These are the padauk blanks that will become the handles. I've sawn them to thickness on the bandsaw, then to length and width with the pullsaw in the picture.
Acetone is used to clean and prep the surfaces for gluing. It removes any dust and oils from my fingers. The glue is medium thickness cyanoacrylate
The lockpicks are sanded a little to roughen the steel, then glued between the pieces of padauk. It's very important here to glue your fingers to everything.
Everything.
Initial shaping is done with 80 and 120 grit belts on the belt grinder. One has to be very careful, as it will eat steel as easily as wood.
Hand sanding progresses from 220 grit through 400 grit here. On harder woods that take a better polish (like blackwood) I'll go to 800.
The two on the left are pre-buff, the two on the right are post-buff. I use an 8" felt wheel with tripoli buffing compound.
You can see my sanding leaves a little to be desired. I hate sanding.
Here is the whole Sparrows Tuxedo set done, plus one extra from a credit card pick set
I have to turn them sideways, but the picks all still fit comfortably in the case.
