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| Operating Easy Scriber | A Quick and Easy Scriber by Mick Nicholson
It was common practice amongst the old time bench fitters to make their own tools from broken and worn out files. A common such tool was the ordinary scriber, a suitably sized round file being the usual donor. A few minutes at most on the grinding wheel soon converts the old file into a quite acceptable scriber. Followed, for a really keen point by a few strokes on a fine oilstone. Don’t overdo it on the grinding wheel or excessive heat will draw the temper and make the tool useless. Ideally during the grinding process the tool should not at any time change colour. My early model making scriber was made much the same except for our small work I used a suitable sized needle file. This worked and served me well, that is apart from it rolling off the bench owing to it being round! It soon dawned on me to use a square needle file instead of the traditional round one. Then a further thought - why waste time grinding most of the teeth away? Grinding is only required at the tip also the remaining teeth also make a perfect finger grip. Yet another thought - why use an old file? I now grind my scribers from new square files. I have several about the bench and apart from the intended purpose I find them useful for poking out holes and lining up two or more pre-drilled components etc. Signal parts and loco valve gear being typical applications. Another good use is to locate and hold tiny washers in place while soldering. With almost all of the teeth remaining one also has a fully serviceable file. Very handy whilst still in the hand for cleaning up the joint you have just completed. Certainly saves time looking for another file! Mick Nicholson December 2003 | |||
Last updated : July 06, 2008 12:12
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