I have made a number of letter openers, all basically similar. They have a sandwich-style handle between which the metal blade is placed and incorporate contrasting filler wood. The handles were milled out to accept the blades, and then the two halves were glued together. Much of the effort making these was actually in the blades. I was unable to find any nice opener blades, and was forced to buy junky ones that had been crudely punched out. I ended up grinding down the edges to something that was at least tapered, and then did the necessary polishing to remove the grinding marks.
2025 Update: I discovered (after a quarter-century) that the opener was a bit heavy for my pen cup so I made a
better-balanced version for the one on my desk.
#1:
| Material: | Ornamental crab (from back yard tree) with Walnut inserts |
| Finish: | 3 coats Behr polyurethane varnish |
| Size: | 3.6" x 1.0" w x 0.6" |
| Done: | October 3, 1999 |
#2:
| Material: | Maple Burl with African Blackwood inserts |
| Finish: | 4 coats Behr polyurethane varnish |
| Size: | 2.85" x 1.1" w x 0.85" |
| Done: | October 3, 1999 |
