First tooth!

  I got a bit of time in with the clock today.  I started by doing some completion work on the chisel that I will use for cutting waste between the teeth.

  This is the method that I am using to cut the teeth.  It starts by cutting the sides of the teeth.  These cuts are about 1/2" deep to give an idea of the size.



This is followed by gently heating the area. I have to be very careful because it would be very easy to burn the teeth away.  After heating, I use the chisel to knock out the waste.  This picture shows what it looks like unheated.  It is hard to tell from the photo but the backside of the chisel is flat so that the bottom of the gap between the teeth will be flatter and need less cleanup filing.



After cutting the first tooth, I went ahead and started cutting the remainder of the teeth.  So far, I have about 10 teeth cuts made.  I hope that by the end of this week, all the cuts will be made and I can pop out the waste.  This is followed up by cleanup filing.  Also notice to the right of the photo is a spot where I popped out the waste material.  It really worked like a charm.



On a final note, as I was marking out the teeth, I did notice a few small problems.  Hopefully it will not cause me problems but even if it is unusable, I am planing on cutting all of the teeth just for the practice.