What's going on in your shop?

What's going on in my shop? It's a new shop! I am taking over part of the garage! First step is hanging plastic to try to keep the dust contained, and then getting tarps to cover the other stuff in the garage, which we are using for storage currently (just moved into the house in mid August and had our wedding there last weekend, so there is a lot to go through!). Just gotta make a few modifications to the plastic sheeting and I can start moving my toaster oven, kydex press, Jet drill press, Band saw and 2*36 handle sander over. Then it will be time to set up the Ameribrade FastBack and get a 220V outlet into the garage!

Belt sanders will go right on the table in front of the window. To the left will be my assembly area, followed by the kydex press and oven. Behind those will be the drill press and belt sander and another assembly table. The work table is big enough to hold my handle materials, kydex materials, blanks, tools, etc in the drawers without having everything all over the work table cluttering the area up. Looking forward to using the new shop!
 

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Taz575 said:
What's going on in my shop? It's a new shop! I am taking over part of the garage! First step is hanging plastic to try to keep the dust contained, and then getting tarps to cover the other stuff in the garage, which we are using for storage currently (just moved into the house in mid August and had our wedding there last weekend, so there is a lot to go through!). Just gotta make a few modifications to the plastic sheeting and I can start moving my toaster oven, kydex press, Jet drill press, Band saw and 2*36 handle sander over. Then it will be time to set up the Ameribrade FastBack and get a 220V outlet into the garage!

Belt sanders will go right on the table in front of the window. To the left will be my assembly area, followed by the kydex press and oven. Behind those will be the drill press and belt sander and another assembly table. The work table is big enough to hold my handle materials, kydex materials, blanks, tools, etc in the drawers without having everything all over the work table cluttering the area up. Looking forward to using the new shop!
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Workspace is always a good thing! A couple of things to think about/remember...... Lights, lights, and more lights. Double the number outlets you think you will ever need! Lights, lights, and more lights. Make sure the bench for your grinder is two things...... the correct height FOR YOU, and attached/built into the building...making it as solid as possible. OH! And Lights, lights, and more lights. And finally, did I mention..... Lights. lights, and more lights? :)
 
I want lots of light! There are outlets all over the place, so I will add extra lighting in the shop as needed, which will be nice! My current shop is fairly dark and I hate it. There are 5 circuits in the garage alone and metal outlets along the wall around half of the garage, plus several in the ceiling for lights.

I will be using my home made 2x36 Franken Grinder for now and once I get the 220v to the garage, the motor and VFD setup for the Ameribrade Fastback, I will get the table height figured out and make sure the table is rock solid. I built my own table in my other shop and may move it over to the new place or build up another one. I know a solid grinder table is a must!
 
Finally making some progress on the chef knife and fork I'm making as a wedding present for my grand-daughter. I ran into a multitude of problems with both the knife and the fork. So it's been slow going. On the knife I did far more hand-sanding than normal because I had a slight dip in the blade that I flatten out. Then I messed up the scales on both the knife and the fork:confused: and had to redo them.

This is the first time I've had to cut off scales. I was not a happy camper. The scales are Desert Ironwood.
https://imgur.com/a/gfKYX0c

Finally got everything fixed and the scales are now glued up and ready for final finishing. I'll be doing that tomorrow.
https://imgur.com/a/TVHiKQa

I also experimented with adding powdered G-10 to the epoxy for the glue-up. I've been having continual problems with very small gaps of glue showing up between the liners and the tang. This is similar to what John Wilson mentioned about adding a dye to the epoxy to match the liners. I wasn't certain how well it would work, but so far it looks good. It is time consuming to sand up enough powder though.
https://imgur.com/a/RC96vo5
 
There are varying opinions on "glue squeeze out" that results in a glue starved joint. Some say yes, some say you can't squeeze out enough. Figure out what works for yourself. One of the methods for mitigating that glue squeeze out, however, is grinding a fuller on each side of the tang to form a glue pocket. Whether that fuller helps with glue I can't really say, but those fullers are gangbusters for getting the mating surface at the edges of the tang flattened out and making a crack free joint. After I grind my fullers, I put a hard backer behind my sandpaper and do it just like I'd sand a blade. B8B96B98-DEAB-4C9C-AEB6-A267C1E7B7CF.jpeg
 
tkroenlein said:
There are varying opinions on "glue squeeze out" that results in a glue starved joint. Some say yes, some say you can't squeeze out enough. Figure out what works for yourself. One of the methods for mitigating that glue squeeze out, however, is grinding a fuller on each side of the tang to form a glue pocket. Whether that fuller helps with glue I can't really say, but those fullers are gangbusters for getting the mating surface at the edges of the tang flattened out and making a crack free joint. After I grind my fullers, I put a hard backer behind my sandpaper and do it just like I'd sand a blade. View attachment 75171
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do you need a mill to do the fuller? Or can you do it by hand ?
 
I use a Foredom tool and have a ton of accessories including sanding drums and abrasive wheels. The question then becomes: is it worth it for the outcome?
 
Bruce McLeish said:
I use a Foredom tool and have a ton of accessories including sanding drums and abrasive wheels. The question then becomes: is it worth it for the outcome?
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I personally like it. I think any grooves, texture etc. on tang and backs of scales allows for more surface area for epoxy to grip onto.

It doesn't have to be a deep single trough. It can be a lot of little shallow squiggles (think worm tracks under the bark of a log). It can be pretty quick and easy with a foredom.
 
tkroenlein said:
There are varying opinions on "glue squeeze out" that results in a glue starved joint. Some say yes, some say you can't squeeze out enough. Figure out what works for yourself. One of the methods for mitigating that glue squeeze out, however, is grinding a fuller on each side of the tang to form a glue pocket. Whether that fuller helps with glue I can't really say, but those fullers are gangbusters for getting the mating surface at the edges of the tang flattened out and making a crack free joint. After I grind my fullers, I put a hard backer behind my sandpaper and do it just like I'd sand a blade.
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I can see where that would give much better shear strength vs. holes alone.
 
I use a 2" or 3" wheel on the grinder, mostly. But I have used the 1/2" drum on smaller knives where I was too a-scared to touch it on the wheel for fear of grinding across the edge of the tang.

I 100% agree with JDoyle and Heikki on the prep. More structure of just about any kind helps the epoxy grab, and increases peel and sheer strength a lot. I like the larger fuller for fitting purposes with fewer holes for pass through.
 
Almost done with the Chef knife and Fork for my grand-daughter. I have some final cleanup to do but I'm there. I'm making a presentation box for them, but that won't take long (says the guy who took three weeks on this).
The scales are Desert Ironwood. The knife was heat treated and profiled by John Wilson. It was part of last years Christmas exchange. The fork isn't mine entirely either. It is from USA Knifemaker. All I've done is put the handles on and did my best to scratch up the already satin finish.

I thought this set would be easy. The fillet knife I did for my wife a few months back went so smooth, I figured another kitchen knife would be easy. Hah!
https://imgur.com/a/BI1g8gj
 
Heikki said:
I can see where that would give much better shear strength vs. holes alone.
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There's a lot of questions and opinions out there. Here's a link to a fairly good discussion by a guy I know who seems to know his stuff through his engineering history...

Adhesion: Making Handle Scales Stick, and Stay Stuck, on Blade Tangs

My previous posts on another thread led to the conclusion that I should consolidate this discussion into a single thread. I have had time to type out more on this subject - and so am posting this. I am also re-posting the earlier material so that it is all in one place eventually. Apologies...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com
 
billyO said:
There's a lot of questions and opinions out there. Here's a link to a fairly good discussion by a guy I know who seems to know his stuff through his engineering history...

Adhesion: Making Handle Scales Stick, and Stay Stuck, on Blade Tangs

My previous posts on another thread led to the conclusion that I should consolidate this discussion into a single thread. I have had time to type out more on this subject - and so am posting this. I am also re-posting the earlier material so that it is all in one place eventually. Apologies...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com
Click to expand...
Generally speaking, there is some good information in that thread about bonding two parts together with epoxy, from the engineering perspective from which it is presented.

What is not presented, however, is what epoxy actually does when a material (steel) that flexes differently than the two pieces it's sandwiched between, like wood, G10 or micarta and pinned or connected with fasteners. The resultant conclusion is that the methods employed by a great many established makers is that they're all doing it wrong, with holes, fullering, etc.
 
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