Jump to content

What did you do in your shop today?


Joshua States

Recommended Posts

I once picked a whole screwdriver blade, a Bobby pin, metal strap, wood splinters.

An aged man once came to the Volvo dealership I was working at the time with a "flat" tire on his brand new s80. Guess the tire had been flat for a while because it tore the whole dang wing apart :lol:. We called him Nascar after that.

Edited by Joël Mercier
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dang! That was a close call!

Lucky that 270 didn't hit a rock just right :blink::lol:

The only tire I ever popped (when not airborne prior) was when I whipped my car around in my work parking lot and hit my boss's bumper... I was having a rough day, and my boss told me to take a break, and go get a drink from the store or something... So I whipped the front end of my car around and slammed my front bumper into his truck. Didn't hurt his truck but my car had a big dent in it and the tire popped. I put the doenut on and attempted to drive home, ended up walking home after it blew out going around a turn. My phone was completely dead. I was pretty heated lol! 

So what I did today... I've been making a book of knife types and embellishment styles. I want to make several "volumes" of these. This will give me sort of a library of to scale blade drawings and something to really lay my eyes on. Its really hard to make out this woven ribbon motif on a phone screen. I just started the viking book, mainly because I want to start a big seax soon. 

20181101_214856.jpg

20181030_203210.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8am-1pm my white collar job....

Did my first 2pm-5pm afternoon in my friend's engineering shop, got to drive the milling machine on the first day!

Went home, sealed and sanded a handle, drilled and fitted a brass guard to a blade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I've got the coal the gloves are expected to be here by 1 pm.  I did order myself a wire butcher block brush as well.  Which will be very nice to have.  Rather than using those crappy tooth brush like wire brushes all though those are great for welding.  If the weather holds out today I'm planning on lighting up the forge.  FINALLY.  But gotta rake the danged leaves up first OMG.  I wish I would have known that poplar trees did this before I chose this spot.  It's like the leaves on those things are never ending.  My WORD.  The insanity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Gerhard said:

8am-1pm my white collar job....

Did my first 2pm-5pm afternoon in my friend's engineering shop, got to drive the milling machine on the first day!

Sounds like you be gainfully employed agin!

3 hours ago, AndyB said:

I wish I would have known that poplar trees did this before I chose this spot.  It's like the leaves on those things are never ending. 

Get yourself a goat or two. You will never rake leaves again. You may shovel a lot of poop, but no leaves!

“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing.  

 

Josh

http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg

J.States Bladesmith | Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Joshua States said:

Sounds like you be gainfully employed agin!

Get yourself a goat or two. You will never rake leaves again. You may shovel a lot of poop, but no leaves!

Sadly management wouldn't allow me to have goats here lol.  it's not a big deal it's exercise lol.  Plus I have a very small yard.  I can rake it in about an hour.  Its just a mass of leaves happens every fall.  Last fall it was the same lol.  But once the leaves are gone they're gone thank god.  How ever its a pain because My organics bin is only so big and can only hold so much lol.  Sadly its almost full from the last raking.  LOL.  So it takes some time but it gets done lol.  I'm hoping I can get the forge going this evening though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, AndyB said:

Sadly management wouldn't allow me to have goats here lol.  it's not a big deal it's exercise lol.  Plus I have a very small yard.  I can rake it in about an hour.  Its just a mass of leaves happens every fall.  Last fall it was the same lol.  But once the leaves are gone they're gone thank god.  How ever its a pain because My organics bin is only so big and can only hold so much lol.  Sadly its almost full from the last raking.  LOL.  So it takes some time but it gets done lol.  I'm hoping I can get the forge going this evening though.

Leaves make excellent compost for a vegetable garden BTW. 

“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing.  

 

Josh

http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg

J.States Bladesmith | Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Joshua States said:

Leaves make excellent compost for a vegetable garden BTW. 

They do indeed, how ever I haven't quite figured out what I'm doing in the back at the moment.  For now leaves get thrown in the bin lol.  Plus I'm not one that has a green thumb lol.  So far I'm failing miserably with gardening lol.  Surprised my plants out front have survived this long lol.  Oh well.  Lets just hope I will be a better metal worker than gardener lmfao.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow how beautiful that coal fire really is after the sunsets.  Holy cow man I tell ya.  What a blast this is becoming.  I'm enjoying the heck out of it.  In this video I was heating up the piece of the tongs I've been working on.  I could only do so much because it was starting to get late.  But man I tell ya what it was nice and warm next to the fire.  Sorry I just realized watching the footage my finger was in it the hole time lol.  I'm still getting use to this new phone.

 

Edited by AndyB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/2/2018 at 8:23 PM, Joshua States said:

Sounds like you be gainfully employed agin!

1 year half day contract at the same place that dumped me (because there's nobody to do my work) and unpaid apprenticeship in the afternoons........transitioning to fitter&turner/welder/whatever after 24 years in IT.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Gerhard said:

1 year half day contract at the same place that dumped me (because there's nobody to do my work) and unpaid apprenticeship in the afternoons........transitioning to fitter&turner/welder/whatever after 24 years in IT.

Good to hear!  I don't know about Namibia, but in the states a good welder/machinist often makes more than the IT guy, depending on the company.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Alan Longmire said:

Good to hear!  I don't know about Namibia, but in the states a good welder/machinist often makes more than the IT guy, depending on the company.

Yes that is sometimes the case.

17 hours ago, Gerhard said:

1 year half day contract at the same place that dumped me (because there's nobody to do my work) and unpaid apprenticeship in the afternoons........transitioning to fitter&turner/welder/whatever after 24 years in IT.

Not much need for IT in the blacksmith/knifemaking business. Welding and machining though...sounds like a score! Glad to hear it.

  • Like 1

“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing.  

 

Josh

http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg

J.States Bladesmith | Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Alan Longmire said:

Good to hear!  I don't know about Namibia, but in the states a good welder/machinist often makes more than the IT guy, depending on the company.

The owner of the machine shop is my friend since school, when we started working he earned 800 a month while I earned 2000.

That changed in 2002 with my first retrenchment and I never caught up again.

Not quite normal but I had more than my share of bad luck.  The market is very small so as you get older you need to specialize or move on......I choose the wrong things to specialize in :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Work was stacked up at my afternoon job waiting for machines, nothing for me to do so I went back to my shop....I have orders to fill and running out of time....

I did rough shaping and sanding to 400 grit on a micarta handle, and it took me two hours.

I've never did what you'd call time keeping, figured it would make me cry, but things have changed, income is needed and time is now even more limited due to working an hour longer in the afternoon.....and physically considerably harder.

I'm getting noticeably quicker, and more than ever I question my pricing.  If the creation process wasn't keeping me level a bit it would not be worthwhile financially by a factor of 10. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm lets see today is going to be working on the shed/little shop space.  Getting things prepped to build a tool bench in there.  Got rid of some more stuff organize things. The only real thing I'm not aware of is the heat treating of that stuff.  Would it be similar to heat treating the 1075/1080 or even 1084, heat up the oil to about 125 dunk it in there?  After of course it hits critical temp.  (Non Magnetized).  The other question Id have on it is the tempering.  Would I temper it at 400 for 1 hour or would I temper it at a lower heat.  Because it is not a higher carbon.  Anyways those are the plans for now.  I've already been out at the shed working on it this morning.

Edited by AndyB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shop build update... (I just realized I had not posted here since early summer)

Well, here's a back-side progress shot. I didn't want to show the front until I get my doors finished (they're still OSB & tarps).

shop.jpg

Most of the 120V power is in, still need to run 240.

You can see I got a wood stove.

Need to insulate, etc.

I had a lot of the sawmill white pine left, so I designed an 11' and a 6' roller track door. I was using my son's DeWalt planer to take the boards down to 1/2" and evidently worked it too hard and burned the motor up. DeWalt's "limited 3 year warranty" isn't worth the energy it takes to read it, so I've spent the last couple weeks rebuilding a planer... $200 in parts to fix a $600 machine. But it is fixed and completely refurbished. If anyone wants to know anything about DW735 planers, just let me know... I know them intimately.

I hoped to get my forge equipment moved in this month, but I need to do some iron work for my doors, so I'll have to wait until I have them up.

Man, time flies when you're obsessed with a project.

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Alan Longmire said:

What steel are you trying to heat treat?  Non-magnetic only corresponds to critical on a few steels, most need to go a little hotter, some need to go a lot hotter.

Once I get that hot cutter made I’m going to have to quench it and temper it but I wasn’t sure how long to heat it up to since it is the 1045 steel.  I talked to the machine shop they said I needed to get it to about a straw yellow color but I wasn’t too sure on how long to temper it. Time wise in the oven.

Edited by AndyB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took me about 9pm-11pm to mill a slot for a tang in a fat old piece of brass.

Very neat, need to clearance it a bit and square the ends.  Ironic it took more than twice as long as drilling and filing in my own workshop, but a good way to learn the machines at my second job.

I'm about a week into this 2 job situation and I'm pretty tired, knife making is coming a bad second :( 

The micarta I made on Saturday failed due to not enough hardener......gave it Sunday, made a new block on Monday.....

......and glued the handle on skew yesterday in between Job 1 and job 2 :blink:

I have 3 knives that need to get on a plane to Switzerland on the 24th and my sheath-guy dropped me.....next two weeks will be interesting..... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, AndyB said:

Once I get that hot cutter made I’m going to have to quench it and temper it but I wasn’t sure how long to heat it up to since it is the 1045 steel.  I talked to the machine shop they said I needed to get it to about a straw yellow color but I wasn’t too sure on how long to temper it. Time wise in the oven.

Don't bother heat treating a hot cutter.  1045 will lose temper the first time you use it.  That's not a big deal though, it will be much harder than hot steel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...