[TheForge] Re: What handle to put on hot cutter?

[Mike]

> I have just purchesed a hot cutter via ebay Item number: 330086220630.

This looks like it might be an original Atha hotset. If I hold my
mouth right, I can convince myself that I can see the heel of the
horseshoe logo.  Curiously, when I saved the image from eBay and
magnified the pixels, it looks as if the area that might be the logo
has been intentionally digitally blurred.  Huh.  So, does it have a
"A" in a horseshoe logo?

Do you ever have a striker, Harry?  If so, put a 24" helve on it.
Unless both you and the striker are demigod smiths, you'll want to be
well back from that 8- or 12-pound hammerhead when the inevitable
misplaced blow or unintentional twitch sends stuff flying.

If you never have a striker and will only use this by yourself, make
the handle the length of your other hammer handles or even a bit
shorter.

In either case, a slender helve is good, just big enough so that you
can get a good fit in the eye and big enough for your hand to get a
firm grip.  The old hockey stick suggestion is a good one, provided
that the hockey stick is thick enough to fit the eye.  I've seen a lot
of tools here in Canada helved with hockey sticks, often with a really
crappy fit because the eye was wider than the thickness of the stick.

But for the short, strike it yourself version, make sure the helve's
cross section aligns very well with the eye.  You want to be able to
tell by feel that you're holding the head straight up-and-down.


> From: "Harry" <iowaharry at fastmail.net>

> http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned...

So, where are you?  Iowa or the Federated States of Micronesia? :-)


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^