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You could finish off the knob-on-the-end first, but I chose to plane the octagon smooth. 'Course you could leave it roughly bandsawn for that tactile Krenovian look if you fancied, but I'd sooner justify a gratuitous plane picture myself. |
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Then the excess end is sawn off, trimmed down with a good sharp chisel (if you've got one with a handle still on it) and blended in all 'andsome like with some abrasives. At the same time I go all over the handle with 240 grit with the grain to clean up the evidence of my turning deficiencies and soften all the edges. For the latter, touch tells you much more than eyesight. For the former, maybe coarser than 240 in some places... Put a bit of tape round the ferrule to protect the brass form the abrasives and, later, the finishing stage. |
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Then the moment of truth and whacking the handle on the blade - don't forget to take advantage of that octagonal shape and line up the flat of the blade with a flat on the handle. Some folks, largely of a 'Murrican persuasion (and, it now appears, metal-working types are taught to do it to handle files), say burning in the tang is the way to go. It's one way, I s'pose. I've never done that after dozens of handles and I've never seen a handle that shows evidence of that being done, so don't feel obliged to set fire to your workshop unless you want to. If it doesn't go all the way home, do your best to knock it off and adjust your stepped holes a bit. If it won't come off, a strip of leather wrapped round to create a faux leather washer can do wonders, but I'll deny I ever said that... |
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I like to finish off with a couple of coats of blonde de-waxed shellac knocked back with wax applied with fine non-woven abrasive; seems to make for the nicest feel (for me) and lets the wood do the talking and not the finish.
Some time later... |
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| Clockwise from "noon"; Rosewood (dlabergia latifolia); Satinwood (chloroxlon swietenia); Pau Amarello (euxlophora parensis); Imbuya (phoebe porosa); Muhuhu (brachyaena hutchinsii); Padauk (pterocarpus soyauxii); Imbuya; Rosewood; Bubinga (guibourtia demeusei); Pau Amarello; Satinwood; Muhuhu; Bubinga and Padauk. |
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Be warned though, it is a bit addictive... |
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