ryanwrath

I run a business and this year had Ipage, a website developer, do a search engine optimization. It cost around 500.00 (that was with a website and some other work thrown in). in about 1.5 months ( I was under the impression it would take much longer so I was surprised and pleased) I was getting phone calls from people and when I asked where they found me, they said they just googled xyz service provider, in this area, and I was 1, 2 or 3rd on the list. I made the 500 back in the first phone call. A good friend of mine in the same industry had originally suggested google ad words and had many good things to say about them....when work slowed down he just put more money in and started the service back up, but your name never really declines in the searches, so you don't loose what you paid for so to speak. when I was in talks with ipage I forget all the verbage, however it made more sense to just pay it pretty much once, up front and then have it over with. If I was to do nothing else, I would probly use google ad words, it just depends on what industry...and I think price level is if you put in 5 bucks, that's fine, you just get 5 bucks work of service from google, if you put in 500, you get longer service. My2 cents... when I have marketing questions fyi I hire a genius and let them figure it out, hehe...and do lots and lots of research to back it up because a mechanic shop does not market the same as Mcdonalds, obviously, but there are many nuances to it and it took me quite a few years to figure out what really works well for me and my particular business. Good luck.

please forgive my barbaric understanding of such things JDSMITH, but what do you speak of to mean: hammered at every temp? I have an inkling, but not sure if im getting it

I had no idea how to even broach this subject and did not know this was an actual technique. having no real technological terms to use, however I forged a very thin (thin for me anyway) 22" blade out of 5160 round bar. I left a tiny bit of work on the flat of the blade, anticipating a nose dive and wanting dead straight or slight positive upwards curve. first time I quenched the blade, it took a good nose dive. I then used a flat face hammer and started working on the flats...its one bevel from cutting edge to spine with very tiny secondary bevel. this worked the blade out of the nose dive, and to just barely positive upwards curve (sori?). this work was done with shop totally dark and I would only heat the blade until I saw a very faint purplish color coming off the blade. this process took HOURS by the way., I did this 3 times, quench, hammer the flats to straighten, and do very final finish so the blade was perfectly flat, and would work the flats until each time it had no nosedive or a very faint upwards curve to the edge....by the 3rd time quenching there was almost no movement in the blade(no nosedive) and no warping. One thing about the hammer technique, I used the rebound of the anvil and mostly my wrist choked up pretty tight on the handle for thousands of fairly direct strikes. I was going in a direction my mind had lead me from commercial welding using thousands of strikes to relieve stress in a weld, and a entire train of thought to go with it that is hard to explain. After reading this subject, tho, I think I did something entirely different..... I was wondering if maybe I had some how bainited the steel since It had been held at a lower heat for probly around 6ish hours at same heat? impossible to say since I did not know what temp it actually was, but this sounds far more like what I did.....but all I know is that blade was worth the effort. its very thin, and I have slammed it so many times into cured oak log , then cut water bottles, whatever, rope, and no edge deformation at all... it retains its edge like nothing I have made so far and is pretty flexible for what it is......I made a sister blade to it at the same time, I managed to get the first one done, but the other one is just so darn hard to hand sand down its still on the shelf ehe... anyway, interesting conversation, glad this came up.

great knives, ditto on Wes' coments...i must say also, your handles are noteworthy and seem like they would be a pleasure to use.

awesome work KT

I usually just call if somethings goofy, he always picks up and is very cool individual.

heat the cable up. if its at welding heat all the way through that grease is screamin atoms in the wind.........if you really want it clean heat it up a lil so it will take a bend and "birdcage" it by twisting opposing the lay of the strands. this opens it up a lil, let it burn, hit it with flux, re twist it up. if you don't over do it, neither of these operations are very large movements.

incredible artistry and skill Sir. If I may be so bold as to beg the original dimensions of the blade and handle? or a resource that would say so, I did indeed google it, but came up with a couple possibilities and it would be awesome to know what to go with.... thanks ahead of time

awesome thanks guys!

hello all: I was looking at the brownells web site and wondering what I should order, there seems to be a couple of kits avlbl, as I am only looking to put scales on knives what should I order? Any help would be great, thanks much in advance!

dude. awesome story in all ways.

I get CA glue (super glue basically) from rockler and use it to get a 20,000 grit finish on stuff ... a rock hard finish ... has a learning curve but you mite find it works for the cedar but over all, yeah, cedar is pretty soft.

I would have to chime in here I run a business, work another job and squeeze in blade orders whenever possible, and if someone does not want to pay what price I am supremely happy with to sell the blade, and make a good fair amount for the effort involved, then I just shrug and pass .. its no big thing........however I never quit doing all the things that bring in much much more per day than selling knives at ever would unless I was in the absolute upper echelon of blademakers..........so yeah, if 450.00 would make you happy, and after an honest assessment, its worth it, walk away from the deal.........one odd thing I have found about human beings is if you say ........150.00 for this blade, instead of 450.00........many times they will walk because the price is to cheap....I have had people walk from a deal, raised the price on the item ( instead of what human nature mite tell you and lower and lower the price) and it sold fairly quickly to a different person.......people are odd sometimes when it comes to pricing. IF you ask for an offer, the buyer is setting the rules of the engagement, if YOU set the price firmly and quickly, You set the rules of engagement.......if you really want to rock knifes sales or any sales for that matter go sell used cars for a while.. hehe best sales training youll ever get if you make it past the first month. > best of luck

I am a tree guy in Minnesota, have several thousand feet of black walnut being kiln dried as we speak.....I would suggest you stick with the big trunks/crotches, find someone with wide throat band saw or a small sawmill / kiln operation that can slab it up for you and dry it......this is a really really hard process btw...wood is extremely tricky to get to dry flat, without later blowing up on you........I would suggest very minimal up front investment into the whole process as you can put a lot of effort and money into getting quality slab wood only to have it spit on the people that buy it from your later causing all kinds of problems with their relationship with you... that being said, the outer wood is the sap wood, inner wood, were say on black walnut its very dark, that is the wood you are after, so in a spindly little 2" branch you mite be lucky to have a 1" dia. piece of dark wood........unless your a carver or something, that's not what your looking for.....your looking for a crotch or something you can make 2'x2x1 1/16th boards out of and when they dry and twist still plane down to a 3/4 thick piece of wood or something along that line...........and as was mentioned above, MANY figures formed by grains and birds eyes have to be treated just rite to even expose them, let alone maximize their beauty....just as an example, and this is a one in a million, I have a guy that will slab up any 30" trunk by 20' long for 60 bucks and kiln dry it, but I have never met anyone else like that.......just gotta find a guy that's happy to have a fresh fridge pack of his favorite suds in the fridge shrug. happy wood hunting

Smart!

I sell a few knives....I have had hardly any luck on the internet...maybe if someday I am a known maker that would change, but my strongest sales are in person, explaining why the knife is so much better....I got lucky and sold a few skinners to the hunter/trapper crowd, and once they realize they can order a knife made exactly to fit their hand that is so hard they don't have to sharpen hardly ever if they take care of it, a sheath that doesn't come apart...most people like that realize they mite pay a lot more , but they are going to only do it once...but I have had people tell me why would I buy one of your "expensive" knives when I can buy one from wally world for 5 bucks....then again the most they do with it is cut cabbage.....good luck in your efforts

just as a bench mark i get about 4-8 hrs of forging out of a 20lb tank just depends on if its all welding, or if im just making a batch of blades.........i have a regulator made for propane with a meter on it so i know what my pressure settings are, its handy. i crank it up to 20 for forge welding, 15 for general purpose clanging and bangin and 5-6 for heat treating. Good Luck.

The local Blacksmith guild buys coal for forging by the ton........its not super expensive, although interestingly enough, the cost per hour to run the charcoal vs. the propane is roughly equal last time i figured it out.

i like the dragons teeth. if i ever need a push knife, i'll probly just get one from you insteada of making it myself. your work is crisp, clean, and the pricing could not be more right.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ what freya said. I have quenched many hundreds of different mystery spring type steels in oil, always with used steel its a crap shoot.......ONe interesting thing to note: i do A LOT of air arc metal removal and there is some dynamic i do not know how to explain techniquely.........but under the air arc, i can trace and root out hairline stress fractures that the naked eye cannot see, only revealed by xray..........if this has to do with the intense light, and how it is refracted into my eyeball or some other mechanice i dont know, but it is a stark naked look at metal that has been incredibly stressed into oblivion and beyond...........all that to say, old, used, tired steel is just that: old, tired, used steel......the brightside is depending on your knowledge you know how to make it young and new again........

as for the really black emery.........i was frustrated aredy...hehe but Thank You for the info im trying to find what i need locally and alot of places i asked i got a huh and a from whoever i asked over the phone for ceramic or silicon carbide abrasive paper......the auto body tip is a good one, thanks!

awesom thanks ! any suggested brands? >

hi all, i am in dire need of sand paper typ medium that i can buy that will sand and actually move hardend steel......i do this all the time, however i got some 5160 so darn hard it wont move even with a flapper disk on a 6" grinder.........its also pretty darn flexible, but thats besides the point......i really have to lean on my grinder, even with a straight grinding wheel on it and even then wont move alot ...shrug anyway some advice on high quality sandpaper or would say diamond stone work? not sure open to suggestions! thanks!

awesome grain! looks great from the pics!

so many layers of incredible craftsmanship!!!