Thursday, December 24, 2009
Like a termite in a lumber yard
I just got the shipment of wood that LT purchased at the Maryland show. I now have purple heart, something that might be Cocobolo and another that looks like a nice version of Osage Orange. I am not sure which one I will use first, but I have a lot to choose from.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
A New Steal (let's make that steel)
A quick check of AG Russell's web site shows more than thirty different steels that are used in knife making. Perhaps the best known of these has been known for years as "surgical steel". The rest of the world calles it 440C.
As a knife maker you have to choose a steel that you can grind and still be hard enough to hold an edge. As a knife user, some of knives that I have used with great success have been one version of 440C or another.
What is the point of all this? 440 is a good steel for a beginning maker to use. There are better steels of course, but it is a good place to start.
As a knife maker you have to choose a steel that you can grind and still be hard enough to hold an edge. As a knife user, some of knives that I have used with great success have been one version of 440C or another.
What is the point of all this? 440 is a good steel for a beginning maker to use. There are better steels of course, but it is a good place to start.
Monday, December 21, 2009
New toys
It always seems that someone it making new things that can be used by knifemakers. Today I found a new software that will allow me to post this blog from my iPod Touch!
Now, I can pass along goodies from shows in stead of waiting to get back to the G5.
Cool eh?
Now, I can pass along goodies from shows in stead of waiting to get back to the G5.
Cool eh?
New Projects
I have just gotten the word from LT Wright of Blind Horse Knives that two of the D2 versions of a favorite Charlton design are ready. I will get pictures of them online as soon as they show up.
I am also starting a knife with a stick-tang. This is a design that does not have the steel extending through the full handle. The material of the handle with completely surround the steel of the tang.
I am also starting a knife with a stick-tang. This is a design that does not have the steel extending through the full handle. The material of the handle with completely surround the steel of the tang.
Julie and Julia
You might wonder why after all this time, I am starting with a reference to the Amy Adams movie. Well, it just shamed me in that I haven't posted her in quite a while.
Here is an update in my knife making. The Hitachi grinder had been working well with the different woods that I was using. But, I had picked up some steel from Ken Largin at the Knife Makers Coop on the grounds of Smokey Mt Knife Works. This steel is a nice high carbon steel of a make-up that I am still not sure what it is. I had cut off several sections to start making some knives and after grinding for a while, switched to a Maple handle that I was putting on a Damascus USA knife blank. The next thing that I know is that I can see a glow from along the disk and a lot of smoke! With the Ohio Players song "Fire" going through my mind, I grabbed the smoking grinder off of the bench and (almost literally) threw the thing out the back door!
Ten minutes of hosing the thing down got the smoke stopped. After taking the Hitachi back to the local hardware store (the great people at Lowes), I started looking for another machine. A stop at the local Sears brought a shock. Their grinders were both made by Hitachi with the same amount of plastic as the unit that I had just lost.
Lesson learned, check for the amount of plastic in a machine. It is possible for the steel that you are grinding to have cooled, but plastic can soften and start catching things on fire that might be out of touch from the outside of the grinder.
Bon Appetit! (oops)
I ment, Stay Sharp!
Scott
Here is an update in my knife making. The Hitachi grinder had been working well with the different woods that I was using. But, I had picked up some steel from Ken Largin at the Knife Makers Coop on the grounds of Smokey Mt Knife Works. This steel is a nice high carbon steel of a make-up that I am still not sure what it is. I had cut off several sections to start making some knives and after grinding for a while, switched to a Maple handle that I was putting on a Damascus USA knife blank. The next thing that I know is that I can see a glow from along the disk and a lot of smoke! With the Ohio Players song "Fire" going through my mind, I grabbed the smoking grinder off of the bench and (almost literally) threw the thing out the back door!
Ten minutes of hosing the thing down got the smoke stopped. After taking the Hitachi back to the local hardware store (the great people at Lowes), I started looking for another machine. A stop at the local Sears brought a shock. Their grinders were both made by Hitachi with the same amount of plastic as the unit that I had just lost.
Lesson learned, check for the amount of plastic in a machine. It is possible for the steel that you are grinding to have cooled, but plastic can soften and start catching things on fire that might be out of touch from the outside of the grinder.
Bon Appetit! (oops)
I ment, Stay Sharp!
Scott
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