WMHammond: My first year in review

wmhammond

wmhammond

Well-Known Member
I loved Anthony's post on his first year in knifemaking so I decided to do one too.

I was a silversmith for 10 years, but I have been an outdoorsman my whole life. I grew up hunting and fishing, around firearms and hunting camps and fishing lodges, Hunting in Alaska and bass fishing in Mexico, shooting skeet, trap and sporting clays, loving horses and sporting dogs. Could be any of us, right? In March of 2014, after watching about a million hours of knifemaking videos on YouTube, I bought a HF 1 X 30 grinder and some mild steel at Home Depot and started teaching myself to make knives. I joined this site on march 31, 2014. My first project was a wooden knife 4/10/2014 (MDF blade and shaped wooden handle). Pathetic.IMG_0718.jpg

After grinding up that bar of mild steel I bought a billet of cheap Damascus and a small chunk of Mesquite Burl and I built my first knife
IMG_0795.jpgand because it is so hard to be a knifemaker without being a sheath maker also, I made a sheath for it
IMG_0799.jpg


I felt like my first experience went pretty well so I wanted a way to sign my work. Using Ernie's plans,I built an etcher from Radio Shack parts and while I was at it I built a rig to stabilize knife scalesIMG_0768.jpgIMG_0769.jpg

Then, in July, I built my second knifeIMG_0875.jpg and my first hidden tang knifeIMG_0897.jpg and then a few moreIMG_0836.jpgIMG_1008.jpgIMG_1054.jpg and I have reached my 10 pic limit but I have completed about 35 knives that I have posted here from time to time(search under "Wallace").

I have had a fair amount of luck selling my product, primarily by word of mouth and to numerous old hunting and fishing buddies. I had 12 orders for Christmas and barely got them all out. That was when I realized that if I was ever going to excel at this hobby I would need a professional grinder so at the end of the year I purchased a 2 X 72 and am presently waiting patiently for its delivery.

For me, this has been a wonderful year and making knives is so much more satisfying than silversmithing. I can't wait to see what happens this year. Thanks for reading and responding to this post.

Wallace
 
super nice! I love that chef's knife. Do you mind me asking how you finished the blade? I'm about to begin my first set of culinary knives. I'm thinking I'll hand sand and then scotchbrite to make the scratch pattern uniform. I like mirror finishes but I want to avoid stiction.
 
Glad you posted it Wallace, good job. It's funny, I see you guys post stuff, but there's a lot of names and knives and I can't remember who did what. As I looked through this post, I kept saying to myself "Oh, I remember that". Its kind of nice to summarize it all at once, gives us all a better feel about the maker, especially that first year. Those last three knives are all great.
 
Hey John, thanks for the comment and compliments. Actually, that isn't a Chef's knife - it's a Tendick knockoff. The angle of the picture makes it look that way. Here is a better view of it. It is 1095 with a mirror finish - lots of hand sanding at the time. That was an early knife, one of the first 5 or 6 and I was having a hard time going from the 1 X 30 directly to the buffer back then. The 1 X 30 is terribly inconsistent, I really had to work at getting it down to 600 grit without having lots of previous grit scratches. Back then I was leaving the 1 X 30 at 220 and hand sanding from 220 to 1200 by hand then go to the buffer.



IMG_0839.jpg


Later, I got better on the 1 X 30 and could get to 600 - 800 grit with no previous grit scratches so I could go directly to the buffer which I did on this knife. It is my first attempt at a kitchen knife that I did for a buddy to give his wife for Christmas. It is 440c stainless mirror polish with a freehand shaped Wenge handle. I love the mirror finish but it ain't worth hand sanding to get it. Being able to go from the grinder directly to the buffer is the key. Also, I found that it is easier to get a good mirror finish on stainless steel than it was for me on carbon.

IMG_1134.jpgIMG_1126.jpg

Thanks again,

Wallace
 
I see now. Sorry for confusing it with a chef's knife. That thing is gorgeous.

I've only been making knives for a few months now and am just finishing up my second batch. I still struggle with the finish on the grinder. Mine look great coming off the grinder until I start hand sanding and all of a sudden it's like I've got deep scratches that magically appear. Even though I grind to 600 grit, I feel like it's a waste of time because I have to hand sand at 220 to get rid of the scratches, especially near the plunges. My first batch was a definite eye opener. I wondered why I needed a grinder at all since I think I did 90% of the work afterwards with a file and sandpaper! Ha! This second batch was light years better.

I still can't get even close to not hand sanding.

I pray that at the end of one year my results are like yours are. Fine work, sir!
 
John

What grinder are you using? I was in that exact same place. after grinding, scratches seemed to appear from no where when I touched it with sandpaper. What I learned was that I wasn't inspecting my work close enough on the grinder as I decided to change from one grit to a smaller grit. My fix was to become better on the grinder. Be aware of where the scratches are going to appear and work on those spots. Don't change grits on the grinder until all the scratches from the previous grit are gone. Even you don't think you can see those scratches you really can. Another fix was to change to new belts more often. An old belt, particularly on a 1 X 30, will leave scratches that the next grit just can't fix. I always thought I could get 'em with the next grit. bad decision - I couldn't.

I should add something else to my year in review. Every time a problem arose I posted here at Knifedogs and whined about it. Every single time the Dogs came to the rescue. Before I wrote the above annual review I went back and reviewed every single one of my posts on this site and I must say it was a little embarrassing (you guys should try that). What a whiner I was, and am. But the Dogs to the rescue. Slowly, gently, with total patience and without exasperation over the fact that every question I asked had already been asked a hundred times before. Each time I learned about the question I had asked and a few more that I hadn't even encountered yet. The people that come here every day and those that come less regularly are the finest group of people I have ever associated with. I am deeply in your debt and want to thank each and every one of you who have tolerated my dumb questions and stupid remarks. You guys are the best and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.


Wallace
 
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I'm using a KMG, so the fault is all mine.

You make a great point- I AM NOT inspecting the blade close enough before I change grits. Let me tell you how stupid I am- I was thinking that a lot more material was being removed than really is. In effect, I thought the scratches from the early belts didn't really matter when grinding bevels because so much steel would be ground away before I got the bevels down to the final angle / blade thickness. I thought I'd be in fresh metal before I got to the last grit.

I know it sounds stupid. Now I realize that I've been taking the bevel way too high before moving up in grits. So the subsequent belts aren't cutting much deeper, if at all, than the earlier grits.

So many things seem like common sense after doing this a while but they really aren't. All of these things are learned skills and experience is a tough teacher.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Wallace,
We have come a long way. Looking back you should have been in the nominees for best new maker. I think we joined this site about the same time. Can't wait to see what you do the second year.

What grinder did you order?
Justin
 
Nice compliment about Best New maker - thanks. About the grinder: Well, I shopped all around and was going to buy a LB 1000 from Chris Williams. When I called him to order it he was out of stock and couldn't say when he would have one. Then I talked to Michael at Pinto Blades about his used KMG. He said he had decided not to sell it so I went back to the drawing board and called Jose Navarro at Pheer Grinders. I wanted his new PD 454 w/ the 1.5 HP motor
but it was a little pricy so I ordered his PH427 with the 1.5HP motor, platen arm and the arm that holds the small wheels (No big 8" or 10" wheels yet). I got an email from him this morning and he said his brother misunderstood him and built a 454 for me instead of the 427. He said it was already boxed up and ready to ship so he just sent me the 454. I always say that the Christians always win in the end :). Delivery date is next Monday the 13th. Can't wait.

Wallace
 
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Sweet!!!! That was a nice bonus for you make sure you take some pictures of it. I'm wishing I had a vfd but I will keep saving up and maybe this summer do a conversion on my LB1000
 
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