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I've had a request to see the tie clips I am making for hubby so I thought I would share a photo of them as well as the directions I sent in PM to Jody, who requested the info.
Quoted from my PM to Jody
The woods I used are as follows from left top to left bottom then right top to right bottom. I've included some comments as well.
Cherry -Very porous and let the glue soak through to front. I've been told this is abnormal for cherry.
Wamarii - Hardest freaking wood I've ever used. Took 15+ hours of sanding with 60 grit paper to get the shape. Tools wouldn't even touch it.
Yellowheart Side grain - Worked easier than the Wamarii but I found it a bit brittle if carving along the grain. Very different look if the end grain was polished instead of along the grain like here.
Wenge - Kind of hard to see in the photo but consists of black and light brown stripes. The black stripes are harder than the light brown so it took a little longer to polish that expected. The end grain produces a very different look but my piece was thin so could not do it that way.
Crabapple - Taken from a 2.5" branch we pruned from our crab apple tree last winter. I cut a disk from the branch and cut the piece from side to side along the edge (hubby calls it a chord) to include some of the heart wood. I broke several pieces along micro fractures before I finally got this one done.
Walnut End Grain - Walnut was easier to work than expected and I hope to make a spoon out of the left over piece some day. The end grain turned out very dark like a thick coffee. Very different from the lighter brown of the side grain.
Crabapple - Same method as the other crabapple but more of the heart wood colour showing through.
Walnut Side grain with Basswood Inlay - This was my first attempt at inlay, and at making a tie clip, and it worked pretty well with just my knife and palm tools to shape the pieces. Unfortunately when I glued the three pieces in there was extra glue on my fingers and it caused the basswood to darken considerably. Not the best or my favourite but it is one I completed anyway.
Walnut side grain with yellowheart end grain diamond & cherry end grain stripe inlay - A second attempt at inlay and it worked much better than the first. I was more careful with the glue and found the pieces went together cleanly. The end grains of the cherry and yellowheart have very different colouring than the side grain pieces.
Basswood - This was done more out of curiosity than anything else. I was surprised to find that the basswood actually polished up very nicely and once polished and oiled it took on a golden tone.
Quoted from my PM to Jody
...However, they are really easy to do if you have the patience.
Choose your wood. Cherry will make a reddish one. Walnut an butternut make a nice chocolate brown. Basswood makes a golden yellow. Poplar makes a nice greenish or yellowish white. Of course you can use more exotic woods but they are harder to work and more expensive.
Use a coping saw or scroll saw and cut a blank 3/8" x 3/8" x 2.5 or 3" long.
Now you can use small palm tools to shape it, or you can just use sand paper. I start with 60 grit and level off all the sides. Then I move to 80 grit and shape the wood by sanding the top (the bit that will show when on the tie) into rounded corners, angled corners, and the edges I usually sand to an angle.
After that it is simply a matter of using various grades of sandpaper to polish the wood to a nice finish then coat it with a mineral oil, tung oil, or walnut oil. I use the following grits 60, 80, 100, 150, 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000. The softer the wood the quicker it shapes and polishes but the harder woods take on a much higher polish.
I use rare earth magnets to attach them. 3/16th for the clip and 3/8 for inside the shirt. Hubby does electronics and computers and occasionally he'll have a problem with something he picks up pulling the clip off the tie but he wanted something that didn't damage the tie.
I hope that gets you started.
Choose your wood. Cherry will make a reddish one. Walnut an butternut make a nice chocolate brown. Basswood makes a golden yellow. Poplar makes a nice greenish or yellowish white. Of course you can use more exotic woods but they are harder to work and more expensive.
Use a coping saw or scroll saw and cut a blank 3/8" x 3/8" x 2.5 or 3" long.
Now you can use small palm tools to shape it, or you can just use sand paper. I start with 60 grit and level off all the sides. Then I move to 80 grit and shape the wood by sanding the top (the bit that will show when on the tie) into rounded corners, angled corners, and the edges I usually sand to an angle.
After that it is simply a matter of using various grades of sandpaper to polish the wood to a nice finish then coat it with a mineral oil, tung oil, or walnut oil. I use the following grits 60, 80, 100, 150, 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000. The softer the wood the quicker it shapes and polishes but the harder woods take on a much higher polish.
I use rare earth magnets to attach them. 3/16th for the clip and 3/8 for inside the shirt. Hubby does electronics and computers and occasionally he'll have a problem with something he picks up pulling the clip off the tie but he wanted something that didn't damage the tie.
I hope that gets you started.
Cherry -Very porous and let the glue soak through to front. I've been told this is abnormal for cherry.
Wamarii - Hardest freaking wood I've ever used. Took 15+ hours of sanding with 60 grit paper to get the shape. Tools wouldn't even touch it.
Yellowheart Side grain - Worked easier than the Wamarii but I found it a bit brittle if carving along the grain. Very different look if the end grain was polished instead of along the grain like here.
Wenge - Kind of hard to see in the photo but consists of black and light brown stripes. The black stripes are harder than the light brown so it took a little longer to polish that expected. The end grain produces a very different look but my piece was thin so could not do it that way.
Crabapple - Taken from a 2.5" branch we pruned from our crab apple tree last winter. I cut a disk from the branch and cut the piece from side to side along the edge (hubby calls it a chord) to include some of the heart wood. I broke several pieces along micro fractures before I finally got this one done.
Walnut End Grain - Walnut was easier to work than expected and I hope to make a spoon out of the left over piece some day. The end grain turned out very dark like a thick coffee. Very different from the lighter brown of the side grain.
Crabapple - Same method as the other crabapple but more of the heart wood colour showing through.
Walnut Side grain with Basswood Inlay - This was my first attempt at inlay, and at making a tie clip, and it worked pretty well with just my knife and palm tools to shape the pieces. Unfortunately when I glued the three pieces in there was extra glue on my fingers and it caused the basswood to darken considerably. Not the best or my favourite but it is one I completed anyway.
Walnut side grain with yellowheart end grain diamond & cherry end grain stripe inlay - A second attempt at inlay and it worked much better than the first. I was more careful with the glue and found the pieces went together cleanly. The end grains of the cherry and yellowheart have very different colouring than the side grain pieces.
Basswood - This was done more out of curiosity than anything else. I was surprised to find that the basswood actually polished up very nicely and once polished and oiled it took on a golden tone.
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