The Oldest Tool I've Restored Yet
I've been on the market for a leather burnishing iron for a while. Up until now I've been using the side of a heated creaser to encourage molten wax to penetrate into the leathers edge, but I wanted something better suited with more mass to hold the heat longer.
So I got hold of this 'beauty' (shown is the good side!). I guess I saw potential:
I decided against simply replacing the handle with a new one, I wanted to hold onto the same handle that generations of craftsmen before me held. There's something quite nice about that I think.
I managed to keep some of the character in the handle, ferrule and head which is what I was focusing on maintaining.
There's no point owning a piece of history and wiping out the story of it's journey in my mind.
Sadly these irons are no longer made and I was lucky enough to find a 140 year old example from the late 1800's.
Enjoy.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, I want one!
Beautiful video Phil!
I love that you did not just swap the handles, the finished handle looks amazing!
Questions:
1- What did you use to seal and glue the saw dust in the handle? Was it Superglue?
2- What was the mixture you used to finish the handle, I recognised the oil but what did you mix it with? Water? I am asking because I hate the original finish on my Blanchard HSS knife and was thinking of trying to finish it like yours.