Any advice on making a bodkin? I have a few well bleached deer bones, as well as others, that I thought would be good to use. Can’t turn wood, as I know many of you can. My thought is to use something that’s natural and already interesting looking.
Forgive me if this has been answered already. I did try doing a search on this site, and I didn’t have much success.
Hugh
consider what your going to use it for, IE picking feathers applying glue etc. go to the sewing store and buy a pack of needles that will work for that size, go to the hardware store and buy some epoxy and a dowel approximately the size of the handle you want.(buy a new drill bit at the hardware store the one you want you broke last time you used it and didn’t remember to buy a new one.) drill a whole in the dowel just bigger than the needle. mix some epoxy dip the back end of the needle in the epoxy and stick it in the hole of the dowel.
OK I know this is simplistic and probably not what you wanted to hear. but… My favorite bodkin is made with the base of a pen I use it as a bodkin and half hitch tool, Make a bunch with the dowel just to practice. if you completely mess up your out a few cents not some nice bone or antler. try some different needles there cheap. buy a sheet or two of very fine sandpaper to take the edges off and rub in some paste wax. when you find what you like, then make the good ones.
Eric
Turning is good but had a great disadvantage. You end up with a round handle that rolls off the bench. A piece of antler or bone would be ideal. Just drill into it the size of your needle. I find Gorilla Glue the best for holding the needle in. Don’t make it too big. My most used one is only about 2" long.
What kind of needle you want depends on the job you want to do with it. If you want a straight tapered one, put a bodkin into an electric drill and grind it while turning it. Personally I use ball end sewing machine needles as I do a lot of split thread techniques. Sewing machine needles are made to go through thread without damaging it. I use a different one for varnish, as the sewing machine needles are not good for that.
Cheers,
A.
You could use an exacto style pin. They flex a little less than sewing pins/needles, however they are larger diameter (not good for super-fine work). You can also apply wood stain to your bones to seal them and give them a great aged look. Make sure you wipe off all excess stain and buff the bones when dry. The antlers of young deer also make great small tool handles. Luke
Eric’s ideas above are spot on and will work very well.
I make them with 3" chunks of old bamboo rods. The butt section works best. I make my own needles from stainless rod from the K&S rack at the hobby or hardware store. You can get some nice wire/rod for this. I shape it on a belt sander to get the point and polish on my buffer. There are needle threaders available at the fabric store that work great for bobbin threaders with a bit of handle added to them. I drill a hole in the end opposite the needle or threader large enough for the eye of a #6 hook and shape the end to make a half hitch tool. I put a bit of a wrap on the rod pieces and use polyurethane to finish.
Bodkins and threaders are easy to make and don’t take much to do.
This is one I did without the half hitch tool on the bottom.
Making them is fun.
You can also just use an old exacto type knife handle and just stick a needle into it. I found several of these type handles a the dollar stores and the big box places. Some various sized sewing needles and you can have several diferent ones for various tasks. If the needle gets damaged or duyll, you just put in another one.
Buddy
Beautiful job! I like the idea of using old bamboo! I do some refinishing with a friend, and it probably wouldn’t be hard to find some butt sections.
(buy a new drill bit at the hardware store the one you want you broke last time you used it and didn’t remember to buy a new one.)
How did you know??
I have what I guess qualfies as a bodkin made from the base section of a small whitetail antler and a concrete nail ground in a rotating drill to a point. It’s my heavy duty model, I have others made from needles etc.
…buy a “pin vise” at the hardware store. buy some “long soft sculpture” needles at a sewing store.
Mines always broken when I open my drill index, cant understand why. stinkin drill gnomes.