Originally Posted by
cradom
That's ok, I found a Barry King for $34. The one I made, the clamp is aluminum, AKA crap. Doesn't hold worth anything. Three or four pokes and the blade pushes back into the handle.
Made it out of a finger drill. Thanks anyway.
Yeah. Barry King awls are pretty nice looking. Especially for the price. Not sure how he can sell them for that. Unless he's having them made overseas or something. I'll be curious to hear if the chucks he uses are better than the aluminum "crap" you mentioned.
I use Starrett pin vises. High quality tool. But they cost me sixteen bucks a piece.
Oh and, that blade pushing back in the handle was a been-there-done-that for me too. First one I made, did that. Even using a Starrett pin vise. They just aren't made for that much force on the pin, or blade. Since then I have installed a tool steel pin inside the barrel of the chuck body, placed to hold the blade at the proper depth.