I am contemplating using the TGN boar knot for one of the handles I have on the way. However, I am not sure about the plastic base that is on them. Is it something can be easily removed without damaging the knot?
tgn boar plastic base
- Thread starter bocefus
- Start date
Blzrfn, did you just gnaw away at the plastic with the cutters? Did there seem to be much risk of compromising the knot?
The plastic is essentially a tube that flares out at the top (the end that will end up being at the base of the knot when installed in a handle) and the other end of that tube below the base of the knot is hallow. I started by clipping the cup from the hallow end and breaking the pieces of plastic off (step 1 in picture, cut parallel to arrows). After I removed all of the excess plastic from below the knot I chose the area with the least amount of plastic remaining between the base of the knot and the flared portion of the collar. I then cut the flair by carefully feeding the tip of the wire cutters down into the hair and making small cuts (steps 2a and 2b, again cutting parallel to arrows). When I could no longer advance the wire cutters without force I then opened the wire cutters wide and started a shaving/scraping motion with the cutters perpendicular to the flat section of the collar, essentially joining the cut from the flare to the cut from the hallow tube (step 3, jaws of wire cutters should be configured as the lines drawn on the photo, make small cutting/scraping motions dragging one side of the jaws along the length of the collar until you are all the way through). Once you have cut through the collar lengthwise the collar will come right off. Hopefully this is easy enough to understand, let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks for the detailed description! Very helpful!!!
