By turning a burr on a standard disposable knife blade and adding a simple maple handle, you get an amazing detail scraper. The pointed ends let you get into corners easily, and the hardened steel holds a burr for a very long time. When it wears out, I just grab a new blade and turn a new burr. I use a hardened burnisher with oil to turn the burr, holding the blade in a vise. The handle has a simple slot cut through it, with two 1⁄4-20 screws that clamp it shut around the blade. The screws pass through clearance holes in the front half, and then thread into the back half. I cut threads in the wood with a bottoming tap, but you could also use threaded inserts or T-nuts.

—PETER BREU, Manchester, N.H.

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