Finally got some time in the shop this week. First, I always wondered why we don't see more mention of cocobolo for scales, as it's dense, hard, oily and beautiful. Well, it's hard. So it's unwilling to bend (maybe that's why I like it so much). I suspect I will have trouble with pinning; it's already been more difficult than I anticipated. [I can't seem to get the pictures to upload... will try to edit later.] In retrospect, my pivot hole seems too far in, which forced me to make a very small wedge. I wanted a brass lined walnut wedge, so I crazy glued the parts together and tried to drill the holes as a unit. You can probably guess that it didn't hold together. This was also my first time peening, so I think I left the pins too long, and they bounced around a lot while peening and some of the domes cracked. I may file them off and try again, peening what's left after the dome has been filed away.

I think I've learned something about honing too as I grind away this near wedge. As it started off, there was little hone wear and a nice gentle smile, but I wasn't convinced I was getting even contact across the bevel, so I kept going until it laid flat. The thing I learned is that straight strokes back and forth across the stone seems to make parallel lines on the honed surfaces (which makes sense, I guess), but doesn't necessarily work for a small smile. As a result, I think I have honed more than needed, and more in the centre of the blade than desired.

I'll see if I can post the pics so you can see what I mean.

I also learned that the toe is a tricky thing. Any 'fading' away from the line of the cutting edge (smiling that is more pronounced just at the toe) just seems to lead to a stretch of the bevel that doesn't meet at a sharp edge.