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- Mar 2, 2010
- Messages
- 1,416
I bought a Neem handled Sirupate, 15" (10" blade), as Blem in a DotD a while ago. There was not much wrong with it, in fact if Pala had still been around my guess is he would have fixed it and it would have been sold as a good one. 
Here it is so you can see the whole thing...
I usually just fix these things without a thought but this time I remembered to grab my camera and document the steps for all of you. Hopefully this helps you the next time you are wondering about buying yourself a Blem with a crack in a wooden handle... (I will do one for a horn handle as well if I get one to fix, unless someone else decides to do it instead)
Here are the items I used to fix the crack:
Step One
Sand the handle of the chakmak with the sandpaper to obtain some nice, fine Neem wood dust. (I love the way this stuff smells but I do not suggest snorting it.
It has a spicy sort of smell that is really nice) Then use the knife to scrape down the handle to remove clinging dust and to make a nice pile out of the dust you have made. Since I am also going to be finishing the whole set, I try to make my sanding nice and even as a prelude to applying the BLO to the chakmak (and the rest of the set).
Step Two:
mix a dab of the Elmer's with the dust and make a nice paste out of it
Step Three:
Scrape up the paste you have made and with the flat of the knife blade, force as much of it into the crack as you can manage. PACK IT IN THERE BABY! :foot:
I use my finger too once I have the stuff spread on there and have pressed a bunch on there already.
I try to make sure the crack is as full of the paste as I can possibly get it.
Step Four:
Let this set up for a bit. Once it is beginning to harden up, use the knife to gently scrape off the excess paste/putty from the handle and look it over. If it looks like more will fit, then push a bit more in there, this is why I say to do this just before the stuff has gotten completely hard.
Step Five:
Once this is all done, let it dry for about an hour to set then lightly sand off the remaining excess. Very lightly, only remove the remaining excess, this is not the time to start your finish sanding on the handle yet. Doing this now makes it a lot easier though than letting it get overnight dry, which we will do now. This is what it will look like when it goes into the overnight dry...
Once this is completely dry, overnight, I will do some sanding on it with the 220 grit paper to smooth the handle overall, then I will dip the whole thing into a jar of 2:1 (BLO:Mineral Spirits) and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Then drip dry for a half an hour, steel wool it and back into the BLO mix for another dunk and another drip dry cycle, then one more time finishing with the steel wool to smooth things over when it has been dried for an hour the last time. Overnight drying and then more steel wool to make the final finish on it and a couple of dunks into pure Tung Oil to make it outside tough. The the final finish sanding with 600 grit sandpaper to make smooooth.
Why I use the dust and stainable glue rather than the dust and super glue is the Elmer's will take up the oil and color the dust so it looks like the surrounding wood. Super Glue winds up not doing this and stands out as a discolored area on the handle. If I am worried the crack is in anyway going to compromise the handle after I am done, I then apply some of the thin super glue to the area to really harden up the area and make sure the crack isn't going anywhere.
Hope this helps!
Any questions, ask!
Here it is so you can see the whole thing...I usually just fix these things without a thought but this time I remembered to grab my camera and document the steps for all of you. Hopefully this helps you the next time you are wondering about buying yourself a Blem with a crack in a wooden handle... (I will do one for a horn handle as well if I get one to fix, unless someone else decides to do it instead)
Here are the items I used to fix the crack:
- Elmer's Stainable Wood Glue
- The chakmak's Handle
- Small piece of 220 grit sandpaper
- A sharp knife
and here is the crack!
Step One
Sand the handle of the chakmak with the sandpaper to obtain some nice, fine Neem wood dust. (I love the way this stuff smells but I do not suggest snorting it.
It has a spicy sort of smell that is really nice) Then use the knife to scrape down the handle to remove clinging dust and to make a nice pile out of the dust you have made. Since I am also going to be finishing the whole set, I try to make my sanding nice and even as a prelude to applying the BLO to the chakmak (and the rest of the set).Step Two:
mix a dab of the Elmer's with the dust and make a nice paste out of it
Step Three:
Scrape up the paste you have made and with the flat of the knife blade, force as much of it into the crack as you can manage. PACK IT IN THERE BABY! :foot:
I use my finger too once I have the stuff spread on there and have pressed a bunch on there already.
I try to make sure the crack is as full of the paste as I can possibly get it.
Step Four:
Let this set up for a bit. Once it is beginning to harden up, use the knife to gently scrape off the excess paste/putty from the handle and look it over. If it looks like more will fit, then push a bit more in there, this is why I say to do this just before the stuff has gotten completely hard.
Step Five:
Once this is all done, let it dry for about an hour to set then lightly sand off the remaining excess. Very lightly, only remove the remaining excess, this is not the time to start your finish sanding on the handle yet. Doing this now makes it a lot easier though than letting it get overnight dry, which we will do now. This is what it will look like when it goes into the overnight dry...
Once this is completely dry, overnight, I will do some sanding on it with the 220 grit paper to smooth the handle overall, then I will dip the whole thing into a jar of 2:1 (BLO:Mineral Spirits) and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Then drip dry for a half an hour, steel wool it and back into the BLO mix for another dunk and another drip dry cycle, then one more time finishing with the steel wool to smooth things over when it has been dried for an hour the last time. Overnight drying and then more steel wool to make the final finish on it and a couple of dunks into pure Tung Oil to make it outside tough. The the final finish sanding with 600 grit sandpaper to make smooooth.
Why I use the dust and stainable glue rather than the dust and super glue is the Elmer's will take up the oil and color the dust so it looks like the surrounding wood. Super Glue winds up not doing this and stands out as a discolored area on the handle. If I am worried the crack is in anyway going to compromise the handle after I am done, I then apply some of the thin super glue to the area to really harden up the area and make sure the crack isn't going anywhere.
Hope this helps!
Any questions, ask!
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