Pay dirt...

Smallshop

Smallshop

KNIFE MAKER
So, some of you know that I have been working towards making semi-production knives...

The goal starting early 2018 has been to grind a knife on my cnc machine...after months of trying different techniques and grinding wheels...(expensive and a wide variety to choose from) I have a blade finished that I ground today on the cnc mill. Pretty excited...

I have pretty severe diabetes and have been battling neuropathy that I've had in my feet for years...This year it's started in my fingers...I cannot use a guitar pick anymore which has been a bit of a bummer. I play with the worship team at church and have resorted to double-back tape or super-glue to hold the pick while playing (but feels like driving with my eyes shut)....The other thing that has been tough is blade grinding I've drop more and flung more than the year before due to neuropathy....

doing this on the mill has been a definite race against time...and at times pretty discouraging. I still have more to dial in but think I have crossed the thresh-hold to making quality grinds on CNC. Time is an issue...it is a bit slower than I can grind these small blades by hand...(but obviously more consistent)but I don't have to wait for my hands to "feel right"....wheel wear is an issue also...a belt seem to last longer where it matters than a grinding wheel.

On this particular endeavor I do not intend to share the particulars...partly because I got the idea from a person here who make folders using this method on their mill...(He didn't tell me how but i knew it was doable from his pics) and most folk seem opposed to anything done in this fashion. So it wouldn't be much help to anyone anyway...

To quote Kev " I just want to make really good knives"

I do too...and this tired ol' diabetic is still able to do that a bit longer!

Anyway...blah..blah..blah..blah,blah...lol.....here's a pic...lol. (working on photo taking...another project...I'll post more when I can take them better)cnc ground knife.jpg
 
Nothing quite like the satisfaction of working through the process to make what you saw in your head when the idea first surfaced.
Congratulations Ted and comiseration on the health issues.
 
Looks great, Ted!

btw- photography is 99% lighting. Any camera can take the picture if the lighting is sufficient. For simple pics it’s hard to beat a light box / tent.
 
Smallshop said:
and most folk seem opposed to anything done in this fashion. So it wouldn't be much help to anyone anyway...
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Ted, I am glad you found a way to persevere and keep making knives despite losing feeling in your fingers. Grinding is only one part of knife making (an important part) but there is more to grinding a knife than the actual physical act. Knowing how to execute a particular grind, which grinds are good for a specific task, what looks good and what will perform, etc. Not to mention design, profiling, steel choice, heat treating and testing. The point I am trying to make is who cares what particular method you use to grind your knife (especially when overcoming a physical issue) it is the results that matter. You are still creating a knife from "formless" annealed steel (scratch). In fact, I think in another ten years you will be seen as a pioneer in the field of using CNC to grind a knife. Bully for Ted...
 
Ted, I can't say how much I admire folks like you, OneArmed, and many other folks who work thru major health/physical issues to do things you enjoy. It's hard to imagine gluing a pick to fingers in order to play! Imagine that. Hang in there Ted - you've got LOTS of good folks here pulling for you and we don't care how you make the knife, we just look at the final product.

Ken H>
 
Nice Ted, glad to hear you are getting it dialed in. I remember you starting this! I had just started to post on this forum. Doesn't seem that long ago, but in retrospect I know the frustration. Also didn't know about your physical limitations which makes this even more impressive! My frustration was getting decent consistent grinds! That's what this hobby is all about I think. Set a goal for yourself and achieve it, then another and another. I'm looking to upping my game with consistent ability to make Damascus and guards (still having a problem with them, my new frustration!). Keep at it it will come!!
 
opaul said:
I admire your tenacity!
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Lol...a nice way of saying "bullheaded"...but every one of us are a bit bull headed in this trade, No? It's what it takes to do this whether hobby or pro...an old trade school instructor told our class, "...people that are not stubborn will never work with metal...because metal is stubborn."

Took me a lot of years to realize how spot on that quote is....

Thanks for all the kind comments, guys. I hope to be able to do my custom blades by hand....this little cowboy knife is small and is actually harder for me to grind than a bigger knife (I have Bowie ideas...lol) so while a very simple grind, hard for me to hold.

my KITH blade will be cnc ground...that was my goal for this year...and I'm there! my other goal was to start putting my sock in the hamper....I'm up to about 75% of the time....
 
I don't know why people think it's cheating using a CNC or a mill both are not easy CNC being the more diffacult I believe.
 
Nice job Ted.
You avoided naming me but that wasn't necessary. If you are up to it, start a thread in the CNC Knifemaking area and show us what you are doing.
I hope you can manage to stay with it this way.

I recall a HUGE debate going around the knife community 20+ years ago that using CNC wasn't knife making. This was debated mostly about waterjet parts back then. There was some real anger about it and how it wasn't knife making at all. I'm sure some still feel that way but not many as I see nearly anyone putting out any kind of volume (what ever that is) bakes in plans to use CNC where they can. It's been a long time since I've seen anyone complain that CNC as it relates to knife making takes away the hand crafted part of it - and "isn't real knife making".

There is a WAVE of CNC machinist knife makers coming - not soon, now. Opening price "hobby/home" CNC mills are changing the game. Fusion 360 with it's low cost integrated CAD and CAM has grabbed the lions share of this market. Anyone that thinks this isn't knife making stop by and I'll get you some parts to assemble and finish.

I look forward to watching you develop this.
t
 
Thanks Tracy...I haven't done many WIPs this year..or pics...as I've kinda been in survival mode. My military contract got canceled this year...and so everything has become a rush to get knives going.

The best I'll prolly be able to do is post pics of knives to improve my photo posting (which is a must)....for a while anyway.

I think on the legacy vs cnc...guys have realized that cnc isn't easy, and doesn't necessarily make a perfect knife...it's just another tool....just like a modern knife grinder is another tool and really not a legacy craft tool when you consider the opulent choices in abrasives...yet not easy to learn either. Regardless, though, ALL tools have a learning curve...so which ever combo of methods a guy is trying to make knives with I'm going to applaud when they hit their goals.
 
I own a CNC mill, and I’ve spent a large portion of my life running/programming one. That said it is still “easier”, for me to make/grind a knife by hand. “Easier”, is relative. Fixturing, even for a one-off, is tedious and time consuming, not to mention expensive if done correctly. Then you’ve still got to account for tool lines and grind off mounting tabs, if you went that direction.
Just because a machine is moving the X,Y and Z, doesn’t relieve the operator from work. I can profile and hand grind 3 blades to my mills 1, not counting fixturing and programming (it’s a smaller, slower mill).
 
Great job Ted. CNC is just another way to make knives. I used to push buttons on an Oukuma slant bed but writing code is a mystery to me. I think the technology is amazing and if a knife maker can utilize it why not.

Jacob
 
Kev said:
I own a CNC mill, and I’ve spent a large portion of my life running/programming one. That said it is still “easier”, for me to make/grind a knife by hand. “Easier”, is relative. Fixturing, even for a one-off, is tedious and time consuming.
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I think this is exactly the heart of the matter. As a non-machinist, I am totally ignorant of the cnc process, beyond what it is and how it works. I see it everywhere but what I don’t actually know is at what point it becomes economically viable. For example, I don’t even make enough of one design to make jigs much less invest the time and capital into automation.

If I had a design which I thought I could sell 1,000 of per year I’d be on the phone with Tormach instead of typing this post.

I’m not sure I’d call a cnc’d knife “handmade” but as long as it’s my own design it’s still a custom. And truth be told, who cares? As a hobbyist, slash artisan, I have the luxury of playing the purist. Were this my livelihood I’d abandon any sense of sentiment and fully embrace the role of designer slash manufacturer. The ultimate endgame would be to come up with something I could license and adopt my new role of “check casher slash yachtsman”.
 
John Wilson said:
I think this is exactly the heart of the matter. As a non-machinist, I am totally ignorant of the cnc process, beyond what it is and how it works. I see it everywhere but what I don’t actually know is at what point it becomes economically viable. For example, I don’t even make enough of one design to make jigs much less invest the time and capital into automation.

If I had a design which I thought I could sell 1,000 of per year I’d be on the phone with Tormach instead of typing this post.

I’m not sure I’d call a cnc’d knife “handmade” but as long as it’s my own design it’s still a custom. And truth be told, who cares? As a hobbyist, slash artisan, I have the luxury of playing the purist. Were this my livelihood I’d abandon any sense of sentiment and fully embrace the role of designer slash manufacturer. The ultimate endgame would be to come up with something I could license and adopt my new role of “check casher slash yachtsman”.
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Lol....Well said as usual John!

Kev...yep. Spot on. I do plan on making many of my main design...so I am treating it like a very small production run...Aluminum tooling...simple designs...etc. But on any given day I can saw, profile on my knife grinder, finish grind, glue and shape handles(all by hand) MUCH faster than CAD...CAM..CNC.

And after 33 years of using CNC equipment....by hand is much more fun!! Lol!
 
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