species of wood.
That really is interesting stuff.
I don’t carve much but a tight grain is definitely desirable for detail.
As a side note, different clays have different sounds. I have a red-brown stoneware that rings like a bell and other rougher clays that don’t have that quality.
Now I am wondering what a clay bodied guitar would sound like? XD

It’s been done before, let me see if I can dig up the info.

Found it

Here it’s played

@ARE_you_kidding_me -Wow! Thanks for posting that!
That video answered a lot of questions about how it was made.
It’s amazing that it made it through the firing in one piece. Very cool!

@ARE_you_kidding_me -What do you think of it’s sound?

meh

@ARE_you_kidding_me -That is kind of what I thought and I am by no means a musician.
The idea is interesting though. I was asked to make a drum before. I can’t remember the name of the type of drum it was but I didn’t do it as they drive me nuts. XD

I can make my own weapons.
Hehe. I use the dog leashes for things other than what they were intended.