Summary of Contents for Bridge City Chopstick Master
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For your optimal enjoyment, please read this manual completely before beginning. Congratulations on your purchase of the Chopstick Master™! The Chopstick Master™ is easy to use and allows young and old alike to make professional-grade, reusable chopsticks without woodworking experience or ability. A set of chopsticks...
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Chopstick Master™ body. Once the skids rest on the Chopstick Master™ body, tighten all four screws with the included hex key wrench.
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B.Setting the Cutting Depth of the Hand Plane The small block plane (Fig. 2) included with the Chopstick Master™ is a precision tool with a sharp iron; when properly set-up, it will give you silky shavings with minimal effort. The cutting blade (the “iron”) is always inserted into the plane body with the bevel up —...
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Figure 2 4. Adjust the iron depth until the shaving is thin and easy. Once the iron depth has been set, make sure the iron cap is tight. You may find that tightening the iron cap makes the depth of cut too deep. If so, loosen the cap, slightly retract the iron, and re-tighten the cap.
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Although the Chopstick Master™ makes very little dust, it does make lots of shavings. These are easy to clean up with a vacuum, but can also be easily picked up by placing an old newspaper on the counter prior to beginning;...
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Blanks larger than 7 mm square will require extra work in planing. Blanks over 270 mm in length will not fit in the Chopstick Master™. Blanks less than 270 mm can cause clamping problems in the event of reverse grain.
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Tighten the iron locking knob so the iron is firmly held in place. 4. Loosen the locking knob of the orange bench hook on the Chopstick Master™ and rotate the hook 180 degrees and re-tighten the knob (Fig.5). 5. The 1 micron abrasive strip on the underside of the...
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Chopstick Master™ body is equivalent to an 8000 grit honing stone. Place the honing guide in the channel and stroke back and forth on the abrasive strip, using your fingers to put a light pressure on the front of the iron.
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Master™ Chopstick blanks are positioned diagonally in the Chopstick Master™ to utilize the entire width of the plane iron. They are held in place with two tapered wedges as illustrated in Figure 7. Notice that side “1” of the chopstick...
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4. Planing Adjacent Sides 1 and 2 of the Chopstick Blanks With the Chopstick Master™ properly positioned and side “1” of the chopstick blank facing up, you are ready to taper side “1”. With the plane skids straddling the rails of the Chopstick Master™, take full strokes pushing the plane...
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Remove the two locking wedges, and turn the blank so that side “2” is up. Lock the blank in place with the two locking wedges. Repeat the planing process. Set this chopstick blank aside and repeat the above steps for sides “1” and “2” of your second blank. 5.
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what direction you plane, you cannot get a smooth surface. When this occurs we recommend you discard the blank. A sharp plane blade will help to minimize these problems. If your chopstick blank is warped, you will still be able to make a chopstick, it will however, retain the warp when complete.
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Adding a pyramidal finial (Fig. 9) adds a professional touch to your chopsticks and is very easy to accomplish with the Chopstick Master™. Figure 9 Attach the sliding table to the Chopstick Master™ body. It should slide smoothly without any slop. If it needs...
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(Fig. 10). The three slots in the blade will fit over the shafts of the three thumbscrews, aligning the blade. Tighten the three thumbscrews. The blade should now be angled out from the Chopstick Master™ body at 22.5 degrees from the vertical. Figure 10 Place the chopstick on the sliding table as illustrated in Figure 11;...
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Figure 11 Place your right thumb in the indent at the rear of the sliding table, and use your right index and middle fingers to firmly hold the chopstick down, while pushing the chopstick gently to the right against the stop of the sliding table.
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For multiple-use chopsticks, you need to apply a finish. Included with your Chopstick Master™ is a small amount of food-grade mineral oil. With a paper towel, apply a small amount to each chopstick, let sit for a couple of minutes and wipe clean.
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Other finishing options include varnish, paint, lacquer, or shellac. You can also gild with metal leaf, or explore many other decorative ideas to make your chopsticks unique!
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Portland, Oregon USA, and our manufacturing partners in Nanjing, China, we sincerely thank you for your purchase of the Chopstick Master™. We know you had a lot of fun making your chopsticks and hope that you share this experience with your family and friends! One really fun way to enjoy your Chopstick Master™...