7/8 Dorko round point in exquisite olive wood scales

[cannonfodder]

Now and then, as an amateur wood worker, you will take a chance on a piece of wood that has the potential to either be exquisite or a waste of money. I came across such a piece of olive wood a few weeks ago. I decided to take a chance and came home with an expensive 2x2 hunk of olive. I spent nearly a half hour studying the wood, yes, really. I have one chance to get it right and unlock the mystery hidden within the wood. I made my decision and took the wood to the bandsaw to resaw it into 1/8 inch blanks. As I cut the wood, the magic held within unraveled and revealed one of the most exquisite grained piece of olive I have seen. Wood this nice deserves a an equally ornate blade to house in it. I decided to go with a 7/8 round point Dorko with a fancy engraved spine.

I got the blade, removed it from the scales and set about sanding it down for a polish job. After the sanding I ran it down the buffer wheel line to get a nice shiny finish. Then I picked through the scale blanks looking for the one special piece of wood, and I found it. After shaping and sanding the scale down I gave it a coat of high gloss epoxy resin. The resin came out perfectly. It looks like wood encased in glass.

I pined the blade to the scales using an olive wood wedge. I went with only two pins, I did not want to detract form the beautiful grain of this wood with a third pin. I honed up the blade to a super nice edge and then sat back to admire the fruits of my labor. The photos don’t do it justice, this is an absolutely incredible looking razor. I started off with the intent to sell it, but I simply cannot part with it. It shaves like a dream and looks even better. So without further a due, the 7/8 NOS Dorko in olive wood scales with a fancy engraved spine.