![Broken Ice Cream Scoop](/assets/IceCream/Broken.jpg)
My wife broke the ice cream scoop. It’s not a fancy one, but it’s the one we have.
So what’s my job? My job is to fix it of course… after being reminded about a dozen times. It’s basically ‘Husband Energy’. Each reminder slowly builds up sufficient energy so that I can complete the task, but the task can not be completed until that energy is sufficiently in store.
It’s go time!
Contents
- Broken
- Rough
- Trim
- Push
- Mark the Center
- Center
- Split
- Marriage
- Flatten
- Square
- Center the scoop tang
- Mark the tang mortise
- Mark the mortise depth
- Prep the mortise
- Glue
- Clamp
- Glued
- TrimEdges
- Turn
- Copper
- Ferrule
- Ferruled
- Ferrule Glue
- Ferrule Shine
- Char
- Sanded
- Pores
- Tung Oil
- Drying Oil
- Handle
- Epoxy
- Finished
- Support Me!
Broken
![Broken](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Broken.jpg)
Here it is. A cheap ice cream scoop. The edges around the tang fell apart when being used to leverage out the Ice Cream.
Rough
![Rough](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Rough.jpg)
I started with a piece of swamp ash. It’s boring, but I’m going to make it less boring.
Trim
![Trim](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Trim.jpg)
First I trim it down to size. About 5” x 2.5” or 12.7cm x 6.35cm.
My hand really isn’t that close to the blade, and there’s no forces involved here that would put me in danger given even a catastrophic failure.
If this was a tablesaw I would never do anything similar. I’d use a miter gauge and no fence. Bandsaws and Tablesaws are totally different things in action and both have their own set of safety precautions.
Push
![Push](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Push.jpg)
I use a push-stick when I need to work close.
Mark the Center
![MarkCenter](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/MarkCenter.jpg)
Now I need to find the center so I can split this…
I use a center finder, which isn’t at all necessary. You can mark from corner to corner, but this is far easier since the corner is caught by the tool.
Center
![Center](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Center.jpg)
That’s the center.
I hope you enjoyed that image as much as I did.
Split
![Split](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Split.jpg)
The blank is split down the center.
Marriage
![Marriage](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Marriage.jpg)
I place a triangular mark so that I can glue these pieces back together in the same orientation.
If you think that looks nice, you should see my handwriting!
Flatten
![Flatten](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Flatten.jpg)
Now I flatten all 4 sides. I should have done this before splitting it, but uh… oops. I just lined them up by hand and planed them down.
Square
![Square](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Square.jpg)
Now I square the ends with my Veritas shooting plane
Center the scoop tang
![CenterScoop](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/CenterScoop.jpg)
I need to mark out the portion for the scoop tang mortise. I use a Veritas marking gauge and some trial and error.
I place the tang on the wood and adjust the gauge until it fits both sides. Now it’s centered.
Mark the tang mortise
![MarkTang](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/MarkTang.jpg)
I cut the tang mortise marks with the marking gauge. The end is marked to be longer than the tang in case there’s extra glue later. I don’t want to be unable to push it all the way in because some glue is turning my mortise in to a hydraulic piston.
Mark the mortise depth
![MarkDepth](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/MarkDepth.jpg)
I use a Veritas small router plane to set the depth of the mortise. This is also what I cut it with.
Prep the mortise
![PrepMortise](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/PrepMortise.jpg)
I use a chisel to prepare the edges as shown. Then I use the router plane to route out the center.
Glue
![Glue](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Glue.jpg)
The two sides are glued up with some Titebond Original
You may notice that the end of the mortise is slightly sloped. I added that as extra insurance against hydraulic lock.
Clamp
![Clamp](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Clamp.jpg)
Clamped. On the side with the mortise I added 2 extra clamps on each side. I really want that to be tight.
Clamped up.
Glued
![Glued](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Glued.jpg)
Glued.
TrimEdges
![TrimEdges](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/TrimEdges.jpg)
It’s slightly too large, so I just trim it. Each side is trimmed equally so that the mortise stays centered.
Turn
Above is a time lapse video of turning the basic handle shape.
Let’s play a fun game called, “Spot when Robert injures himself.”
No matter who wins, I lose.
Copper
![Copper](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Copper.jpg)
For the ferrule I use a 3/4” or 2cm piece of copper pipe.
Ferrule
![Ferrule](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Ferrule.jpg)
It’s cut down to about 5/8” or 1.5cm.
Ferruled
![Ferruled](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Ferruled.jpg)
The ferrule is temporarily in place here. This stops the wood from expanding when I put the tang in.
Without the ferrule, the tang could push the wood apart and then there’s nothing left to hold it in.
Ferrule Glue
![FerruleGlue](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/FerruleGlue.jpg)
I use thick Cyanoacrylate from Rabid Models.
Ferrule Shine
![FerruleShine](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/FerruleShine.jpg)
Just a quick sanding of the ferrule.
Char
![Char](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Char.jpg)
Here’s the fun part! I turn on the lathe and inside a veritable bomb (sawdust + fire = death)… I char the ash.
Then I sand it.
Then I char it.
Then I sand it.
Then… I keep doing that until I like it.
The idea is that I want the low spots in the wood to retain the char, and the high spots to have a lighter look to them. That will showcase the gain even more.
Sanded
![Sanded](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Sanded.jpg)
Sanded until I’m happy with it.
Pores
![Pores](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Pores.jpg)
A neat look at the pores in the wood and how the charring works.
Tung Oil
![TungOil](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/TungOil.jpg)
I apply Pure Tung Oil to the wood. NOT Tung oil finish. They are totally different things. ‘Tung Oil Finish’ usually doesn’t even have tung oil in it!
Drying Oil
![DryingOil](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/DryingOil.jpg)
Pure tung oil dries very slowly. It can be accelerated with heat, so I do that.
Handle
![Handle](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Handle.jpg)
That’s the handle. I shined the ferrule a bit extra with some 7448 Scotchbrite. It leaves a very nice finish.
I also applied a light oil to it to help prevent corrosion. Over time the copper will patina and become brown with some green to it.
I would appreciate no comments about other potential uses for this device. It’s an ice cream scoop handle. Thanks.
Epoxy
![Epoxy](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Epoxy.jpg)
I use some epoxy to secure the tang in the handle.
This was quite the harrowing experience. I nearly didn’t get it in. I had to make little wood blocks so I could carefully hammer the scoop in without bending the metal or marring anything.
I barely made it.
Finished
![Finished](/assets/IceCream/Thumbnails/Finished.jpg)
Look at that! It’s done…
I hate how it looks. It’s less dark in person, but I’m not a fan of that hipstery ‘vintage barnyard’ look.
It’s done and it works though.
However, I am tempted to try and sharpen it and add a heating element…
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