What did you do in your shop today?

[Zeb Camper]

Ok. I guess it's done then. The rest of my family and best friend said the same. I think I'm mostly concerned about scratches on the handle. Its poplar. OTOH, it's an art knife and no one will seriously use it. 

Thanks guys!

[Jeremy Blohm]

Made room for the lathe on the back wall of the shop. Now I have to take the motor and gearbox off in order to back the trailer in but I'm making progress.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Jeremy Blohm

[Mike Ward]

Finished a ~8.5” chefs knife for my brother. It’s 1 7/8” at the heel, ~.135 at the spine with a distal taper down to the tip. Grinding it, I got the edge down to about .015” and then convexed it down to about .001-.003”. The handle is Birdseye maple with a copper spacer. It’s thicker than I would like personally but his fingers are about an inch longer. He specifically told me to make it heavier towards the heel and heavier in general than the cheap knives. 

I tested it out and it cuts and feels fantastic to me. I think for the next knife it could be a bit thinner at the spine, probably .115-.125” I think.

What do y’all think?

[Conner Michaux]

I’ve got some good news, one of my neighbors has an old Wilton belt grinder 2x72 I think, he said I could borrow it when ever I need. The only thing is that it’s a round wheel grinder only, so only hollow grinds or convex I’m the slack part of the belt. So thats What I’ll be doing in my shop for a while. 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Conner Michaux

[Gerhard Gerber]

I got a box full of goodies

- Some bearing races, some motherlessly big down to flat, even and small, as well as some 52100 cylinders origin and use unknown.

- brass plates, brass bars, brass rounds

- SS bar suitable for guards

- African Rosewood

- Wild Olive wood.

I made a semi-movable stand for a small vice I got at a garage sale.

Also entered the big leagues......stuck some paper together, traced the outline of the SLO-blank I'd forged out and started with the design......on paper 

The brass plate I was gifted sealed the deal, I now have material large enough to make a guard for something with (I hope) a Japanese feel to it.  I will not dare call it a wakizashi, just a first step in that direction.

[Troels Saabye]

I managed to find two 10 mm bolts in my shop (I've been trying to find the box for a week in old clutter) Finally I can get on with the retort

[AJ Chalifoux]

Making some more progress on a viking sword. Last night I finished getting the fullers shaped with stones and refined the bevels with stones and files. It always surprises me how 50-53HRC blades can be filed (albeit with a bit more moxy).

[Alan Longmire]

16 hours ago, Conner Michaux said:

I’ve got some good news, one of my neighbors has an old Wilton belt grinder 2x72 I think, he said I could borrow it when ever I need. The only thing is that it’s a round wheel grinder only, so only hollow grinds or convex I’m the slack part of the belt. So thats What I’ll be doing in my shop for a while. 

That will add a new dimension to your abilities for sure!  Note that if it's a Wilton Square Wheel, the whole front assembly rotates.  It may have a platen in there, open the side cover and see.  They come with an 8" wheel, a platen, and a slack belt zone all rotating on a bolt in the tooling arm.  With the guard on you can't see that, though.

[Conner Michaux]

Let’s hope it’s the square wheel model then, how difficult is it to hollow grind a blade? Seem s like it’s easier than getting a clean flat grind.  Is there a good thread or website that has information on how to do it? 

[AndrewB]

Poored Aluminum.

[Alan Longmire]

42 minutes ago, Conner Michaux said:

Let’s hope it’s the square wheel model then, how difficult is it to hollow grind a blade? Seem s like it’s easier than getting a clean flat grind.  Is there a good thread or website that has information on how to do it? 

Hollow grinding is a bit different.  As long as you get the first pass with a course belt in the right place, the resulting hollow will guide the blade along the finer grits pretty easily.  You can also do a flat grind on a wheel, it's just harder.  To do that you run the blade vertically down the wheel.  If you stop for a second you'll get a little divot, so be careful!

[Conner Michaux]

Can you hollow grind thin steel? I have some .118 thick stock but I don’t know if that’s to thin or not. 

[Joël Mercier]

51 minutes ago, Conner Michaux said:

Can you hollow grind thin steel? I have some .118 thick stock but I don’t know if that’s to thin or not. 

It depends on the type of knife, the intended use and the radius of the wheel you'll be using.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Joël Mercier

[Conner Michaux]

Im not sure the radius on the wheel yet, it may be 8 inches though. 

[Conner Michaux]

 

 

Oh and somehow a cantaloupe seed got its self planted next to my forge, It’s got another few weeks to grow. 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Conner Michaux

[Ron Benson]

You cantaloupe looks ready to pick to me. There should be very little green between the veins and it should easily pull from the vine . It will also have a pleasant, sweet smell when you sniff it. Try gently tugging on it. If it slips from the vine, it's ready.

[Jeremy Blohm]

Nowhere near the shop.....actually its 1863 miles from the shop but I felt compelled to share. I have a ton of other pictures from our trip that I thought about starting a topic in the photography section but the pictures are between my phone my wifes phone and her camera. If I do it would take a bit to get everything uploaded.

[Conner Michaux]

44 minutes ago, Ron Benson said:

You cantaloupe looks ready to pick to me. There should be very little green between the veins and it should easily pull from the vine . It will also have a pleasant, sweet smell when you sniff it. Try gently tugging on it. If it slips from the vine, it's ready.

Just went to see if it was ready, wasnt even on the vine, must have fallen off recently, it smells delicious, ill let it cool down and then cut into it.

[Jeremy Blohm]

Slowly but surely my machine shop portion is coming along. I'm bidding on a grizzly mill/drill and a Clausing Kondia Vertical Mill that runs but the auto feed on the x axis is acting up and has a little noise in low gear. I have a really low bid on that and if I win it maybe it will be worth fixing up but everything works in manual mode so its useable.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Been a bit lazy, made 2 of 3 leather-covered Kydex saya........fluffed the 3rd one completely.

Good news, while I was doing some finishing work yesterday a friend dropped by with a family member who is a professional hunter.  He reserved 2 knives on the spot and wants to commission some more.

[SteveShimanek]

I am currently away from my shop, getting some medical advice for my wife in New Zealand. Hope to make a shop visit and see the sights while here.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Paracord & resin handles for a pair of blacksmith's knives, sheathes to follow........and leather covered kydex saya for my first kitchen knives.

 

[dragoncutlery]

On 8/27/2019 at 2:53 PM, Conner Michaux said:

Let’s hope it’s the square wheel model then, how difficult is it to hollow grind a blade? Seem s like it’s easier than getting a clean flat grind.  Is there a good thread or website that has information on how to do it? 

http://dragoncutlery.com/grind.html

[Joshua States]

On 8/27/2019 at 11:53 AM, Conner Michaux said:

Let’s hope it’s the square wheel model then, how difficult is it to hollow grind a blade? Seem s like it’s easier than getting a clean flat grind.  Is there a good thread or website that has information on how to do it? 

I always hollow grind, before taking it to flat anyway. It makes it a lot faster. I have two videos on this process. You would just skip taking it back to flat. Here is part 1:

https://youtu.be/il88qhfoJnQ

 

 

[Conner Michaux]

Thanks! I found this little piece of copper sheet in my shed today, took a few minutes and gave it a hammered texture.  i think it might turn into a little higonakami folder.