Thread: First Restoratiion

A Genco Red cross that had a frown when I got it

I polished it up with MAAS and steel wool leaving some of the colour in the pitting. I like the “rustic” look, but after the buffing demonstration at the recent Melbourne meet I think I might convert one side of my bench grinder to a tapered spindle.
I made the scales from a 1-1/2"W x 5"L x 3/8" Dymondwood (Winewood/Black) knife scale, using a wooden paint stirrer as the wedge (as it was the only thing I had laying around that was about the right size.

I split the knife scale carefully with a copping saw and shaped by hand using sandpaper. I didn’t do anything to seal the wedge so I don’t think I will survive too long, which is fine as the scales are a bit thicker then I would like (they feel just a bit hefty for the little blade) so it will give me the opportunity to thin them out. The dymondwood is very stiff, so the wedge is more of a spacer at this stage, hopefully when I thin the scales out they will flex a bit and I can make the wedge more “wedgie” (and improve the finishing a little bit).

Honed without tape using Norton 1K, 4K and 8K followed by CrOx on a SRD modular hard felt pad. Finished with stropping on SRD modular scrub leather then premium I leather.

That gently curved square end design is very nice.

Beautiful wood - I love the deep brown colour. Well done.

Nice work. That blade will reward you for the effort! Nice work on the honing! The scales fit the blade type and the wedge..I made my first one that way also. Looks cool!
~Richard
PS there is a lot of opinions on balance, I am in favor of the balance because it makes a blade easier for me to hone easily over its full length with one hand.