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Here's more - we're still 30 minutes over budget building that bolsterless 3" bushcraft for $49. Ways to save time - get a Tippman clicker and dies for the sheath + welt cut. Just feed the hide in from one edge, positioning it for maximum leather usage. Takes me about 2 minutes to transfer my...

Go right ahead. I can't quit either so you're not alone. I was ten cents off on my figure earlier, forgot the bolster material. If I was making a million of them I'd get fired for that. Mild steel is a dream to work, engraves, blues beautifully, you can give it differential colors with a...

I put a lot of thought into this sort of thing. I'm pretty opinionated so bear with me - I've had to gently toss quite a few gentlemen out of my shop because they won't drop the topic of "You know, Frank, you outta farm your blade blanks out to my friend's shop halfway across the state." or the...

Further breakdown of costs - -Knife is slightly over 7.2" long. If I flip the pattern and nest them end to end, points reversed, I get exactly ten blanks out of a 72" bar of 1 1/4" x 1/8" 1095. Admiral Steel pricing for 10 bars plus shipping breaks down to $1.60 a knife. -1/4" x 1 1/4" A36...

Blade and handle assembly, including the spine, ricasso notch if any, and this is based off my 4" skinner which typically has a double bolster setup so there's a lot of chasing scratches in the 304 stainless. I'd say 5 hours is a fair estimate for that knife in time spent on the KMG with the...

I'm putting this out there because I really don't want newer makers to be intimidated by the ultimate costs of making knives. Yeah, it's an investment but I can dare say it's profitable if you put the time into learning it. This is long, follow if you want to - I've got per-task breakdowns...

I'm going to put some detail into a thread here in a minute regarding abrasive costs so not to derail this one - good discussion, you all.

I work with kydex a lot and it scratches my knives as well. Some things I've noticed - the scratching is of course lengthwise, so a hand applied lengthwise finish almost totally masks it. My combat knives with the machine finish going perpendicular to the blade showed the scratching...

It's been a busy couple of weeks but I have some time coming up to get ready for my first show. Getting the table fee squared away Monday and planning on my production for it. Is anyone else going to attend this one? Holiday Inn, Billings Montana August 23-24-25

It has a serrated wheel and apparently 5" x 10" of table travel. About how high in the grits are the guys going? If I could get to a good level 400 grit surface I can directly go to hand sanding and knock a lot of time off mirroring my flats, that's for sure.

I'm pretty pleased with the latest piece of equipment. It's a Thornton surface grinder, complete with chuck and 2 x 72" belt conversion and ready to go - got it for a song and the previous owner who was very competent with it is up for showing me the ropes. Anything I need to know about these...

Workability. 416 is moderately harder to drill than brass and the same with getting all the scratches out. 304 will make you cuss. It's very gummy, leaves a "hat" where the drill finishes the hole, sometimes has hard spots that will make a smaller drill press squeal. It finishes out to...

As long as you're improving and only making the same mistakes a few times, you're getting there. I like the double sweep to the guard and the proportions of it. As you accumulate more tools you'll find ways to work on the finish and even have some tricks to correct mistakes- I've gouged the...

Thank you so much, guys. This one has opened up a whole new level of addiction for me - embellishment. Now I'm obsessing with filework patterns, and I'm looking at an air graver and designs right now, even. I hope the client likes it as much as I do, this knife really has some punch. I've...

That is a good looking kitchen knife. Your Rhino Chop pattern looks very attractive and the durable Kirinite just adds to the package.

I really like how super-clean that is. Great practical pattern.

Yes, I want in on this. The newer series stiff Norax are saving me a boatload and I'm eager to try out any Blaze alternative - which sounds odd as the Blaze is a flat out fantastic belt for the dollar. I'd go so far to say that I'd pay a premium to have one sent to test against the existing...

After getting behind due to illness I'm so busy on several fronts it's not even funny. Thank you all so much for your knowledge and energy, here's the latest finished one to show off. This one is a 3 7/8" blade semi-nessmuk skinner with some customization including a finger-groove style grip...

Just give advance notice and you'll be fine. I've had a few times where I was going to be unavailable for 4-8 days at a time and I've made notice right at the top of my website and on my answering machine. A post in any pertinent forums would be appropriate too. But- Leave it at, "We won't...

White compound. The green will color it.