Help with Letter Openers

[Northerner]

i have made a couple letter openers out of walnut and i think they
turned out very nice but now i need to put the double edge on both
of them but im worried about messing them up on my belt sander.

is there some special way of sanding the beveled edge or make a
jig to hold them?

any help is appreciated!

[gfleenor]

Just take your time and start with a medium grit belt. A coarse grit can take off too much too fast.
Gary

[sawdustus]

Like Gary, I start with the belt sander and rough out the bevels. Then I switch to medium sized, fine grit drum mounted in my drill press. I run it at the slowest speed to fine tune the edges. Let it just touch the drum as you are sanding or it will tend to become a air mailed letter opener in a heartbeat.

george

[Trackman]

I put a line down the middle of the opener so I can see were to sand to. Also I use a drum sander in the drill press. This way I can see better, just my way of doing.

[Tango]

I made a bunch of them for gifts. I also put a line down the center on the top & side, so that knew where to sand too. I only used a medium grit sand paper on the belt sander. It worked fairly well because I could hold the wood level & sand the whole edge a once. The trick was not to add too much pressure & make sure the handle of the letter opener never touched the sander. Also for a finish, I first varnished them and then I added epoxy to give them strength.

[Rolf]

Before you comit to the real ones cut a couple of practice pieces.

[Northerner]

yeah, i did put a line down the centers and on sides about half way to use as guidelines.
im just nervous to put it on the belt sander but i just need to go ahead and do it and hope
for the best.

[Northerner]

well i got my openers finished and i am very happy with the way they turned out.
i made them from walnut and used tung oil on them but one side is dark and the
other side is lighter, not happy with that part.

[Cutting Cathy]

Very nice Northerner! Love bevel you got on them!! Thanks for sharing!

[sawdustus]

The darkness-lightness contrast of the walnut is due to the bevel. I have found that after sanding and finishing, how walnut reflects light often depends on how steeply across the grain it was cut.

george

[Northerner]

no, i meant one side of the opener is dark and the other side is light

[Wood Dog]

Those came out awesome, sweeeet job.

[Rolf]

It is wood, it has different colors that is what adds to the beauty of it.