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Recently, an Italian collector and shooter commissioned me to make him a natural to very specific requirements. The fork tips were to be 20mm, the length of the handle to the fork must be 90mm and the gap between the forks had to be 50mm.
What's more, he wanted this natural to be absolutely natural, meaning that it was cut from the tree with those exact dimensions. I figured that with over 300 forks cut and dried, I would surely have one that would fit that criteria. Well, after searching through all 300 forks and measuring them, I found one that came close and several others that could be modified to meet his criteria. When I showed him photos, he indicated that he wanted them all. So, here they are- they are all built around the above dimensions and they came out so well and shot so nicely, I almost did not want to send them off to him.
They have all been sanded baby butt smooth, received an oil/wax finish, and burnished/polished.
The fork in the foreground is the only fork in the bunch that met his criteria without extra work. It is a red oak fork with the bark left on and polished. The fork on the top left is a black cherry fork, middle- sumac, and top right- black walnut.
Bravo!
