second sgain dubh--a commission

[DWFII]

Very nice work. You're right about the pewter pommel being too heavy (learned the hard way )

What is the spacer between the woods?

Thanks.

I almost learned the hard way too.

Like I said this is only my second attempt at pouring pewter...ever. The first time I poured it right on top of the wood and around two stabilizing pins to create the pommel. The wood released a bit of steam (I'm guessing here) and that created a gap between the wood and the pewter. What's more, the pins had a light coating of oil or something similar on them (I didn't realize that til later) and the pewter wouldn't stick to them.

So the upshot was that the pewter was loose on the pins and not tight to the wood.

I could see and feel that the knife was going to be badly top heavy and that only added to my decision to rip the original pewter pommel off and replace it.

On that first knife ...as well as this one...I put a layer of zinc between the handle and the pommel. It's a little malleable and any slight (emphasis on slight) mismatch in the joint can be burnished closed. That was my reasoning...seemed to work out fine.