I think the only thing I haven't covered in this thread is some detail is fitting the riser blocks on these BBO blanks. so, let's fit a rise to our blank.
the first step is to mark the center of a riser block and trace the long, gentle deflex arc that goes through the handle section of the blank. I do this by simply putting the blank on the edge of the riser block and tracing the curve, saving as much of the thickness of the riser block as I can. that chunk missing from the right side of the riser block will be cut away later when I cut out the handle side profile.
then I affix the riser block to a chunk of oak. the oak block acts as a "handle" of sorts while cutting out the arc on the band saw and while sanding it to perfectly fit the blank for a nice thin glue joint. I use turner's tape. Have to give a shout out to Switchitter for turning me onto turners tape. it's the cats ass for this. Turner's tape is VERY sticky double sided tape that still lets go when you make it.
moderate clamp pressure attaches these together so tightly that you cannot pull it apart by hand. well, I can't, anyway.
cut out the arc with the band saw, leaving the pencil line.
I set up my 6"x48", 9" disc sander for using the belt in the vertical position. the wooden table is sitting on top of the small table that is used for both what I'm doing here and for using the disk. The surface of wooden table is more than twice the size of the original equipment. needs to be this big for moving the riser block back and forth along its entire length.
I sand this carefully to the pencil line, then check the fit by putting the blank and riser together and holding up to a bright light source to see where light is coming through the joint. I very slowly sand the places where no light is coming through (the high spots) until the fit is as perfect as I can make it. sometimes it only take one or to minor corrections, sometimes it ten or more. patience necessary here as it can be a little aggravating. this time it took three little corrections and about two minutes. I've spent half hour on fitting a handle because I got a little impatient.