I’m kinda liking the polished look.
Here’s a mini I just finished.
Oak handle & larger brass pins.

The cute gal working the local oak & brass eatery/tavern will want one for her back pocket. Longer, maybe eight inches. A "speed popper" for happy hour.

Time for a trade name and rollmarks?

quote:

Originally posted by GrumpyBiker:
I use a benchtop 30” belt sander with belts from 100gr to 1,000gr as well as a leather strop belt for sharpening knives.

A luxury! I'm doing everything by hand. Sometimes a "sanding block" is 1mm x 3mm, with 320 grit, long enough to hold. To buff schmegma from between the underside of a violin bridge, between the legs. Or like these 1" x 1" x 12" models with 100 grit wrapped on them. Quick removal. The pads and sticks from Micro-Surface run to 12,000 grit and produce a mirror quality to wood or metal.

Scratch cloth used for ebony is now kept separate for that used with maple and spruce.

Woodman what are you making there?
Violin parts ?
Looks very time consuming and requiring focus.... I like those types of hobbies!
The belts on my 1x30 only go to 2000gt.


—————————————————————————


I was able to drift & rough out the remaining openers today that I needed for Xmas gifts & Karmas for here.
Now I can focus on finish shaping, polishing & fitting handles.
The part I really like.
16 gives me the 14 I wanted plus two in case I screw a couple up.

Back from what was probably my last trip out in the motorhome this year.
Picked up a different chain for my anvil.
I’ve been using a heavy link as a material hold down but it doesn’t hold small flat pieces very well.
I found a flatter chain from an old horse drawn Hay bailer, we’ll see if that works better.
If not I’ll just use a motorcycle chain.
I added a pull pin bracket to one side so I can adjust the length & or remove it as needed.
Now that I’m back I need to get to playing with the Micarta I made last week.

I'm repairing old violins. Lots of patience and a decent work area required. Ya gotta set your work down sometimes to refocus.

The last violin but one was French from about 1850 and in eight pieces. The block that holds the neck inside the body had to be remade, so that was a genuine neck-reset as well as a mortised end block. But I messed up and made it a dovetail joint, as the neck heel appeared to be carved for a dovetail. Very sturdy, holding up well with medium tension strings.

The last one was early 1900s, again in pieces. Missing its 'bass bar' so there was another lesson. A total job like that one was 1] repair top cracks 2] fit, glue, and finish bass bar then glue the top back onto the body 3] reconfigure old (warped) fingerboard 4] fit peg, nut, saddle, sound post, bridge 5] say a few prayers 6] string it up and keep adjusting the bridge and nut to get the strings where you want them. The fingerboard was so warped the end of it ended up being planed pretty thin, so it may warp again and want outright replacement.

There are parts of the job I really like. Putting a tiny bevel on the edge of a dressed fingerboard with my new Lie-Nielsen 101 plane or carving a near-perfect radius on a glued saddle; that last violin, I carved the underside of the ebony saddle to follow the shape of the violin top; a detail only its future owner will notice (maybe). Setting a sound post is becoming a zen-like experience.

Ebony will buff to a mirror at about 6000 grit; this set of nine pads goes to 12,000. I "think" the pads were developed for fine art repair but have found a zillion uses. Even kits the military buys for dedicated overhaul jobs, like helicopter engines and such.

https://www.woodturnerscatalog...ing-Pads-9-Piece-Set

I've got some odd lengths of that HD welded-link chain kicking around in different thicknesses. I'll save you a bit of it.

I think I already posted some c.1850s fiddle pics, but here are a few links:

https://avatarhost.files.wordp...-kloz-an-1700-a.jpeg

https://avatarhost.files.wordp...n-kloz-an-1700-b.jpg

https://avatarhost.files.wordp...-kloz-an-1700-c.jpeg

Always loved the song of a violin in the hands of a master.



On a less civilized note, I was working on shaping a couple of the rough blanks I Forged earlier.
How’s about a personal defense bottle opener ?!?!

If only I could make some kydex belt holsters for these....
But have enough hobbies already and each of these still have a ton of work left to be considered finished.













Looks a bit like a neck tie.... a Sicilian neck tie?!? LoL!

Trying to get a bunch of things together & finished by Thanksgiving weekend.
So I can get things shipped to friends & Karma winners.
Man I work slow !!!


Here’s the latest still in rough state but the shape is there.

I was able to get a couple other openers done this week .
Today I polished one of the personal defense “necktie “ openers.
(If you have a better name I’d like to hear it)
I’m on the fence about putting any scales on these.(handles)

What do you guys think? Yes/ No?

Starting to catch up after being sick.
Finished up the polishing on half the bottle openers I’m trying to get done & sent by the end of the month.

quote:

Originally posted by GrumpyBiker:
I was able to get a couple other openers done this week .
Today I polished one of the personal defense “necktie “ openers.
(If you have a better name I’d like to hear it)
I’m on the fence about putting any scales on these.(handles)

What do you guys think? Yes/ No?

Try this on for size: acid-etched paisley pattern. Seriously. Or stripes, or stars or whatever.

I have a friend who turned me into poking an extra hole in the top of a beer can for cheaper beers that like to foam as you drink them, the necktie looks like a perfect tool for such. Sell the feature as a “vent hole punch” and profit.

Scales make them pop. The tool will stand out better in a drawer of implements. Adds individuality.

Make an 8" version with scales in your barmaid's favorite colors, and it'll forever be either in her back pocket or twirling fast as she keeps up with happy hour thirsts.

Then there is the seasonal 4-pack. Customer scales to reflect during spring, summer, autumn, winter.

I like the idea of saving a scrap of some special cloth or document in the lucite scales. Sort of like quilting for drinkers. And this one has a scrap of embroidered linen from my first wife's wedding dress. And this other one here has the judge's seal and signature from the divorce . . .


Yum! Power tools!

I was thinking the pointed end could be used as an impromptu ice pick ?
The Personal Defense angle got me in Dutch with the Mods on the blacksmith forum...
So maybe an ice chipper instead.

The point can also work to make shotgunning beers a snap.

Pop the top on a craft brew or shotgun a Keystone. A perfect tool.

Was able to get these four out of the clamps and the rough shaping done .
Which for these openers is 220 grit.
They’ll get finished this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by GrumpyBiker:
The Personal Defense angle got me in Dutch with the Mods on the blacksmith forum...

What a bunch of PC crap. It's a perfect weapon. BTW, I love my original "key" model you sent me. Very basic and functional, it's a nice pun on church key.

I meant to get a “family “ photo when they were all done but I’d already sent out some of them before I remembered to do so.

You're ready for a custom stamp!

https://www.infinitystamps.com...and-stamp-for-metals

I’ll be shopping for one.
But as for now, I’m happy to be cleaning my shop and taking a break from this and get started on some wood carving projects.
After I make an entertainment cabinet for the new 60” tv.....

The projects never seem to stop.

This will most likely be the end of this thread.
I’ll be doing a Karma with these openers tomorrow.
Thanks for all who looked in & the help that I received from those of you who chimed in.