Hello all,

I recently got a good deal on a Hirsch (I think? Stag maker's mark...) scorp/inshave that's older but looks unused. I got it sharp and it cuts great. However, the handles are parallel to the blade, and on some cuts the handles can touch the wood before the blade engages. It doesn't happen often and I could probably work around it, but I'd like to improve it if I can.

I read somewhere, maybe Elia Bizzarri's site, that you can bend scrop handles like these upward (which increases their clearance angle) by wrapping the blades and handles in wet rags so they don't heat up, hitting the spot you want to bend with a MAP torch until glowing, and then slowly bending the handles to the desired angle and quenching.

My question is: has anyone tried this? At first glance I feel like a wet towel wrapped around the handle wouldn't do much to stop heat transfer down the tang and damaging/burning the inside of the handle. Maybe I'm wrong though. I guess the worst that could happen is I try it and then have to make new handles, but I don't want to create more work if possible.

If that method doesn't' sound like it would work, anyone else have an idea for how to bend the handles upward?

Thanks in advance!