The first tool I would like to talk about is the porting tool. This tool was a project that helped introduce the basics of how to silver solder. We first covered the materials of what to/not to use, at what temperatures silver solder will flow and how it affects the types of metal you are soldering, and how to properly set up your soldering jig so that you don't make a mistake in the proper angle of the piece you're soldering. Once the soldering was complete, our task was to file down the excess steel/solder to our intended shape, sand and buff to a polished finish, and to finish off, lacquer the tip with a cellulose based lacquer.
The next tool is the water key spring installing tool. This tool could not have been any easier to make (at least from my point of view). The tool started out as just a small brass tube about 2-3" long. To turn the tube into the horseshoe shape that you see above, we had to anneal the brass to the point where it could be flexed in the middle bringing the ends closer to each other. Once we had our shape, the ends were evened with a bench sander and de-burred with a cratex wheel. To complete the project, I polished the finish up to make the tool more appealing to the eye.
Two pretty simple tools to make, but sure are useful to have at my bench. In the future, I'll try to remember to take some pictures of them being used.
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