Make Your Own Woodworking Tools: Metalwork Techniques to Create, Customize, and Sharpen in the Home Workshop

Praising the simplicity and economy of customized handles and blades made from recycled materials, this manual details the construction and assembly of handmade tools that can be fitted to individual hands and are designed to keep a razor-sharp edge. An extensive section on salvage steel provides advice about choosing metal, and an in-depth analysis of heat treatment explains how to get a hard cutting-edge while keeping the back of the knife soft for greater strength. In addition, a section on making handles recommends techniques for shaping and carving wood to distribute pressure over a large area of the heel of the hand in order to relieve stress on the wrist and arm.

Mike Burton has been a professional woodworker for more than 40 years, creating projects that vary from a furniture line to guitar bodies. He is the author of Architectural Carving, Simple Marquetry, and Veneering a Foundation Course. He lives in Ogden, Utah.