1. I size the hole so that with hand pressure the
bolster is about ¼” away from being fully set into the handle. Then I drive the
tang in by burying the chisel’s edge into a scrap of hardwood and gently
hammering the handle down onto it. I make sure I have extra length on the stock
to account for hammer damage.
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A wedge helps |
2. Once you have two tapers, work holding becomes
a little hairy. For the last two tapers, I simply add a wedge in the vise to make
up for the lost material. No problems that way.
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I prefer patina to fresh wood |
I applied dyes, shellac, and pigments to give this handle
some character. If you are interested in this kind of finishing, you may want
to watch out for my looking glass article this summer. In it I go over how to
achieve this patination simply and quickly. More details on that later.
Outstanding additions. Work holding can be tricky, you are absolutely right. And I really like the look of your handles. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zach. I can't help but muddy new looking wood. I see so much dark, old surface that bright shiny new surfaces are hard for my eyes to adjust to.
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