Ohhh I am such a beginner
those look great. Nice carvings.
On a how to note, most of mine so far are straight tine. Simpler for the begginner.
I pencil in the pouring shape. I use a vice with a leather strop to ride the sides of the tines. The face is flat from the original cut. Then working SLOWLY I eyeball the center and drill away. Once I have the depth down below the pouring lines I use a coping saw and ruff cut the pouring shape. Once thats away, I have a pre-drilled hole to start from.
Depending on the size, shape and overall length, I step drill down. (I found a package of grinding bits at the local Harbor Freight). These bits allow for easy shaping of the inside (to a point).
As I drill, I periodically fill up the tine and pour it into one of the store bought measurers with the numbered tic marks on the side and check my progress. OBTW, T/C has a good one that you can see thru. I check and shape and drill some more.
Once I get to within 10 grains of my desired amount, I stop drilling and do more shaping and smoothing. That extra work easily takes up the additional 10 grains.
If you drilled to deep, you can fill the store bought charger to the desired amount and fill the tine and mark just how much you need to remove OR you can stain the inside and repeat the process and scribe with an awl the fill level, this will give a white fill line.
I then drill a hole about 1 - 1-1/2 inches from the tip for a string or leather thong. and finish up with a green pad and buff the outside.
This is the way I do it (for now), I'm sure with all the knowledge in this forum, we can have more ways. So don't be afraid, step out on the ice and let your BP imagination flow.
