WIP - 1st knife looking for feedback

ok, definitely looking better
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profile shot
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I definitely touched the bolsters more times than I needed too.
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Other side.
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ready for pins.
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I wanted to get as much work done as possible with the wood rasp, before I put the pins in.
 
pins were a really tight fit. In fact, I couldn't get the pin in all the way. I put it in as far as I could, and then I marked it, where I would have enough left over.
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Once I had it marked, I pulled the pin back out, and cut it with a hacksaw.
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Then, I put it in the drill, and, while it was spinning, hit it with some 50 grit emery cloth.
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Then, what I wanted to do, was notch the pin, so the epoxy would have some extra places to grab.

So, using my fancy sharpie, I marked 3 places.
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Then, I put the pin back in the drill press, and, again while spinning,
I touched the pin with the hack saw. It gave me 3 nice groves.
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moment of truth. No turning back now.

I mixed up the epoxy.
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smeared a buch on the pins, and tapped them into place
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One pine was nice and clean, another had a gob of epoxy. Oh well, nothing a file
won't fix when it's hard.
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took the tape off the bolsters.

Now, I want to try and get the handle flush with the bolsters. Felt like it took hours. Sanded with 150 and 200, to try and flush them up.

this pick doesn't do it justice, but I'm trying to show the unevenness of the handle being higher than the bolster.

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got some more 220 sanding to do. Quite the gap there.
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Getting better
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Almost there..
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And...and...and I forgot to snap a pic of it being done. oops.
 
ok, then I started getting into finishing the handle.

I got involved with working it down;
400 to 1000 to 4000 to 6000 to 8000.

I totally forgot to take pictures between each step. I was really getting frustrated, because I would find a scrach that I forgot to take out, and then would have to back up a previous step (grit), and start that grit over. I don't think I have any skin left on my thumbs.

I'm kinda miffed at myself that I didn't take pics between grits.

I tried to take an angle shot, to show off the bolter finish.
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I can't believe i'm done. I wish I could bring out more of a shine. If anyone has any ideas of what I can do, I'm all ears.

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Some more shots of my baby!
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If you want more of a shine, you could try something like tung oil. You apply it, let it dry, then wipe off the excess and lightly buff with a cloth. Rinse, repeat and with some care and patience, you will end up with a mirror polish. Its a bit harder to pull off with the bolsters. You'd need them to also be mirror or else it will be very hard to get the transition looking good.

I think the handle is looking good now! Most fine polished handles will end up matte wth some use.

One thing to think about next time you use mosaic pins is to think ahead, mark and when you insert them, make sure the mosaic patterns are symmetrical with both pins identical to one another.

Looks great!
 
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