Wheel Making Tool - hole saw

  This is one of those tools that sneaked up on me.  I bought this set of hole saws a couple of years ago and used them on one project, after which I put it away on a shelf and mostly forgot about it.  It was a decorative divider used to separate two cats that would not be friends.  I drilled a series of random holes in a piece of plywood, stained and finished the wood and set the divider up so that the cats could see one another and discuss their differences without being able to use their claws.  It worked and eventually they resigned themselves to an uneasy life together.

   Otherwise the round things I needed I made on the lathe and so this set of tools sat collecting dust until...I needed some wheels for a toy truck.  I looked around and couldn't find a size I liked for a reasonable price, and it is way too much effort to make a few wheels on the lathe so I struck on this alternative.

   
  With a little bit of clean up I can get perfectly good wooden wheels, in a variety of sizes.

  A trick that I learned with this hole saw is that it  gums up quite badly when cutting wood since it doesn't have saw teeth but abrasive glued to steel.  After each use in wood I clean the cutting edge with a wire brush and so have less burning and a cleaner cut.  Also, use it in a drill press if you possibly can.
  
   This set of hole saws was also used to make wooden bracelets to sell at the craft shop.  

stern of the ship Vasa 1/32 scale

  This photo has nothing to do with wheels, but it is just too cool to have is left on the hard drive.  This is a photo of the stern of the Swedish Ship Vasa that was built in 1626-1628 and sunk on its maiden voyage.  We went to  the Vasa museum in Stockholm last June, it is well worth the trip.  

  Why is it here, because it was wood, wood is wonderful and in the hands of mater crafts people beautiful to behold.