Router...Hmmm... Maybe to the solution I'd hoped.
Thanks Ian.
I suspect that I'll be investing in a few more rasps by year's end :)
I was hoping to use the router as a way to quickly get the outline of the handle shaped out in the blank. It would mean that I spend less time on the scroll and bandsaw to get the handle to a point where I can use hand tools to shape it. Not so much the final shaping of the handle - I'm sorry if I wasn't clear about that. I've got a fair selection of bits and 4 different routers, but wouldn't trust myself with a router to duplicate the gentle transitions from one width to another that are on the handle templates from TGIAG.
I am guessing that I'll have to be extra careful using a router to trace out the horns too for that matter. A router is starting to sound like it won't be much help at all.
Craig
Quote:
Originally Posted by
IanW
Craig, apart from using pre-drilling of the tight radii & a scroll saw for cutting out, I find rasp & files & scrapers are far more satisfactory when making handles. I tried using powered tools for shaping, early in my handle making career, but soon gave it up. Apart from the possibility of munched fingers, I don't like the sorts of shapes router bits give - it looks too mechnical. As you say, they can't manage any fine detail, so if you want a handle that looks decent, you may spend as much time cleaning up after the router as you would doing it all with appropriate hand tools from the start. As homesy says, selection of the right rasps makes a world of difference. It takes me very little time to shape a handle using rasps & files & there are no nasty burn-marks to sand out... :U
If you want your handle to look the part, there are a couple of profiles that need to change as they progress along their edges. For e.g., the profile on the 'back' of the grip looks best to my eye if it goes from a fairly symmetrical radius at the bottom horn, to a quite marked ellipse at the top where it sweeps into the top horn. It fits your hand better this way. It's quite easy to seamlessly blend these profiles using rasps & scrapers.
Cheers,