Sunday, January 16, 2011

Jacked Up Tools: My Favorite "Knife"

This is my favorite knife. Judy Carlson taught me how to make this... and it has ended up being the tool I keep closest to me.


To make it, you will need an extra xacto handle and blades from the smallest utility knife you can find. Literally, the blade is about an inch long.

I bought a large set of xactos at Harbor freight (or on Amazon.com):

They often have several in store but I buy the one that gives me the most handles.  Take the handle, remove the blade and replace it with a mini utility knife blade. (Also Harbor Freight or Amazon, links below!)

Twist the handle collet onto the blade and tighten. Press the blade down onto your table at and angle and make sure it won't shift on you. If it does, the collet needs to be tighter. 

What do I use this for? (What don't I would be a better question!) You can: 

 Shift stringer into place

Add definition to leaves:

And to  hearts:

Use it to shape petals

Give a critter some personality (private collection): 

I've got a myriad of expensive tools and one that costs about $15 bucks to make 5 of them is my hands down all time favorite! 


2 comments:

Karolen said...

Great idea, I'll have to make one of those. Thanks for sharing.

Ema Kilroy said...

Thanks for sharing Holly. This looks like quite the handy tool.