An old friend of the Maker Godfather, Jimmy Diresta, once said “There’s more than one way to build a boat,” and so he used plastic for a wooden boat’s frames and made makeshift steaming bags so that his wood could be bent in place. Convention has no place in the workshops of Louis Sauzedde and Jimmy Diresta, so it was no surprise that Diresta used a plastic bag to mold his resin knife handle. It’s a very “Lou” thing to do, and both makers have embraced their own ways of doing things, which makes their teaching and mentoring that much more valuable. Today’s video takes us to Diresta’s Workshop where he finds a good use for TotalBoat’s New ThickSet Deep Casting Epoxy for the handle of his knife.
Now, before you attribute any of this talent to Diresta’s well-appointed shop, brimming with expensive tools and toys, note that the coolest part of this project is in the epoxy handle making. This project, as you will see, can be done with almost nothing fancy (except the resin… pretty fancy stuff) using an old knife that needs a new handle, or maybe ordering a blank from the internet.
Again we celebrate the “go for it” in the makers who try new things, use new products like the resin, and test the limits of the imagination, and yeah – sometimes of the fancy tools, too. But aside from the entertainment and joy in watching Diresta’s videos, there are numerous cool tips and tricks for the common DIY person littered throughout his projects and videos.
As for Jimmy’s and our old friend, Louis Sauzedde, he’s been on the minds of many of you recently and we have been chasing down an update for you. So here goes: Lou and Tips from a Shipwright will be launching a few videos in the coming weeks from their trip to Chile last winter. Do Lou a favor and head over to his PATREON page and lend them some support to get their show up and running again. They are working towards the next great thing and we can’t wait to hear about what that will be. They have just passed 100,000 subscribers which is a big accomplishment. So head over to Patreon and wish them well in their future endeavors.
In the meantime, enjoy a little epoxy that becomes the fun feature in Jimmy’s beautiful knife handle. It takes a special epoxy to handle being poured deeper than about an eighth of an inch for casting and filling voids. The new ThickSet Epoxy has been developed for pouring in deeper layers without the danger of an exothermic reaction. The very slow curing hardener will allow for pours of about 1-2 inches (conditions depending…) at a time. Casting things like knife handles or maybe even an ax, (you have to see this to believe it) will be easier to pull off because you can pour it in thicker layers, with fewer bubbles and perfect clarity (when left clear.) Try some out for your next casting or void filling… it’s bound to make an artist out of most of you! Enjoy!
Here’s a fun video from when Jimmy first met Louis Sauzedde.
