Blog: What’s Going On? By: John Heisz
Here’s an interesting little project, making ninja throwing stars from a worn out 7-1/4″ saw blade:
This is something I would have loved to have when I was a kid, although it’s probably lucky for all concerned that I didn’t. Today, of course, you can buy these online for a few bucks each.
When I was growing up, it was the stuff of movies and TV, and if you wanted it, you’d have to try to make it. I did make one, but (fortunately) lost it soon after it was finished.
I have a few projects in the planning stage and a couple that are already built, but I don’t have all of the “fixin’s” ready – video, plans, build pictures, etc. Not enough free time, right now.
Some of these projects depend on other projects that are used to make them, and these need to be finished first. A good example is a sharpening jig that I came up with more than two months ago. I brought it through the prototype stage, and needed a protractor and t-bevel to demonstrate how to set it up. This precipitated the protractor project and the t-bevel project. With these done, the next thing is to do a complete build of the sharpening jig, taking pictures and video, and then make a video of how to set it up and use it. Then the plans need to be made for it, to be ready when the article is posted. Right now, I don’t have enough free time to devote to it.
Here’s the prototype:
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And a 1″ chisel, freshly sharpened. The pictures above were taken before I did my shop reno and spruced up my workbench top.
Adding 5/16″ to the top of my workbench left my quick release vise that much lower, so I made new replaceable jaws for it, this time from a contrasting wood:
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I used sapele. It’s not a lot harder than the maple, but looks neat.