# How to make a hair fork



## Ella Menneau P. (Jun 7, 2009)

Bill/Woodnthings asked if I would share the process for making the hair forks, so here it is. Keep in mind that photography isn't one of my strong suits!
The slab of Flame Boxelder. I use both the table saw and the bandsaw to cut to size.









I use a french curve to create the profile contour. Not all forks are curved--it really depends on the strength of the wood, how thick the original board is, how buried behind bikes and other paraphernalia the table saw is, and how fabulous the grain/figuring is.









Both cuts made on the band saw. All powertool pics were taken with the motor OFF!









Creating the taper on the sander









Freehanding the guidelines for cutting the tines. With a fork this size, the piece that is cut away can be made into a very small fork.









After the cut









I use a rotary tool to create a smooth and fluid "arch." This is more important on the narrower forks because the radius is too small for the bandsaw blade, and I end up making 2 cuts to remove material and nibble away a bit to create the arch. Next purchase is a drill press.









Easing the edges on the sander. 









It's starting to look like something! Ooh, that figuring is gorgeous!









Now for the hand work. I just got a new rasp for shaping the tines. When I first started making these last summer I used sandpaper. Took forever, gave myself a case of tendonitis in my elbow. Got smart and bought some files. Still took too long; got the rasp. LMNOP is happy now!









After the shaping, now comes the sanding with an assortment of products. It's imperative that all surfaces are perfectly smooth so as not to catch and break stray strands of hair. 









Just look at that grain! Now I'll apply a couple of coats of Minwax Antique Oil Finish. I forget which of the fine gentlemen on the forum recommended it, but it's perfect for this application, and simple, too!









After the oil finish has dried it's time for a spin on my Lilliputian buffing wheel to polish it up!









The finished fork









Action shot


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Very cool! :thumbsup:

Nice step by step! :yes:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That takes a lot more work than I thought it would. Nice job on the hair fork and the tutorial pictures. Thanks for taking the time and effort to put this together. I agree with you on the look of this wood, it's gorgeous. Thanks again for sharing.
Ken


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Ella Menneau P. said:


> how buried behind bikes and other paraphernalia the table saw is,


 Nice fork, thanks for showing us how you do it.








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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

That's so cool. I never really noticed hair forks until you came on board, but I think they're snazzy. I really admire the work you put into them.

I really dig the Lilliputian buffing set-up. 




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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*You probably know this already*

but I'll just mention it in case. When you have a flat base on your work whether it's on the edge or the bottom and make a cut through the work..... if you stack the waste and the work back together you can cut the 90 degree side and still have a flat base on the table. You can do this mulitple time to create complex shapes.
Hope that makes sense...Like this where you have a plan view cut and a side view curve on the same piece. It's much safer than sawing a piece with a curved base:









Both cuts made on the band saw. All powertool pics were taken with the motor OFF!









Very nice photo essay, thanks! bill


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## Ella Menneau P. (Jun 7, 2009)

> I really dig the Lilliputian buffing set-up.


Not me, man. I want to get a bench grinder set-up with a nice big cotton buffing wheel! 

Need to build a 3rd bay on to the garage to accommodate it all!

Thanks for the compliments everyone. 

And Bill, I get what you are saying about re-uniting the removed wood/flat base. I'm going to try it and see if it makes a difference in the quality of the cut.


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## April7 (Nov 14, 2021)

Ella Menneau P. said:


> Bill/Woodnthings asked if I would share the process for making the hair forks, so here it is. Keep in mind that photography isn't one of my strong suits!
> The slab of Flame Boxelder. I use both the table saw and the bandsaw to cut to size.
> 
> 
> ...


If u dont have a dremel rotary tool to smooth out the top inside ; and dont have many tools , what can i use to get the top inside circular part smooth ??????


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

welcome to the forum, April. what part of the world are you in ?
even tho this thread is a bit old, it is still very interesting and you have a valid question.
please tell us a little bit about the tools that you do have, or have access to. and we can start from there.


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

_old is an understatement_. that said, i might make some for the girls in the family with long hair. heck i might look ravishing with one in my hair, i do have the longest hair in the family 😂 

for april: a dowel with stick sand paper works great. 80 grit for shaping and 150, 220 & 320 grit for smoothing. home depot, lowes, ace hardware or any hardware store will have a variety of grits available in similar packaging. i'd stick with self adhesive as it's easier to wrap on a dowel. get a couple of dowels so you can switch grits back and forth


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## April7 (Nov 14, 2021)

John Smith_inFL said:


> welcome to the forum, April. what part of the world are you in ?
> even tho this thread is a bit old, it is still very interesting and you have a valid question.
> please tell us a little bit about the tools that you do have, or have access to. and we can start from there.


Sorry, short answer; look back i made another comment explaining.


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## April7 (Nov 14, 2021)

April7 said:


> If u dont have a dremel rotary tool to smooth out the top inside ; and dont have many tools , what can i use to get the top inside circular part smooth ??????


 My name is April, and live in Mississippi in the USA. I have a bandsaw, belt sander, small electric square sander, carving knife, wrasps and files, some hand sanding tools, a small electric drill and a normal electric drill. ( i thought about possibly grabing a pen and wraping sandpper around it and sticking the wrapped pen in my drill to make a generic make shift rotary tool ) ……By the way for my first 3 hairforks im making is one 4.5 inch prong for a friend and a 5.5 inch prong with .1/2 on top with a 1/2 inch i think its called a french curve. The other one im going to be making is the same but 6 inch prongs, the last 2 for me.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

For shaping and smoothing inside curves I often use sanding drums in my drill press or hand held drill. An example: https://www.amazon.com/16pk-Sanding-Sleeves-Drill-2-inch/dp/B01BUSM7YW/


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

you can make your own sanding "sticks" by cutting a slot in wood dowels or steel bolts and put strips of sandpaper in the slot so it will wrap around it.
Edit: this is for your hand-held drills. you can remove a lot of wood with 40 or 60 grit paper and progressively move up to 220-320 and finish with hand sanding.
I have an assortment of different sized PVC pipe that I glue different grits of paper on for cheap profile hand sanders.
please start your own build thread when you get started on your projects. I think it would be interesting to follow with photos. and put it in the WoodCarving sub-forum because that is what you are basically doing is carving custom items.


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