A Butler County Prison inmate is accused of making three improvised weapons that he fashioned from the limited resources afforded someone behind bars.

Toothbrushes, a piece of a property bin and cloth were the materials used to craft the crude implements.

The alleged jailhouse craftsman, 29-year-old Keith P. Reges of Butler, claimed the so-called “shanks” were for self-defense, authorities said.

Butler County detectives last week charged Reges with three counts of procuring a weapon while an inmate.

The defendant was booked into the prison May 8 following his arrest for domestic violence. Butler police charged him with assaulting his girlfriend.

Since then, according to court documents, he has demonstrated his handiwork.

Detectives said prison officers on May 13 uncovered two shanks under the mattress of a cell where Reges was housed during his current stint.

One of the purported makeshift weapons was described as being a piece of a property bin with cloth wrapped around it as a handle; the other consisted of two toothbrushes also wrapped together by a cloth handle.

In another cell where the defendant had been moved, officers found a toothbrush that appeared to have been filed down.

When he was first confronted, Reges denied making the shanks. Later, detectives said, he admitted making all three.

He said he made the alleged weapons to protect himself.

A preliminary hearing is set for June 6.