Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.
“Inspired by Jimmy DiResta” seems to be stamped across a lot of makers’ YouTube projects these days. Jimmy’s shopcraft mojo really strikes a chord and inspires a lot of people to head to their garages in search of their own maker muse.
In this video, the Tableft workshop was inspired by Jimmy’s now-iconic DiResta ice pick to build a really nifty butterfly pick and Phillips head driver using only an old screwdriver blade and a length of broken motorcycle chain.
The first thing that was needed was to weld the links of the chain that will form the two sides of the handle for the pick.
To create the pick, the screwdriver blade was chucked into a drill and the former handle-end of the blade was ground into a pick using an angle grinder secured in a vise.
To remove the rubber O-rings in the links of the chain, a blow torch was used to burn them out and then the remnants were picked out.
Now it’s time to weld the pick/driver to the handle.
The last thing that was done (after some heat treating) was to add a belt ring to one side of the handle. The ring has the added function of locking the handle in place when in use.
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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.
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