Does a wooden knife make any sense? Probably not but it sure looks beautiful. The truth is that this knife is more functional than you may believe. I used maple for the blade and it takes an edge pretty darn well. It won't shave the hair off your chin but it slices through this apple with no effort. You can use it for baked goods, cheese, and fruits. You do want to dry the blade after every use. Do not cut meats. There is no effective way to keep the blade clean when cutting raw meat.
I used an oil finish on the blade so it can be sharpened and re-oiled when necessary. I did put a spray acrylic finish on the handle to give it a bit more protection. You can use the acrylic on the blade also but you want to give it a few days to cure before use. All modern finishes are food safe after they cure. Cure time is much longer than dry time. The acrylic on the blade will make it more difficult to sharpen when necessary so I just went with the oil. I used lemon oil but other oils will work fine.
The blade is cut from 1/4" thick maple. I used a drum sander to thin and sharpen the blade. You need to do a good job with this step if you want the knife to cut. Thin the blade to about 1/8" thick in the middle working down to as sharp as you can get it at the knife edge. Leave some thickness at the top of the blade to give the blade strength.
Midwest Scroll Saw and Woodworking Trade Show:
Just a reminder that the Midwest Scroll Saw and Woodworking Trade show is coming up. I like to have some freebies to give away at the shows so I spent today laser engraving these Scroller Keyfobs. I'll have one for the ladies also. I'll probably have some other fun stuff to give away so get to the Bear Woods booth before I run out.
Speaking of Bear Woods. They will be my sponsor for this show. I will be in their booth both days. Sometime in the next couple of days, Bear Woods and I will be announcing a giveaway that will be drawn at the show. You will not have to be there to win so keep your eyes open for the announcement. Right now it looks like we will have a $300 gift card, $150 card and one very special gift to be announced later.
For all the information about the Midwest Scroll Saw and Woodworking Trade show visit this link.
Hope to see you there.
Sanding Twigs:
When I talked about these useful sanding twigs several months ago I did not know the color coding. Gary W. send me an email with the color codes and I forgot to pass it along. I was reminded by a reader in an email today so I thought I would pass it along to everyone. Gary tells that that...
Black will always be 80/80
Zebra or Grey will always be 100/180
Blue will always be 120/240
Pink will always be 280/320
I use these twigs quite a bit. They are soft enough that I sharpen them to a point. I can get the shapt point into even the tightest areas. They also have good sandpaper on them. You can use them several times before you wear them out. I have not even finished the first pack of 20 yet. This $16 set is going to last me a few years.
Woodworker Guild of America Blogger Awards:
They have me in the "Best furniture making blog" category. No, I have no idea how I got in that category but it's just nice to be mentioned.
If you would like to vote for me just click the link. You have until July 13th, 2018 to vote.
Email Newsletter Readers: Remember that the Newsletter is just a copy of the daily blog post. To see the post in it's proper formatting click this link. If you ever misplace a pattern or any item you see here you can always find it on the blog. Everything stays on the blog forever.
Products for your consideration:
Scroll Saw Pattern Design Tutorial: DVD
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Then I will show you the technique to take your photograph and make a pattern from it. When the pattern is complete we will go in the shop and cut it.
The DVD is $10 plus shipping. This is a data DVD that you will use on your computer to watch the video tutorial
Every Scrollsaw Workshop Pattern from 2007-2017 in DVD
Purchase the entire Scrollsaw Workshop pattern catalog for offline access.
This DVD has 2,300 patterns published from 2007 thru 2017.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
If you use the DVD on a Windows PC there is a simple viewer program to browse through the patterns.
The DVD also works fine on a MAC. The viewer program is not MAC compatible but there is an included PDF with all the patterns shown as thumbnails for easy viewing.
Want to create beautiful wooden vases on the scroll saw?
My two "Wooden Vases on the Scroll Saw" books make it easy.
The books are $12 each and available for instant download after purchase. Click for Video Demonstration.
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