My Daughter Making A Knife !

backtines

Well-Known Member
Yes , It's true ! My Daughter is making a knife .. Heres a little background..

One day as always , Im in my little shop in the garage making knives. My son Mikey is always down there working beside me on his bow while Im making knives and my daughter Chrissy is always popping in sitting down beside us texting her friends or just hanging out ..

On Feb. 17th 2012, My Chrissy said , "Dad , can I make a knife with you?" I stopped what I was doing and began working with her on a knife she wanted to make. She drew up her own design, cut it out and thats as far as it got. I took that little template, she dated it , and put it on the shelf.. That template sat on the shelf for one full year ( almost exactly to the date ) until she again came down and said she wanted to work on the knife. Shes down in the garage all the time with us , but never asks about working on her knife . I figured when she was ready , she'd ask.

A few nights ago, she came down and out of nowhere. She asked to work on that knife again .. I stopped what I was doing , pulled out the template, and walked her through the profiling process. She did an awesome job! After profiling , I taught her to scribe a few lines , put the blade in the jig I made and walked her through grinding in the bevels. After bevels were ground , on to some hand sanding and stamping her initials in the blade. Thats as far as we got for this evening.

I cant believe how this kid picked up on this stuff , I swear to you that she did 95 % of the work to this blade. I of course held her hand along the way , rounding certain things and guiding her hands with the grinding . But, truth is she was loving it and she really had a good feel for what was going on.

The knife is not finished yet , but I had to share with you guys whats going on in this house ! I had to let you know that little daughter who is 16 has a little thing about making knives.. How friggin cool is that !

Ill keep you posted on how we're making out .. Here's a few pics of her process..

This is the template she drew up and dated, Feb. 17, 2012.


Here is Chrissy profiling her blade.








Baylee and Codi in charge of security.. Hard at work..


Chrissy scribing center lines..


Here she is grinding in the bevels.




Not bad for her first try..




Hand sanding..




Here she is stamping in her initials..




Not too shabby..


This is where we got tonight.. Hopefully she will want to do more tomorrow. I'm very proud of her!
 
Thats awesome Mikey! Its a awesome feeling to be able to share something with your kids that you have a passion for. My oldest daughter is 8 and we are going after a turkey this spring with her calling and me shooting. A first for both of us. Cant wait to see the finished knife.
 
I think you are blessed among men Mike. The idea that your kids even want to be where you are while you are busy with your knife making tells me something about the man and father you are. My girls are grown and gone, and my son would rather play guitar and hang with his girlfriend than be with boring old dad. He has told me he wants to learn someday and I will be patient and let him choose when he is ready.
I really love the idea of this bonding you have going on, and believe that it is a portion of what is missing in a lot of homes these days. You are creating memories that your children will someday pass on to their children.
I can hear it now, sitting around the table , Chrissy says "when I was your age your grandpa Mike and I...."
...more precious even than gold.

Doug, I remember hunting with my youngest daughter when she was 8. I got a picture of her dressed in slouchy camo and her face all lit up. Me and my squirm worm never had any success together when she was young, but it was always good times. I can tell you that today at the age of 26 she can gut and skin a deer as well or better than any man. My oldest daughter 31, is waayyy too girly for any of that.
 
That is very cool Mike.

She seems to have an eye like her Dad and those bevels are fantastic. You might have some competition around the house soon :biggrin:.

It is kind of sad over here; my friends and family are sick of me talking about knives and when I show them something new, I get a "nice" and the blade handed back to me. They hardly ever look at them anymore. It makes me feel like my craftsmanship is lacking in a lot of areas or that they just don't care anymore. I wish I had family to share these special moments with. I don't think they understand how much it means to me. I am glad you guys are here to keep me motivated and inspired.

Thanks for sharing this Mikey! Can't wait to see it complete...
 
Awesome!
You are indeed blessed, and she is too! Hope shes enjoying it :)

I would like to pass on an advice i once recieved, it would probably be better for her to take off the watch while grinding. This is probably is a big issue with freehand, but still :)

Keep us posted on progress
 
That's great Mikey! Nice to see you getting the kids involved. I hope one day she'll understand how fortunate she is to be able to grind on a TW-90! Hey, one day you need to do a pictorial shop tour. I see some interesting toys in that shop!
 
Great to see. Investing in your kids is never a bad investment.

You should slow her down though, or she is going to make all of us look bad:) She is showing some serious talent.
 
Thats awesome Mikey! Its a awesome feeling to be able to share something with your kids that you have a passion for. My oldest daughter is 8 and we are going after a turkey this spring with her calling and me shooting. A first for both of us. Cant wait to see the finished knife.

Doug , thanks , shes is awesome !. I too took her turkey hunting this past spring , we called one in , but not close enough to get a shot. Thank you
 
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Thank you to all my friends responding to this thread .. Eric , Yes I am Blessed . I know she is an amazing kid. Of course she has her bumps with us every now and again , but more then less , shes a tropper. She learns and picks up fast . I really believe all the time shes spent in my shop shes been learning without asking. Some where subconsiously , she was picking it up , so when it was time for me to guide her , she was already one step ahead.. Thanks to everyone , You guys are definely part of my family and I couldnt wait to tell you guys.. Thanks Again.

Hey Don , Ill take some pics of my little shop and post them up for ya , I first need to kidnap a backblower from my shop at work and do a little clean up. LOL.

Stay well guys , I hope I dont have to wait another year to work on her knife again.
 
Hey Mikey,
It warms my heart to see this kind of relationship between a father and his children,God bless you my friend.
 
Hey Mikey,
It warms my heart to see this kind of relationship between a father and his children,God bless you my friend.

Thank you Cal , It means alot to me getting responces from you and everyone here on KD.. I can tell people about this stuff in my area or at work but I still get a greater feeling of satisfaction from you guys. Just for the simple fact that you all UNDERSTAND !!!! what making knives are all about . Sharing it with my son and daughter makes it so much more worth while . You cant put a price tag on this stuff.. Im blessed and honored to have such a great family and AWESOME FRIENDS !! on Knife Dogs.. Thanks you again guys !
 
Hey Mikey,
It warms my heart to see this kind of relationship between a father and his children,God bless you my friend.

Mikey,
My feelings as well.
Great to see you and your pretty young daughter sharing the craft we all love. She's looks to be a sweet young lady that is happy learning from dad.
I am sure even your security detail's little hearts are warmed by having the family together in the shop.


Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Mikey,
My feelings as well.
Great to see you and your pretty young daughter sharing the craft we all love. She's looks to be a sweet young lady that is happy learning from dad.
I am sure even your security detail's little hearts are warmed by having the family together in the shop.


Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com

Thank you LAurence ... All so very true ! Such all great feelings ! Thank You !
 
Mikey,
I love the look of intensity and the smudge on her face in the hand sanding pic.
She's really into it.
My daughters are 25 and 28 and did everything I did until the dreaded boys started hanging around. They are both accomplished shots and firearms safety trained and own my knives, so I don't worry too much for their personal safety but I do miss having them around all the time.

Steve
 
Thanks everyone :) that I do enjoy making a knife with my dad. It's awesome bonding for us. And I did pick up on it rather quickly. I plan on making more knives, and showing up my dad :)

Thanks again!

-Chrissy
 
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