Tool on the Month August 2017

Welcome to August's Tool of the Month blog post!

This month I'll take a little look at the No. 66 beading tool.

Lie Nielsen no 66 beading tool

The beading tool is to an extent obsolete these days as virtually all the tasks it can do can now be done with an electric router. However this tool is far less dangerous and a lot quieter... plus in some circumstances faster and more convenient!

This is a modern copy of an old Stanley beading tool which was made from the 1880's until the 1940's. This version unlike the original is made from bronze so it has a nice heft to it! The tool is designed to produce small moldings using the supplied selection of profiles or those made yourself.

No 66 beading tool with profiles and fences.

The tool works by scratching the profile into the timber, it is pretty easy to get to grips with and if you only need to produce a small amount of molding/detail then it can be a lot faster than setting up a router.

To use the tool simply select a profile, set the depth and choose a fence, straight for following straight edges or curved for curved edges. Then using short strokes to begin the profile, start to work along the lengh of timber being careful to go with the grain! Overlapping each stroke over the previous one and keep the tool firmly against the edge of the workpiece.

David using the beading tool to produce a rounded profile.

Custom profiles can also be produced by using some suitable sized steel and some metal files, the photo below shows a custom profile I made 5/6 years ago to add a very fine detail to the legs of some tables.

Custom made beading tool blade.

Thats all for August, I'm beginning to get stuck in to making a batch of 12 oak benches for a school in Greenwich so in next months blog there will be a photo of the finished job.

Look out for September's Tool of the Month post in a few weeks!

A very large pile of oak soon to become 12 oak benches for the Greenwich Steiner School in London!