What's going on in your shop?

Casey Brown said:
Trying to do my first dagger on a request from a friend. It's a learning experience to say the least. This one is ready for heat treat.

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There's a reason that for the ABS Mastersmith test, the applicant is required to present a European style Quillion Dagger, and one of the 5 test knives..... it is the most difficult knife design to accomplish correctly.

It's because a dagger is basically "double" everything of a single edged blade/knife. With a standard, single edged blade, you have a "face" on one side, and that "face" should match the "face" on the other side. With a dagger, you have TWO "faces" per side, and not only must the two faces on a single side match, but those must also match the two "faces" on the other side. The other unwritten rule for the dagger, is that it must have a fluted handle, with inlayed twisted wire.....usually either 24k gold, or 99.9 pure silver wire(s).

Personally, I made the blade of my dagger 3 times, and the guard & handle 5 times, before getting it right. So if anyone wants a "knifemaking" challenge, go build a European style quillion dagger! ;)
 
I've had almost no shop time lately. Myriad of circumstances including a bit of a bad back. Anyhow I've been working on a kitchen knife for my wife that's been sitting for a while. After some more cleanup on the scales I'll be gluing this up tomorrow. John Wilson blade and he supplied the walnut as well.

Knife No 9
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
There's a reason that for the ABS Mastersmith test, the applicant is required to present a European style Quillion Dagger, and one of the 5 test knives..... it is the most difficult knife design to accomplish correctly.

It's because a dagger is basically "double" everything of a single edged blade/knife. With a standard, single edged blade, you have a "face" on one side, and that "face" should match the "face" on the other side. With a dagger, you have TWO "faces" per side, and not only must the two faces on a single side match, but those must also match the two "faces" on the other side. The other unwritten rule for the dagger, is that it must have a fluted handle, with inlayed twisted wire.....usually either 24k gold, or 99.9 pure silver wire(s).

Personally, I made the blade of my dagger 3 times, and the guard & handle 5 times, before getting it right. So if anyone wants a "knifemaking" challenge, go build a European style quillion dagger! ;)
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This was one where my buddy has wanted one for a while, and I thought it would be a good practice to learn to make. I have a feeling I'll be doing some draw filing to clean it up once I get it to edge thickness. I am really close to that now, and just need to refine the edge thickness a little. I'm actually kind of excited about it.
 
Sean Jones said:
I've had almost no shop time lately. Myriad of circumstances including a bit of a bad back. Anyhow I've been working on a kitchen knife for my wife that's been sitting for a while. After some more cleanup on the scales I'll be gluing this up tomorrow. John Wilson blade and he supplied the walnut as well.

Knife No 9
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I love what you’re doing with the handle. That’s going to be stunning when it’s finished. I can relate to the back issue. Hope you feel better.
 
John Wilson said:
I love what you’re doing with the handle. That’s going to be stunning when it’s finished. I can relate to the back issue. Hope you feel better.
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Thanks John. Yes I'm liking the handle

The back comes and goes. I really need to get out and exercise more. I'm sure that would help. I went to the gym often before the Corona thing. I haven't done much physically since it hit and the back problems are part of that I'm sure.
 
Have 2 new additions in the shop this weekend- and got to use both!
Wen 12 inch Variable drill Press and Tapmatic 30 x! Both proved to be great choices so far and HUGE time savers in drilling and tapping 500+ holes for Bevel Jigs! Should have done this years ago.
 

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You gonna LOVE that tapmatic! I've got the same 30X and am constantly amazed how good it works for small taps, even the tiny 2-56 screws. Larger stuff I tap on the milling machine, but small stuff requires the tapmatic.
 
KenH said:
You gonna LOVE that tapmatic! I've got the same 30X and am constantly amazed how good it works for small taps, even the tiny 2-56 screws. Larger stuff I tap on the milling machine, but small stuff requires the tapmatic.
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Just have to fine tune some aspects- the stop arm doesn't just rest against a stop bar I set up- it actually clanks and hits it with each up and down- so not sure what I may be doing wrong on that front.
 
Craig - color me impressed! I've never tried a double blade slipjoint much less a 3 bladed stockman. Keep progress photos coming.
 
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