- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
- Messages
- 4,423
I use several methods to make mosaic handles, some of them involve making your own cutters and some sophisticated machines. This technique only requires a good band saw. Many of you will recognize the wood I am using as the free samples of bubinga and lacewood that Mark at Burl Source was giving away (he even gives free stuff to other dealers) I decided to use those woods for this because thier colors and textures contrast well. What I'm about to reveal are closely gaurded secrets of some of the finest craftmen known throughout history so try not to spread it around too much.
Here's the project, these two daggers were ordered by the best kind of customer a guy could ask for, He said, "I want two daggers, one bigger than the other one" Then he left me to just run wild. I want to put a scaly design on one of the handles (I am kind of into scales right now), this project will make two handle blanks so I can use them both here or do something different on the second one.
First you will need to make both blocks the same size in all three dimentions, and they will need to be flat and square. I am using my 20 inch Delta Rockwell variable speed, metal/wood saw. It was built when they were still making really good tools. I cut everything on there, teeth, rocks, ivory, tool steel, everything. I love this saw, I had to give $600.00 whole dallors for it
Then you want to glue them together one on top of the other, this spray adhesive works great, rubber cement would work too. Carpet tape and two-sided tape gum things up too much.
Draw out your pattern, you can draw it out on the wood but the lines show better on white paper, I like to make a copy of each pattern in case I want to do a similar handle again. I'm going for a shield shaped scale here, they are 3/8 inches wide. Number the individual pieces so you can reassemble them in the right place, then glue the paper onto the wood. The table insert on most saws are inadequate, they get wallowed out after some use, you will need zero clearance so that you don't lose anything through the table, and it will need to be perfectly flush with the saw table, I solve both problems by using a temperary sacrificial surface, in this case partical board, you can use anything that is flat and fairly smooth. Check the table for squareness with the blade both side to side and front to back, you can adjust the side to side squareness buy adjusting the table on the trunyans, the front to back squareness can be adjusted by changing the top wheel camber. Next adjust the guides to support the blade snuggly on the sides and behind, this is important because we will be using a very small bandsaw blade. In this case I am using a 3/16 inch blade, the width of the blade is dependent on how tight of a radius you want to cut. I have used down to 1/16 inch blades for some really tight work.
Now we are ready to start cutting out little peices, I use those magnifiers, it helps keep me from going cross eyed, I have a little plastic tote there to lay the pieces out in the order that I cut them out. It's a good idea to transfer the number down to the lower piece, it can help save mix-ups
I make all the left-to-right cuts in the row and then all the right-to-left cuts in the row, it helps with consistancy.
Here they are all layed out in the order I cut them off, 162 pieces in all, 81 for each handle blank.
Next we re-assemble the whole thing, I found that the little drawers from parts bins work well for that, then I started to alternate the top piece for the bottom piece in the pattern that I wanted, in this case I am alternating every other row, but I could have done diamond patterns, diagonal rows, or whatever.
Here's the project, these two daggers were ordered by the best kind of customer a guy could ask for, He said, "I want two daggers, one bigger than the other one" Then he left me to just run wild. I want to put a scaly design on one of the handles (I am kind of into scales right now), this project will make two handle blanks so I can use them both here or do something different on the second one.
First you will need to make both blocks the same size in all three dimentions, and they will need to be flat and square. I am using my 20 inch Delta Rockwell variable speed, metal/wood saw. It was built when they were still making really good tools. I cut everything on there, teeth, rocks, ivory, tool steel, everything. I love this saw, I had to give $600.00 whole dallors for it
Then you want to glue them together one on top of the other, this spray adhesive works great, rubber cement would work too. Carpet tape and two-sided tape gum things up too much.
Draw out your pattern, you can draw it out on the wood but the lines show better on white paper, I like to make a copy of each pattern in case I want to do a similar handle again. I'm going for a shield shaped scale here, they are 3/8 inches wide. Number the individual pieces so you can reassemble them in the right place, then glue the paper onto the wood. The table insert on most saws are inadequate, they get wallowed out after some use, you will need zero clearance so that you don't lose anything through the table, and it will need to be perfectly flush with the saw table, I solve both problems by using a temperary sacrificial surface, in this case partical board, you can use anything that is flat and fairly smooth. Check the table for squareness with the blade both side to side and front to back, you can adjust the side to side squareness buy adjusting the table on the trunyans, the front to back squareness can be adjusted by changing the top wheel camber. Next adjust the guides to support the blade snuggly on the sides and behind, this is important because we will be using a very small bandsaw blade. In this case I am using a 3/16 inch blade, the width of the blade is dependent on how tight of a radius you want to cut. I have used down to 1/16 inch blades for some really tight work.
Now we are ready to start cutting out little peices, I use those magnifiers, it helps keep me from going cross eyed, I have a little plastic tote there to lay the pieces out in the order that I cut them out. It's a good idea to transfer the number down to the lower piece, it can help save mix-ups
I make all the left-to-right cuts in the row and then all the right-to-left cuts in the row, it helps with consistancy.
Here they are all layed out in the order I cut them off, 162 pieces in all, 81 for each handle blank.
Next we re-assemble the whole thing, I found that the little drawers from parts bins work well for that, then I started to alternate the top piece for the bottom piece in the pattern that I wanted, in this case I am alternating every other row, but I could have done diamond patterns, diagonal rows, or whatever.
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I eagerly await further instalments:thumbup:
