I need some advice on a firesteel handle

[Post Tenebras Lux]

Hi folks,

So I bought a pretty large firesteel blank a long time ago now but have yet to get around to putting a handle on it. I wanted to work with wood more and become more self-sufficient and figured it'd certainly have more value to me if I laboured over what I'll then use for a long time.

I got a reasonable-sized bit of silver birch but I was curious on how one would process it down to the smaller size that then gets refined.

The log is probably 20 cm long.

Cheers

 

[Chris the Fish]

There are many ways to get this to shape, of which the axe is probably the way to go to split it down to rough lengths. You can then use s knife to do the finer work.

You'll need to consider the wood drying as if it's fresh (green) you may want to put it in a garage for a bit as central heating inside homes will cause it to split


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[Post Tenebras Lux]

Cheers. It has been indoors for a while now, maybe a month, and I've noticed a tiny bit of mould creeping on it now on one end.

Should I leave it in the shed until I'm ready to use it?

 

[Chris the Fish]

The mould is probably a product of it being in a bag for a bit too long. The shed will be fine if you plan to use it in the near future


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[Hammock Hamster]

+1 to both Chris's comments. Splitting into more manageable lengths will definitely be easier then trying to carve down the whole branch. If your looking to practice your carving skills at the same time you can try choking up on the axe and using it as a plane/knife to round off the quarters. Also taking a triangular quarter and paring down to a round with your knife is also good practice.
The other option is to get yourself a drawknife and build a shave horse - perhaps a bit extreme for what you are doing but a very useful and versatile combination for wood carving.


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