Making my own skewers

Haven't really been able to find exactly what I'm looking for, so I figured.. How hard can it be? Found 304 stainless (and 316 if that's any better?) in precut bars online for about 3.50 a piece, but shipping is ridiculous, so I wanted to do a test run first, see if what I had in my head would really translate to steel. Couldn't get stainless at the local hardware store, but they had regular carbon steel in the size I was looking to buy for about $3. I know the stainless will be harder and more of a pita than regular steel, but otherwise I think it will work. This steel is 1/8 x 1/2 x 24". I bent the last 3 inches back over. May look into going 3/4 wide instead of 1/2 but just haven't decided yet.

Any ideas, suggestions, things to consider are appreciated. I'm also thinking of adding a hole about an inch above the pointy end that could receive a stainless cotter key or small stainless rod as a stopper for use when hanging.

First I cut at a 45 and sharpened it on my grinding wheel.



Then I measured 3" down and put it in the vice. I hammered it down past half way.



Then I squeezed it in the vice.



And added the sausage rod from the Shirley







That's where I'm at. Going to order some steel on Monday, but I wanted to see what y'all had to say before I do.. Maybe I'm missing something. Thanks!

Thanks guys. @ Ebjack, great idea, I'll order some stainless rod too. The steel is cheap, it's just the shipping that sucks. Might as well order a bunch at once

Smoke® said:

Just an idea but this would probable work without being too labor intensive and make it very adjustable.
One more thing I would grind the angle point to an arrow point so the skewer doesn't try to push to one side.

Click to expand...

I was thinking something very similar. Will probably chew up a few drill bits, but yea, I'm with ya

ok, so I got some 304 Stainless and built the real things... Made 4 of the skewers.. here's how they came out -



Made 1/8' holes to receive 1/8" stainless rod. Hopefully that will keep things from falling off.. like whole chickens or something..





Took KLS's advice and just made the hook open for easier off and on...



Truthfully I have no idea how much I will actually use these, but I needed a project and it sounded like fun. Looking forward to trying them out. I got some extra 1/8 steel rod I plan on making some more lightweight skewers from as well.

I also got some stainless sheet from Chris (OIFMArine) so I made a giant butt flippin' spatula. I cut out the shape with a jigsaw and then ground the edges down to a nice angle. I finished it all with an orbital sander..







I don't know what the wood is... Some exotic scrap I found in the bin... But it is very farkin' hard wood.. Machiche maybe?







On the bottom side of the handle, I ran the wood longer and cut it at an angle to match the angle of the steel. This should give a little extra support when the weight is heavy on the flipper. I did not glue that part down, as I think it will be moving too much to be permanently tied into the handle..



The Wood is held on with a strong epoxy, and drilled a bunch of holes through the stainless to ensure that both side of the wood made good contact with the epoxy and each other. I tried like hell to get them back apart, and this seemed to work well. Early weight tests show that it can easily pick up an orbital sander, a hammer, and a full sized split. Looking forward to seeing how it does with a butt!

Thanks Andrew!

I'm still a ways off from being able to sell em, that's for sure... I was thinking about making a few for friends, but decided that if I did I would seek out someone with a laser cutter... Stainless chews through Jig saw blads like nobody's business... and it leaves a nasty cut that requires major clean up.