Australian Wood Review - June 2018

42 Australian Wood Review

PROJECT

opening from any direction, so I used

a broken hacksaw blade with some

cloth wrapped around it for a handle

• crude, but it did the job.

Clamp the cut out sides together

(photo 3), and file to the lines. File the

edges of the small triangular bits that

form the sides of the blade-bed straight,

but leave the lines just visible for

reference when assembling the body.

The core pieces can be cut out with

a hacksaw or a cut-off wheel. They

need to be accurately squared up,

and I find the best way to get them

flat and square is to file close to the

layout lines, then lap on some 180 grit

paper stretched very tightly over a flat

surface (photo 4). Check constantly

with a try square and make any

necessary corrections by leaning

on the high side.

After a couple of hours of cutting,

filing, and sanding, the parts are

ready to join (photo 5). Sand all

mating surfaces smooth and clean.

Leave the toe-piece square, it will be

shaped to match the throat cut-out

and form the mouth after assembly.

Mark, punch and drill

rivet holes

Rivet spacing is not super critical, but

you need to place them close enough

to pull the sides tightly and evenly

against the core pieces. I used six

through the blade bed, five through

the front piece and two for the wedge

block (photo 10).

Mark out and centre punch the rivet

hole positions on one side, then lightly

clamp the sides to the blade bed and

toe piece. Sit the clamped assembly

on a solid, flat surface, and align the

core pieces with the sides. Aim for

minimal filing and cleaning up of

this area after assembly, so you won’t

damage your nicely squared blade-

bed. When all is shipshape, tighten

the clamps firmly and drill the first

rivet hole through the blade bed.

Each side of the rivet hole needs

a countersink, but don’t make these

too deep, somewhere between a

0.5 to 1mm deep chamfer will do

nicely. For this job, I use a tool I

made from an old triangular file

with the three faces ground at

approximately 75° to form a sharp-

edged point (photo 6). Four or

five twists in brass are enough to

produce an adequate, clean bevel

• easy and safe.

Setting and peening

the rivets

After forming the countersinks

on both sides, cut a rivet to length,

allowing about 1.5mm protrusion

each side. Don’t make them

too long or you’ll have trouble

hammering them down enough

to fill the countersink bevel. Tap it

into the hole, check that everything

is still in position, then drill a

second hole and place its rivet

(photo 7). Do the same for the

toe-piece.

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