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This is a block ( about 13" long by 2"
thick square) of hard maple. You can use about any kind
of wood though. This and the others ones of these had
some spalting and worm holes but I think they'll work
alright. |
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Round it out with the tool of your
choice. I used a 3/4" roughing gouge starting on the
right side and working my way to the left. It's a whole
lot easier than roughing the entire length all at the
same time. |
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All roughed out. I checked for major
splits and worm holes, etc. The worm holes weren't
really visible here but do show up later (blasted,
sneaky worms!) but I decided to just leave it. I'll
make up some story to the recipient about it later. hehe |
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I start out by figuring out where the
junction of the handle and the "steel" portion is going
to be. I feel like the handle needs to be more or less
a regular size and the steel part can be a little
shorter if it has to be. Hey, it's been used and
sharpened! |
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I then go to the handle and rough it
out. I used the roughing gouge here too. Make whatever
handle style you want. |
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A refining of the shape of the upper
handle area. By the way, this is very much the same
thing (and good practice) as making a real handle for an
actual tool. |
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Once I have everything the way I want it
(at least roughed out), I go to the steel portion again
and form the ferrule. Normally, the ferrule will be some
piece of brass or something similar but we're making it
all out of wood. |
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Then, I take the steel portion down to
the final diameter and make it fairly smooth. Doesn't
have to be really smooth because we're going to make
this all square (cutting and/or sanding it that way)
anyway. For skews, leave this pretty thick. |
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I then turn (yeah, I crack myself up!)
to the handle again and turn it to final form.
Personally, I use the skew to do that. The shallow and
long sweeping coves/curves are great for the skew and
you don't usually have to sand it to get a perfectly
smooth surface. |
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Always work downhill or else you might
get some tearout. You'll see that I am doing these cuts
with the "toe" or long point "up" here. I tend to do
that on these planing cuts as it keeps the handle of the
tools closer to my body and the shear angle is so much
better this way and gives a superior finish cut here. |
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The last thing, before parting off, is
to make sure the ferrule area looks good and is
straight. Also, if anything, make the junction between
the handle and ferrule area just a tad bit undercut..
This gives the illusion, later on, that there really is
a separation like in a real tool. |
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There it is. Just have to get it off
the lathe now. |
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Here, I'm parting off with the skew.
You could use a "parting tool" (it's actually a thin
skew .... but I digress <grin>) but it leaves a poor
finish on the bottom. The skew just has to be used and
you'll get a surface on the bottom of the handle that is
done without need for sanding. |
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Tada! And now to the bandsaw and/or
sander or whatever you can find to do this with. |
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Is this like having someone over to your
house and only after they're sitting at the table,
realize that you have your underwear hanging on the
lamps and all over the floor? Yes, that sanding disk is
WAY too loaded and needs to be replaced. Or is it just
me? Hmmm..... |
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OK, I'm over it now. A low grit and a
soft touch will form that round "steel" portion into a
square section. Forming the bevels is just like doing
it in actual steel. Well, a whole lot faster and easier
though. I go up to about 220 grit on the steel
portion. That gets me the right look of "steel" once I
color it next. |
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So, is it really just ME? No, couldn't
be. I mean, come on folks. Give me a break. It's not
like their ALL over the place! No, really. |
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Yeah, ok. So I just went and made sure
the place was cleaned up. At least you can come over
now. Oh, and I did change that loaded-up sanding disk
paper. Very soft spalted sweet gum (from a different
project) really sticks! |
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Here's what I use to make the "steel"
and "ferrules". I got them from the crafts section at a
major national retailer (is that coy enough?). The
"steel" portion is done with the silver color and the
"ferrule" is done with the gold. This stuff is really
just gold and silver powdering in a soft wax. Lasts
quite a long time. |
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Take your finger and rub it in. Let it
dry some and rub it vigorously to create that cool
"steel" patina look. |
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See that blasted worm hole? RIGHT in
the way? Yep, I planned it that way. The cool thing is
that hole goes all the way through and out the other
side down the steel a bit. |
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A nice steel look. |
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The ferrule is tricky because you don't
want to get the coloring on the handle. I just do as
much as I can safely do with my fingers and then take a
toothpick to get into the tiny areas. |
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You can either cover the entire portion
of the ferrule area up to the "steel" or just a little
bit on the end. You know, as if the ferrule was just
about 1/16" thick and you can see the wood between the
ferrule and the steel. Whatever works for you. |
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I have no idea why this picture is here. |
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Because that's it folks! Remember, keep
it to yourself for a day or two until I can give these
out. |