Photo 18: Groove is in the Heart
This is how I start grooving a fitting. First, I clearly scribe the boundaries of the proposed groove using a height gauge. Next, Ill grind in a starter groove with a diamond wheel in the mini-mill.
Photo 19: David Banner
Isnt this always the way it goes? I cut my starter groove as a filing aid yet STILL MANAGE to scuff up the adjacent surface within about three strokes of starting. Lame. :grumpy:
Photo 20: Work that Groove Thang
Once the main groove is started, its fairly easy to work it around the perimeter. Just make sure that you have a cool magnifying visor
it helps with seeing the fine details, and chicks dig it.
:thumbup:
After the groove is established, I go back around with progressively finer sandpapers pinched around a transfer punch (see bottom right).
Photo 21: Bad Juju
The most stressful part of the build by far was grinding in the dips transitioning the bolster from handle width to blade width. In my mind, I originally planned on grinding these with an 8 wheel, and giving them a bit of convex radius. In practice, this turned out to be incredibly difficult to control, to the point where I thought Id ruined the fitting. Fortunately, I was able to change the design to a flat grind using the disc, and
{in my best Harry Dunn voice} totally redeemed myself!
Photo 22: Block
About this time, I started working on the handle. The first step is to glue a template in place.
Next, using a disc sander with table at 90-degrees, Ill grind the front of the block to align with the front of the handle template (not shown).
Photo 23: Age
The mental picture in my brain tells me that dark,
aged fittings will go better with walnut than bare shiny steel. These are the tools that I use to make this a reality.
The procedure was quick and painless for this one:
First clean thoroughly in soap and water. I want a fairly uniform finish on the bolster, and any oils or muck will screw it up. Next, soak in a warm mixture of vinegar and bleach for a few minutes. Do this outside, as the fumes are way nasty. My mix was about 50/50
I think. I used a bamboo skewer to keep the fitting moving in the solution, which also seemed to help with producing a uniform finish. A quick surface rub with steel wool, followed by a thorough rinse in water comes next. This left me with a matte gray finish. After gloving up (blue nitrile), I rubbed on some gun blue, rinsed & washed with soap, then quickly air-dried with the compressor.
Photo 24: Epoxy
Im anal about my epoxy mixture. This is my process:
- Set electronic scale to measure in grains.
- Put plastic cup on scale.With the cups I use, the scale will read 24gn.
- Tare the scale
will now read 0gn
- Add hardener to cup. I find that its easier to get a dead-nuts mix by adding resin to hardener rather than the other way around. Weight of hardener = X.
- Perform simple math. Weight of resin = Y = X/0.263 (Acraglas measurements are given by volume rather than weight
so this factor was calculated taking into account the density of the two components). Total desired weight will be X + Y.
- Add resin until scale reads total desired weight (X + Y)
- Add dye as desired and mix thoroughly. Easy-peasy
Youll notice that I did some rough profiling on the block already.
Photo 25: Slopes
The handle block is all glued up.
In this photo you can see a semi-circular pencil mark centered around the pin hole. Using the disc grinder, I have set a flat slope transition from the back of that circle to the rear of the bolster -- leaving the handle material slightly proud there.
I use several wraps of black tape to protect my precious bolster
and take things very slowly.
Photo 26: Fire pit
Weve had this fire pit thingy for almost ten years, and this is the first time that weve put fire in it.
Here Ive done a bit more handle shaping. I added some guide lines to the handle using my height gauge and a sharpie. Next, using a coarse file, I began draw-filing the rounded surfaces into the front half of the handle. I follow up the file with paper and sanding sticks to dial things in {carefully} at the rear of the bolster.
On the back half of the handle, Ive ground grooves in place with an 8 wheel. These grooves terminate right at the back of that semi-circle (the one centered around the pin hole).
More images to come.
