158 How To Make Fish Mounts 



pass out as gifts to my friends. This type of letter opener 

 is especially appreciated as an unusual conversation piece. 



The process is simple. Cut about 12 inches off the end of 

 the bill. Plan to have 8 inches as the blade of the opener and 

 the remaining 4 inches to accommodate a handle. Use a file 

 to wear down all the roughness of the bill, especially the rasp- 

 like bottom side. Continue to file away, mostly on the top and 

 bottom, until the bill takes on the appearance of a blade with 

 its edges thin and smooth. Now go over the blade with two or 

 three grades of sandpaper— from rough to very fine. When the 

 opener takes on the smoothness of glass, polish it. This can be 

 done with any type of abrasive polish such as rouge and an 

 electrical buffing wheel. I get excellent results, however, by 

 dipping a piece of cheesecloth into alcohol and dabbing it into 

 whiting. Then it's a matter of rubbing it on, applying more 

 alcohol and whiting, and rubbing some more. 



File the hind 4 inches of the bill to a shape which will ac- 

 commodate whatever handle you intend to put on it. My wife, 

 Bo, found an interesting, small, silver umbrella handle in the 

 shape of a duck's head complete with glass eyes and ivory bill 

 at an antique shop that made a most attractive handle for a 

 marlin-bill letter opener. I placed some liquid plastic into the 

 metal end of the handle and pushed the handle end of the bill 

 into it. I held it in position in a vise until the plastic set. 



However, it is not necessary to hunt around in antique shops 

 for an appropriate handle. If you are handy with a pen knife, 

 carve one; or look for an old hunting-knife handle or a stag-horn 

 handle which can be removed from a discarded kitchen carving 

 set. 



Five or 6 inches off a tine or prong of a deer's antler can be 

 made into a beautiful handle. Simply drill a hole in the tine 

 and glue the paper cutter in it. 



