The Mackem Shaver said:
Here are the UFO handles, made by Rafael in Spain, which are much coveted on this forum.
I saw the handles a few nights ago after seeing them mentioned so many times on here. He turns out some very nice work and the knurling he does is top notch. Knurling can be a very tricky thing to do and get repeatable results that are perfect every time. At first they might seem expensive for what they are, but the time Rafael would have put in to be able to get knurling of that standard will be very high. The knurling tools are also very expensive for high quality ones and putting them onto stainless steel will take time and most likely multiple passes, and that means getting all those lovely lines to match up perfectly. To do that you need a good quality, beefy and rigid lathe, again very expensive equipment.
I could look into getting a decent knurling tool, but I would probably have to be able to sell quite a few handles to recover the outlay and with the lathe I have, I doubt I would get results quite as good. Knurling on stainless would most likely not be possible on my lathe but I can give it a go, nothing ventured nothing gained!
If I did make some it would most likely only be for forum members and they would be done to order. I also wouldn't be looking to make much, if at all, from it. I do it for fun and trying to make money from it would spoil the enjoyment I think.
I might even make a couple up and donate them to the forum to sell off for funds.
Give me a few days to have a think and a chat with a couple of toolmakers I know about tooling, got one coming today to buy a cnc lathe from me and he should be able to point me in the right direction.
daz