Or how from this:
ended up with this:
Friday, June 28. 2013
The truth behind creation of the best fishing clonk
Well, for now...
Or how from this:
ended up with this:
Or how from this:
ended up with this:
The thought of creating something uniquely beautiful, something which nobody has ever seen, has long bothered my mind. From my other hobby knives, I know that we can find some of the most impressive wood in the world in the so called burls, due to their typical "eyes", wavy structure and fascinating shapes. Unfortunately, burls are not famous for their strength, especially when making very thin pieces. My bad experience with the dogwood burls proves the fact that if the burls fall on the clonk's knife, it becomes very weak.
Naturally, my attention was grabbed by the curly Maple (Acer), which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful wood, which possesses all the strength and flexibility necessary to produce a fishing clonk at the same time. I have been working with this wood for many years, and I have made plenty of fishing clonks from it. It all began with the Red Fury clonk in 2010. Generally, I use two sorts of Acer's genus: Hard Maple and Sycamore Maple. Each of these types of wood has its own pattern, and also each blank has its own pattern depending on how it has been cut out as well as numerous other factors. For example, I have noticed that the hard maple's pattern is more fine and uneven than the sycamore’s one, while the latter looks somehow more monotonous. On the other hand, a tangential cut of the wood is nicer than a radial one; therefore, I will choose a hard maple with a tangential cut.
Last year, I had the pleasure of making a clonk from an exceptionally beautiful blank of curly hard maple, which I called Misty. Later on, I made a handle for a skinner knife, from the same piece of wood, which had a tiger-like pattern. Contrary to the clonk, which is varnished, the knife's handle is impregnated with my favourite Tung oil and definitely I like it more. Now that we have established the proper wood and wood finish, all that remains is to determine the clonk model.
It all began from here some time ago. One about meter-long blank of curly Hard Maple with incredibly deep and diverse pattern. It had been cut to smaller pieces, sealed with wood glue (PVA) and left to dry for two years. I think it is ready for processing now.
Principally, I am fond of straight clonks. For example, these two lilac clonks lumo1 and lumo2, which I created last year before the opening of the fishing season, I still use them with great pleasure and ease. I do however have tired hands which start aching after a couple of days continuous fishing. With these clonks, usually the wrist's movement starts with the wrist bent upward and moving to straight position. That is why I am deciding to make the handle of the new clonk heavily curved downwards, which would allow my wrist to travel from straight to downward position. By combining the old clonk models with my new one, I hope to be able to relax my hand when fishing for long periods of time.
This is an old Jujube blank, which in this case seemed like a good model.
First, I outline with a pencil the shape of the clonk. Because I am limited by the dimensions of the wood piece, it is necessary to carefully choose the position for the knife and heel (head). It is crucial to pay attention as not to cross the wood grain in the knife zone since that can make it brittle. The heel has to be positioned in a zone of the wood which we believe does not contain hidden defects too.
Firstly I cut out on the bandsaw side profile of the clonk, then remove the sides and the rough blank is now ready.
From now on only sanding is used. Just after the first smoothing of the clonk’s sides the wood patterns start to emerge.
I shape the heel; some more sanding, and I am enjoying the result
It's time to have a rest. Something is wrong with the model. I can't feel it comfortably in my hand. I left the thought to lay for next day.
On the next day the sanding continues. The handle got a new look. I definitely like it and it fits much better in my hand.
Usually, I use several machines with sanding attachments for the rough work, but when it comes to precision shaping, one cannot do without these hand tools. The straight lines of the knife, the symmetry, all the smooth transitions, the tiny scratches and other details must all be finished by hand as they are the factors which distinguish a pretty clonk.
From then on, I progressively switch to finer and finer grid. I normally use the following sequence of machine (m) and hand (p) sanding: m60, p60, m80, p80, p100, m120, p120 (I use a very soft Japanese sandpaper), m150, p180, m220, p240, p320, p400. You can see the change in the wood’s surface in the next photos.
The final sanding ends with the p400 grid. And from now on the magic begins. At that point the curls of the maple are easily seen, but to make them stand out as much as possible, specific treatment is required.
The classic way is to use various dyes, but I prefer a special technique particularly useful for maples: “burning” with nitric acid. This method gives great contrast to the pattern. What is used is the so called “aqua fortis”, which is a water solution of neutralized with iron nitric acid. Here is the result after the first coat with aqua fortis. The liquid is left to soak in well, then we coat again and repeat the process until desired result is reached.
It’s good to wait 24 hours for full drying. Then we heat it up with hot air gun for even further darkening of the pattern. Usually the surface becomes evenly dark and the wood’s beauty stays hidden under the burned surface layer. This layer has to be removed with sandpaper. I usually use old soft sanding pads with p320 grid on them.
Even though we are getting closer to the final result, the real beauty of the wood still remains hidden. It is time for the next magic. Usually after this stage follows varnishing, but this time I have decided to apply something from my knive making experience - the Tung oil.
You can see now a big difference in the clonk’s appearance. I simply apply the oil with cloth or brush and then I heat it up with hot air gun to force it to penetrate deeply the wood. The extra oil is then rub out with a cloth. Here is another nice photo of the clonk after the Tung oil treatment.
If this was a knife’s handle, that would be enought for finish as the Tung oil is water resistance. We can even do short water tests of the fishing clonk without worrying about the water. The oil coating itself is very pretty with its beautiful satin shine and pleasant tactile feel. If I had a choice, I would have stopped there. Unfortunately, for extended water use, the oil is not resistant enough, so varnishing is required. I use this excellent yacht varnish called Schooner, which is based on the Tung oil, so it will be compatible with the already built oil base. I mix equal parts varnish, varnish solvent and Tung oil. The resulting solution is used to coat the surface for several days, sanding the surface after each coat with wet sandpaper. After full polymerisation of the oil, the clonk has stable waterproof base.
All that is left is to build up the finish with 1-2 coats of varnish. Every coat is then sanded with wet sandpaper to ensure completely smooth and even surface. A perfect finish should look like on the photo.
After the last coat, surface should be mirror polished. Depending on depth of imperfections in the finish it might be necessary to go through all wet sanding starting from P500 grid and ending with P3000 grid.
After the 3000 grid wet sandpaper, the surface is not yet as shiny as a mirror. It has to be polished with the finest possible polishing paste and a cloth. I usually use the Dremel rotaty tool for the tight spots around the heel and then finish the rest by hand.
If was left matted spots after poloshing, I repeat the wet sanding and polishing. The end result is spectacular. Deep dark flames, amazing 3D effect on the surface, shifting colours depending of the light direction, a real pleasure to the eyes.
I wish you a pleasant viewing.
Notice the shifting colours.
And here are a few videos to really appreciate the wood’s beauty.
clonk-left-side.mp4
clonk-right-side.mp4
clonk-quilted-maple.mp4
clonk-quilted-maple-2.mp4
clonk-working.mp4
Naturally, my attention was grabbed by the curly Maple (Acer), which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful wood, which possesses all the strength and flexibility necessary to produce a fishing clonk at the same time. I have been working with this wood for many years, and I have made plenty of fishing clonks from it. It all began with the Red Fury clonk in 2010. Generally, I use two sorts of Acer's genus: Hard Maple and Sycamore Maple. Each of these types of wood has its own pattern, and also each blank has its own pattern depending on how it has been cut out as well as numerous other factors. For example, I have noticed that the hard maple's pattern is more fine and uneven than the sycamore’s one, while the latter looks somehow more monotonous. On the other hand, a tangential cut of the wood is nicer than a radial one; therefore, I will choose a hard maple with a tangential cut.
Last year, I had the pleasure of making a clonk from an exceptionally beautiful blank of curly hard maple, which I called Misty. Later on, I made a handle for a skinner knife, from the same piece of wood, which had a tiger-like pattern. Contrary to the clonk, which is varnished, the knife's handle is impregnated with my favourite Tung oil and definitely I like it more. Now that we have established the proper wood and wood finish, all that remains is to determine the clonk model.
It all began from here some time ago. One about meter-long blank of curly Hard Maple with incredibly deep and diverse pattern. It had been cut to smaller pieces, sealed with wood glue (PVA) and left to dry for two years. I think it is ready for processing now. Principally, I am fond of straight clonks. For example, these two lilac clonks lumo1 and lumo2, which I created last year before the opening of the fishing season, I still use them with great pleasure and ease. I do however have tired hands which start aching after a couple of days continuous fishing. With these clonks, usually the wrist's movement starts with the wrist bent upward and moving to straight position. That is why I am deciding to make the handle of the new clonk heavily curved downwards, which would allow my wrist to travel from straight to downward position. By combining the old clonk models with my new one, I hope to be able to relax my hand when fishing for long periods of time.
This is an old Jujube blank, which in this case seemed like a good model.
First, I outline with a pencil the shape of the clonk. Because I am limited by the dimensions of the wood piece, it is necessary to carefully choose the position for the knife and heel (head). It is crucial to pay attention as not to cross the wood grain in the knife zone since that can make it brittle. The heel has to be positioned in a zone of the wood which we believe does not contain hidden defects too.
Firstly I cut out on the bandsaw side profile of the clonk, then remove the sides and the rough blank is now ready.
From now on only sanding is used. Just after the first smoothing of the clonk’s sides the wood patterns start to emerge.
I shape the heel; some more sanding, and I am enjoying the result
It's time to have a rest. Something is wrong with the model. I can't feel it comfortably in my hand. I left the thought to lay for next day.
On the next day the sanding continues. The handle got a new look. I definitely like it and it fits much better in my hand.Usually, I use several machines with sanding attachments for the rough work, but when it comes to precision shaping, one cannot do without these hand tools. The straight lines of the knife, the symmetry, all the smooth transitions, the tiny scratches and other details must all be finished by hand as they are the factors which distinguish a pretty clonk.
p400
p320
p240
p180
The final sanding ends with the p400 grid. And from now on the magic begins. At that point the curls of the maple are easily seen, but to make them stand out as much as possible, specific treatment is required.
The classic way is to use various dyes, but I prefer a special technique particularly useful for maples: “burning” with nitric acid. This method gives great contrast to the pattern. What is used is the so called “aqua fortis”, which is a water solution of neutralized with iron nitric acid. Here is the result after the first coat with aqua fortis. The liquid is left to soak in well, then we coat again and repeat the process until desired result is reached.
It’s good to wait 24 hours for full drying. Then we heat it up with hot air gun for even further darkening of the pattern. Usually the surface becomes evenly dark and the wood’s beauty stays hidden under the burned surface layer. This layer has to be removed with sandpaper. I usually use old soft sanding pads with p320 grid on them.
Even though we are getting closer to the final result, the real beauty of the wood still remains hidden. It is time for the next magic. Usually after this stage follows varnishing, but this time I have decided to apply something from my knive making experience - the Tung oil.
You can see now a big difference in the clonk’s appearance. I simply apply the oil with cloth or brush and then I heat it up with hot air gun to force it to penetrate deeply the wood. The extra oil is then rub out with a cloth. Here is another nice photo of the clonk after the Tung oil treatment.If this was a knife’s handle, that would be enought for finish as the Tung oil is water resistance. We can even do short water tests of the fishing clonk without worrying about the water. The oil coating itself is very pretty with its beautiful satin shine and pleasant tactile feel. If I had a choice, I would have stopped there. Unfortunately, for extended water use, the oil is not resistant enough, so varnishing is required. I use this excellent yacht varnish called Schooner, which is based on the Tung oil, so it will be compatible with the already built oil base. I mix equal parts varnish, varnish solvent and Tung oil. The resulting solution is used to coat the surface for several days, sanding the surface after each coat with wet sandpaper. After full polymerisation of the oil, the clonk has stable waterproof base.
All that is left is to build up the finish with 1-2 coats of varnish. Every coat is then sanded with wet sandpaper to ensure completely smooth and even surface. A perfect finish should look like on the photo.
After the last coat, surface should be mirror polished. Depending on depth of imperfections in the finish it might be necessary to go through all wet sanding starting from P500 grid and ending with P3000 grid.
After the 3000 grid wet sandpaper, the surface is not yet as shiny as a mirror. It has to be polished with the finest possible polishing paste and a cloth. I usually use the Dremel rotaty tool for the tight spots around the heel and then finish the rest by hand.If was left matted spots after poloshing, I repeat the wet sanding and polishing. The end result is spectacular. Deep dark flames, amazing 3D effect on the surface, shifting colours depending of the light direction, a real pleasure to the eyes.
I wish you a pleasant viewing.
Notice the shifting colours.
And here are a few videos to really appreciate the wood’s beauty.
clonk-left-side.mp4
clonk-right-side.mp4
clonk-quilted-maple.mp4
clonk-quilted-maple-2.mp4
clonk-working.mp4
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