For those of you following, is there anything else you'd like to see? I've got a few days in the shop ahead of me and could be a little more focused in my WIP progress if it would serve you better.
jason , i just copied 1 of your designs for a guy down in keller .he had 1 of yours and lost it i guess.had to scale it off a pic he put up. hope it dont offend u ,it did me copying someone blade and design but it had to fit your sheath
No problem, tusk. No such thing as an original knife. If it's the guy I'm thinking of, I made him three or maybe four of those knives and two or three of the paddle sheaths. Honestly was more trouble than it was worth.
You've likely heard that one about "if you give a man a fish." Well, if you give a knifemaker a long weekend, he'll end up with dirty hands and a pile of knives. I spent 7 or 8 hours in the shop Sunday, Monday, and today. I had a few knives heat treated already, and I also ground and heat treated three more. Finished up six knives and five sheaths for the three day stretch. The bolstered knife in the middle was in this WIP. The spalted burl is hackberry stabilized by Faron Moore. Some of these are 1084, some are D2, and one is CM154. All but one of these are headed to the Lone Star Knife Expo.
Here's a picture set about how to sharpen a bunch of knives at one time. If you're going to do a bunch, you need a system. I have these knives set out on an ironing board Each is set beside the sheath it goes with. They're all pointed the same direction. As I move one off the grinder at a stage, I flip it over. That way if I have to walk away, I know where I am in the process.
I use trizact belts on my grinder to cut the initial bevel. 160 for the first cut, then 400 before I go to the stones. If the light is right, you can see the burr form on each grit if you have it right.
After all of the knives have been done on the grinder up to 400, I move to the stones. I set them in my vise, so the hight is comfortable and the base is stable. I use 600 then 1000 stones, then strop. I also check the sharpness on my ankles or shoulders, so that my forearms aren't bald. Tricks of the trade