Out of practice!

CTaylorJr

CTaylorJr

Well-Known Member
Well, I started my first knife in 15 years yesterday and figured a few things out pretty quickly.

The first thing I realized is that since my gut is bigger than it was in college my elbows don't hit in the same spot they used to. I also realized that I didn't really need most of my fingernails since they get in the way of the sanding belt.

I'm also a bit out of shape since my arms feel like they are going to fall off this morning after all of the hand sanding. Next time I order supplies I plan to get some belts that are a finer grade than the 80s I have now! huh1

Oh, one last thing, blood thinners and knife making are NOT a good mix... The garage floor looked like a crime scene for a little while there! :eek: It was a small cut, but I bleed a lot! :D

Overall I had a blast! Plan to do some final sanding this evening and then do HT and temper. I remember now why I would pass on a date so I could finish a knife... Should have a pic or 7 in the next couple of days.

Charlie
 
Charlie, I know a bit about the blood thinners and knifemaking myself. Wait til the water pills hit you in the middle of a quench. Denny
 
Charlie..........LMAO , I resent alot of those remarks. I learned to use my belly as a rest , helps to lock in your elbows , LOL.
Lets see those pics when you get em.
 
The fingers are my guide though! For a flat grind I don't know when I am at the bottom if the nails don't get a good buffing! huh1

Water pills, thus far I have avoided those, but I KNOW where you are coming from. Honestly, since I started on the blood thinners a little over a year ago I haven't had much of a cut... This critter SHOWED me what to expect if I REALLY cut myself bad... May need to use gloves for a few operations just for life safety sake.

The belly rest is working good so far, I just had to find the sweet spot! :D

I won't be working on the knife tonight though. My birthday is tonight, and the sweet wife's is on Wednesday so we are going to have a few adult beverages in the radio room while I mess around here on KD to celebrate. I learned a LONG time ago, adult beverages and power tools make for a bad situation... Heck, I cut myself on a DULL blade when only drinking ice water last night! I can only imagine what would happen if I tried working it tonight! :eek:

Pics of the knife as it stands now will be photographed in a few minutes...

Now, for the potential naysayers, yes it's an old file... I wanted to see if I still had what it takes before messing up one of the 5 pieces of O1 I ordered a few weeks ago... ;)

Charlie
 
OK, here are pics of where I am now with the first in MANY years!

Blade is 4"
Handle is 4.5"

The steel is from a Nicholson file that I have had for 20+ years. I annealed the file, bent it back to straight since I failed to support it, drew the outline of what I wanted onto it, and went to the grinder. Since I don't have a decent saw at this time ALL of the excess stock was removed with the HF 1x30 grinder and SEVERAL 80 grit belts! :eek:

The knife's grind is something that I used to do back when I made knives in the 80s. Not really sure if it has a name or not... Let me know if it does so I can tell folks what I do! :unsure:

I plan to scale it with red Micarta and use copper pins. The final finish will be satin at around 600 or so.

I have quite a bit of work left on it, but let me know how it looks thus far...

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Charlie
 
Lookin good. Watch out for those cuts and try to keep your paws off of the belts. I had a few extremely rough knuckles when i first got started a few months ago. It seemed like my hands kept slipping and were drawn to the belt like bears to honey.

Happy Birthday!!! I celebrated my 35th on Saturday.
 
murphda2 said:
Lookin good. Watch out for those cuts and try to keep your paws off of the belts. I had a few extremely rough knuckles when i first got started a few months ago. It seemed like my hands kept slipping and were drawn to the belt like bears to honey.

Happy Birthday!!! I celebrated my 35th on Saturday.
Click to expand...

Murph I can relate to that. I thought it was some kind of electric hand magnet. Every time I turn on the belt grinder my hands go to it.
 
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