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3D printed screwdriver sharpening housing tool for use with Arkansas pocket stones


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Hi, just wanted to share a little housing tool I built for sharpening screwdrivers, attached the design and STL files here along with pics. Works pretty well for me.

It fits Dan's Arkansas Pocket sharpening stone (3" x 1" x 1/4"), which is very affordable and comes in many grades. Has drainage holes at the bottom, in case you choose to use water for the stones. Also has walls/edges to prevent the wheels from running off or over the stone, like a railroad track.

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sharpener_v1-Body.stl sharpener_v1.FCStd

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  • Zero changed the title to 3D printed screwdriver sharpening housing tool for use with Arkansas pocket stones

UPDATE: I realized that not everyone uses that same sharpening tool as me. So I updated the FreeCAD design files such that users can manually input the width value as they please. The width is the sharpening tool's wheel to wheel distance with the smallest screwdriver inserted. There is an additional +5% margin added for clearance, this is also in the spreadsheet.

Attached the design files, and several pre-generated STL files with different widths. Its still the same design as before, just with a parameterizable width. If you don't care about the size, then just pick the biggest one.

sharpener_v2.FCStd sharpener_v2-42mm.stl sharpener_v2-40mm.stl sharpener_v2-38mm.stl sharpener_v2-36mm.stl

Edited by Zero
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I received a set of 2 Arkansas stone (M and F) like yours and I ordered the 3D printing, will be done this week. I also added a small design for a 20mmx20mmx50mm block to file the blade edge perpendicular to the stone to finish it that the 3D printer designed for free. Made from nylon as it's most durable.

I will post pictures when I pick the parts.

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  • 4 months later...

I bought some more Bergeon screwdrivers because Esslinger was having a special.  Anyway, I hate those standing screwdriver holders...I have two.

So I made this 3D printed stand/holder.  I like my drivers to sit in order of size in a nice neat fashion.  They get scrambled up during a service, by I always put them back neatly.  Now I have this to assist.

2021-12-28 12_34_24-20211228_114500.jpg ‎- Photos.png

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I like the guide rails for the honing guide. Well done!

Here's mine:

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Slightly different approach. 🙂 

Sapele (body and lid), leather (gasket), hide glue, and garnet shellac, with flush inlaid DMT diamond stones, and a honing strop made of wenge (iirc), steel plate, hide glue, and leather. Lid on is the first pic, coming off is second, and in the third it's attached to the bottom using the same leather gasket that keeps it tight to the top. Guides and such live in the pocket. If I need to use a stone from the side, I can pull it out with the magnet (tool pocket, top left), and the pocket to the right keeps it in place while retaining access to the shoulder. Definite overkill for screwdrivers, but that's not what I made it for. I also do a lot of hand tool woodworking, and keeping blades scary-sharp is a necessity. 

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I'm surprised folks are using Arkansas stones for screwdriver blades. In school in both the U.S. and Switzerland we used India stones, medium grit. I have a lot of Arkansas stones from tiny to huge, but I see them as finishing stones; I can't imagine how long it must take to reshape a chipped blade with one (knife or screwdriver). Also, part of why the schools have you use India is it grips the slot better- the Swiss even disdain the roller tool, and have students stone the blade parallel with the tip, the idea being that it grips even better.

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21 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

I have a lot of Arkansas stones from tiny to huge, but I see them as finishing stones; I can't imagine how long it must take to reshape a chipped blade with one (knife or screwdriver).

I agree. In fact I dress just fine with an household aluminum oxide stone. The small strip that is one one of my driver holders is the same.

 

21 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

have students stone the blade parallel with the tip, the idea being that it grips even better.

I disagree with that. A well sized wedge is really what changes the experience on on bot watchmaking, and general screws. The only exception I can imagine is on old round shaped screw heads, there a wedge may slip by side and full contact could be better.

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I have a Hard Arkansas and a Medium Arkansas that I've had for years and years, I usually use the medium for screwdrivers, makes quick work of them. 

I also have a large assortment of carborundum (India?) and diamond stones, but still use the Arkansas stones for most everything. 

I worked on some brass tweezers on the medium stone and ended up with some brass embedded in the stone, won't do that again 🙂

 

IMG_20211230_181128.thumb.jpg.18a0f08edd5704556a0711abf7135f64.jpg

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On 12/30/2021 at 6:28 PM, nickelsilver said:

I'm surprised folks are using Arkansas stones for screwdriver blades. In school in both the U.S. and Switzerland we used India stones, medium grit. I have a lot of Arkansas stones from tiny to huge, but I see them as finishing stones; I can't imagine how long it must take to reshape a chipped blade with one (knife or screwdriver).

I mostly use this for dressing, which I do more often than repairing a chipped blade. That said, you can find coarser versions of the Arkansas stone on Amazon. But I also prefer using aluminum oxide (by hand) for badly damaged stuff, and then only I switch to the Arkansas stone.

 

On 12/30/2021 at 6:28 PM, nickelsilver said:

the Swiss even disdain the roller tool

My Horotec roller rusted quite badly after I left it on my workbench for just a week. I usually keep it in an airtight toolbox as it is very humid where I live, but I forgot to do so this one time.

However, the roller does help me hold the tip in the right angle when I flip it to do the other side. The end result looks good under the microscope.

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Precision sharpening isn't nearly as critical for screwdriver blades as it is for many other things. A guide makes it a no brainer easy thing to accomplish. If you know the angle you're after, you do some simple math (and measurements in this case, since it's not a published figure) to figure out how far out to stick the tip, then go to town. Can't screw it up. If you really want to take it to the next level, make a little jig that you butt the guide up to, with a little notch and a stop so that you always have the tip out the same amount without even having to measure. As often as I have had to sharpen my screw drivers, it's not been something I've bothered with yet. I have one for plane blades/chisels/etc., and it would be nothing to add a small notch within one of the larger guides. Maybe next time I'm in there...

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2 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I will probably get run out of town on a rail for admitting to using these for sharpening my drivers.

A Finnish friend gave me one of these Marttiini pocket diamond sharpeners like 18 years ago and it's what I've used for screwdrivers (and tweezers except really fine ones) ever since. Freehand, takes less than a minute to touch up a blade.

 

 

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3 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I will probably get run out of town on a rail for admitting to using these for sharpening my drivers.

That's the exact same thing I have in the photos above, just smaller. I think mine are something like 8"x3" or thereabouts. They were one of, if not the largest size plates they had at the time. Stand up to the hardest alloys, stay flat forever, and it's easy to clean out the swarf. I use dish soap in tap water as a lubricant, and chase each sharpening session with a coat of jojoba oil. 

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