What's going on in your shop?

Hmmmmm. I went to grab a new set of mask filters today, and they are usually yellow in color. When these popped outta the bag, I noticed something (see pic).... maybe if we flood everything with Radionuclides, and we all wore these filters, we could wipe out this virus stuff??? :) I'm blaming my crazy thoughts on the meds. :)
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Turn out the lights and see if they glow in the dark!
 
Finally got out in the shop a bit. Working on this knife that is really mostly John Wilson. However any apparent mistakes are all mine.
The blade is from John, already profiled and heat treated. All I had to do was grind the edge. The walnut is from John also as well as the brass pins.
Maroon-red G10 liners are from USAKnifemaker.

Although this is a fillet knife design, this will be for my wife for use in the kitchen. One thing I'm experimenting with is putting Tru-Oil on the front of the scales before mounting. I figure this might help things a bit. I always have trouble keeping the front of a scale or a bolster all cleaned up. So I'm hoping this will prevent that.

I like this design/ I intend to make another one for myself to go fishing with later this summer.

 
Finally got out in the shop a bit. Working on this knife that is really mostly John Wilson. However any apparent mistakes are all mine.
The blade is from John, already profiled and heat treated. All I had to do was grind the edge. The walnut is from John also as well as the brass pins.
Maroon-red G10 liners are from USAKnifemaker.

Although this is a fillet knife design, this will be for my wife for use in the kitchen. One thing I'm experimenting with is putting Tru-Oil on the front of the scales before mounting. I figure this might help things a bit. I always have trouble keeping the front of a scale or a bolster all cleaned up. So I'm hoping this will prevent that.

I like this design/ I intend to make another one for myself to go fishing with later this summer.


Sean, you’ve done very very well on that! That is far from an easy grind and you’ve pulled it off really well.

I also put tru-oil on the fronts of the scales before I mount them.

Fillet knives are extremely useful in the kitchen. I use one all the time.
 
Sean, hopefully you made a template of the blade and your scales. This design is a good seller for me. You should have no trouble selling a bunch of them. It’s hard to find handmade fillet knives. They bring a good price.
 
Sean, you’ve done very very well on that! That is far from an easy grind and you’ve pulled it off really well.

I also put tru-oil on the fronts of the scales before I mount them.

Fillet knives are extremely useful in the kitchen. I use one all the time.
Thanks John. The grind was a bit touch and go at first, but I went slow. This is the first time I've put tru-oil on before mounting and I'm planning on continuing to do so.
Thanks again.
 
Sean, hopefully you made a template of the blade and your scales. This design is a good seller for me. You should have no trouble selling a bunch of them. It’s hard to find handmade fillet knives. They bring a good price.
Yes I made a template of the blade but not the scales. I've been fitting scales as I go. But that's a good idea. I will do so before I go any further.
I haven't sold any knives yet, but that's encouraging news. Thanks again!
 
Yes I made a template of the blade but not the scales. I've been fitting scales as I go. But that's a good idea. I will do so before I go any further.
I haven't sold any knives yet, but that's encouraging news. Thanks again!


For handle scales I make a generalized template because I can never remember how I contoured the fronts of the scales last time, ha! Whenever I stumble onto a set that looks especially “right” I trace them out. Of course, the next knife will probably get a way different plunge line, which throws my template out the window. But at least it reminds me how I did it right that one time.
 
Here's a shot of a tempering oven idea I had - using the top of our wood stove.
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It's difficult to control. The wood stove has catalytic converter and 1" firebrick in it. I wonder if I filled the stove with more fire brick it would hold a steady heat? Any ideas?
 
Here's a shot of a tempering oven idea I had - using the top of our wood stove.
View attachment 72957

It's difficult to control. The wood stove has catalytic converter and 1" firebrick in it. I wonder if I filled the stove with more fire brick it would hold a steady heat? Any ideas?

Just thinking out loud, but you typically temper at about 350°f which is the same temp as baking bread. If you were to use a wood stove, tempering in a cast iron dutch oven may provide the temp stability you need as the wood stove temp fluctuates.
 
I use abrasive wheels..... haven't found a "slitting" saw blade that will last more then one or two lock bars.....and that's dropping about $30 per blade.


I got a little busy this weekend, been needing some leather knives for some time, so found some suitable pieces of .070 and .080 15N20 in my damascus stock, and ended up with these....

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I decide what the heck.... I'd see how hard I could leave them, and they still survive.....

After quenching, I only stress relieved them a couple of cycles at 350F..... so far they are cutting great..... we'll see what happens when I do something dumb with one of them! :)
 
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