Am I the only one who sees blades everywhere?

I'm planning on finishing this project this weekend. I've sanded off all the scale and sharpened the blade as much as I know how to do, and have fitted the pieces together. What remains to be done is selectively etching the piece, post-etch clean-up, final assembly, and final finishing. If my wife lets me have a little time to myself, I should be able to get that done in the next two days.

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I spent a lot of last night sanding to 1000 grit. This morning I coated the center bar with clear nail polish and etched the blade. Then I sanded it with 2000 grit black ice and used a Dremel bit to clear out the eye sockets, so the gems will have a reflective surface. Here's the etched blade.

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I LOVE the "skin" that the snakes have. Could you make another one but 1/4" longer, and I'll give ya ten bucks for it!!!!!! ;-)

Nice job, keep it coming. This is better than TV.

- LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
The gems are just glued in (for now). I'm still not 100% sure I want them in permanently, so this way if I change my mind I can just knock them out and clean out the eye sockets again.

I'm currently working on the final fit and finish of the handle. Still have a few small issues to attend to, such as a small but perceptible arc in the handle. It makes the handle feel good in the hand, but makes it look a little lopsided. I'm also trying to decide how I want to shape the burl butt piece. To stay true to the caduceus design I would make it a ball, but that's not the shape I'd prefer.

- Greg
 
Not quit finished yet... still some fine tuning to do on finishing details. One thing you may not see in the photos is that one side has sapphire eyes, the other side has ruby eyes. I spent some time addressing the curve in the handle and rounding up the butt piece. It's been sanded to 400 grit, but I'll take it up to 1000 and give it a quick wipe with tung oil before I call it done. I also noted a few nicks in the wings I need to clean up... anyway, this is what I have today.

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