horologist, I'm interested in the little "c" frame thingys on your bench. It looks like one has a jewelers saw blade in it. The other looks like something thicker. That's some fine looking work you got there. Please elaborate.
Make that 2 of us that want more info.
I got the idea for these tools from an article about Kees Englebarts (maker of superb watch dials) in the Horological Times, there used to be a copy on the web but it seems to have vanished. At the time I needed to make the hands in the photo and thought the tool might be helpful, it was. I scaled them based on a photograph in the article and made them from some scrap brass rings. As far as I know, they are not commercially available but they are a simple project. Some detailed photos for any who want to make a copy.
They may look like saws but are actually used more like files. In one tool I can mount a short section of a standard jeweler’s saw blade, this is quite useful for getting into sharp corners or sculpting curved surfaces in areas that would be inaccessible or dangerous to the tips of my files. (Few things are more annoying than breaking the tip of a century old, irreplaceable, favorite file.) The blades are under no real tension and can be loaded with a fair amount of slack to allow the blade to follow a contour.
That first set of hands was fairly two dimensional but the tool came in very handy for this set.
The hands in this photo are not blued the dark color is an illusion created by the polished surface.
The tools are for fine details and are helpful for my watch and clock work. I am working on my first rifle and it may well be they are not particularly useful for making longrifles. Time will tell. I would be interested to hear if anyone made one and found it of use.
Troy
