Vintage Merkur Slant - New turned wood handle [PICS]

Well, that dozen NOS vintage Merkur slant shipment I had came in and I played around a bit today with one of two with the real bad cracks in the handle.

Bought some thin brass tubing, cut it to size - drilled out a wood pen blank and epoxied the tube inside the wood. Turned it on the lathe to see what I could get

Definitely NOT the right kind of wood here - at least for my tastes anyways. This is unstained/unfinished as well. I'm very happy with the brass and wood fitting - snug and solid so that part is ok.

I think the white silver coating on the bottom of the handle calls for a high contrast wood - I'm thinking African blackwood polished to a high sheen.

Also, I need to make the handle thinner and a consistent width along the tube. I'm a little off here I think.

All in all though, a good start and learning step in the road Thoughts?

/Ace

Not bad at all. Maybe you could stain the wood dark enough to set off the knob? It might also be possible to remove the white coating, but even though i have one of these slants I am not quite sure what it is coated in.

I'm pretty sure you would be able to find metal stock with the same interior diameter as the original handle. Not that the wood piece couldn't be an elegant solution to the problem.

Oh I could (and did) find some steel replacement - both brass and stainless. In fact, that's what the wood is epoxied to

I just like to dabble on my lathe and I'm experimenting to see what I can do here!

Metal would be too easy

Dabble on my man!! Your pretty good with the lathe
I would love too see a pic when you figure out how you want to do the handle with that sweet brush you turned!!!

Very respectable work, there, sir!

Looks great!

Looks like a very good start! What about some ebony to contrast the knob?

JaggerDragger said:

Looks like a very good start! What about some ebony to contrast the knob?

Click to expand...

Yes! Precisely my thinking as well, but I did have African blackwood in mind. I think either of these might be the ticket. I will be working on it over the next couple days and will report back here with pics!

/Ace

Very nice!

I forget the name of it, but how about some of that costa rican purple wood? no wait that would go with gold or black rhodium...

Honestly I think I'd have the knob plated or painted a darker color. Is it just dirty that it looks so white?

Yea I thought about colouring the know or even turning a cap for it, but haven't decided yet.

Not dirty - actually the exact opposite - this is a NOS Merkur slant. The finish is pretty much pristine and this type has that white silver finish/plating.

Bump for comparison!!