Selected pieces [of mahogany] are trimmed down, rubbed to a high finish with fine-grain sandpaper and subjected to a rather mysterious operation known to the trade as "shielding." This is the process of grooving out a small design to which is fitted the little metal shield on the flat surfaces of either side of the handle that is the sign of perfection of every hand craftsman.
Shields cannot be pressed into place. A strange tool resembling a violin bow and appropriately named a fiddlestick is fitted with a stout cord. This binder is looped once around a large spool which holds the end of two slender rods which have the appearance of knitting needles. At the opposite ends are two tiny blades. The knife handle is covered with a metal mask containing the design of the shield. The blades of the rods are then inserted into the opening.
Mr. Gill or his assistant places a board supporting the spool beneath his chin and takes bow in hand quite like a fiddler at a country dance and "starts sawing wood." When the mechanical tune is finished and the needle-like rods have revolved in and out of the mask's opening the required number of times the shield slot has been cut.
A piece of gleaming, German steel with two pins is then countersunk into the wood and the handle is ready to be fitted to the blade....
