Thread: dismal day

I received a large bigelow and dowse from ebay the handles were in good shape
and made out of buffalo horn the blade itself had heavy honing wear and some one had got into it with some sort of abrasive wheelwhich had left deep scoring,I popped the handles off and set to work on the blade,with a grinder and a 3" contact wheel . I pushed the honing ware up to th spine on both sides and removed the scoring . So far so good. Next came the emery cloth or wet and dry got it to 1200 grit then off to the buffing wheel,everything is going to plane ,however there is a spot near the edge that has not been completely removed as I feel I would be flirting danger due to its depth, I got to where it is noticeable but not much so I`m happy with that.
Next comes the handled ,a quick buffing and whack it on however in my haste to finish the buffing wheel grabbed the scaled and threw them against the back shed wall,in the process tearing one in half.Blast I said ,no worries I will make new ones out of a lovely piece of New Guinea rose wood . I cut them out sanded finished with super glue and Renaissance waxwhat I didn`t notice a vain running through the pivot pin hole and you guessed it ,it split this time I said double dam
Any way I guess its good practice
Kind regards Peter

Man.. So much effort. Fortunately you're looking at the bright side. This really is good practice and I'm sure it will pay off in your future restoration efforts. I'm in the same boat as I'm working on 2 stubborn blades right now lol.

Peter,

Some days are just like that. You are taking it quite well.

Next time glue in a 3/32" brass tube (you have it in the mail with your kits) into the all the holes for pins right into the scales. This will prevent any splitting at those locations. I do that for all the scales except cocobolo because it is hard and not brittle. The real reason is the fact that the wood is very oily and not much will stick to it.

If you are using CA for the finish, just CA the brass tube into the holes and then finish and drill out any CA that got into the tube by hand. I mean put a 1/16" drill bit into a pin vise and turn it by hand. You can always use a drill press but I find by hand is much safer.

yep I have seen pics of your scales and have taken note I didn`t have 3/32" tubing but did have rod so I drilled a 1/16" up the centre of the rod and made it that way,however two things were against me ,as I said there there was a vein running in the grain right through the pivot from the tip off the scale down which didn`t show its ugly self till I had just about finished them, and two, the blade is Bigelow by name and BIGelow by nature with the shank being 1/4" thick so I was having trouble bending the scales
We live and learn, I`m off to the shed now and will start on some more only this time I think I will use horn or antler
Kind regards Peter

Just chalk it up to experience. That's what I do. Still get pissed about it when it happens but this is the nature of natural materials.

I still don't know what a box will look like until I am done with it. That is after more than five hours of effort. Wood being wood does not show all its defects until you are just about finished with it.

Well the scales are made and on if I I knew how to post pics I would put them up for all to see
I sent Vlad Pics via email However I wasn`t happy so I pulled them off again and re fitted them after some very helpful advice,( much appreciated) they are made out of very old and weathered deer antler . these are set no 4
Kind regards Peter

Originally Posted by bg42

... if I I knew how to post pics I would put them up for all to see ...

New site specs, but it should still be the same:
1. Start a User Gallery and put the pictures there using the User System (at the bottom of the page).
2. Right click the image when it's loaded and you're viewing it and select 'Copy Image Location'.
3. Then return here and click on the little 'Inset Image' icon and paste the info in there. No excuse now.

X

I have been able to create and upload some pics into the gallery, which for me that`s no mean feat ,However when I try to post the pics it comes up with a fatal error about file size,and I havent got a clue how to change that
If you wish you may go into my gallery and stick them up if you want, or have a look for your self, if not, I will just have to wait till my young bloke comes home in a day or two, and he should be able to work it out .Thanks for your help though, at least I`m half way there being able to post pics
Kind regards Peter