- Joined
- Oct 30, 2002
- Messages
- 3,974
It's been a while. This is a somewhat random post, but I thought I'd post an update and try and give Patrice some (probably false) hope that I will touch metal to grinder again soon 
.
The last 3.5 years have been really busy. I switched jobs from treating in the clinic to teaching, and it's been a busy time, though I love what I do. My role at work continues to evolve, and it has kept my interest and challenged my knowledge. As part of it, I started to work on my PhD a few semesters ago, and I have another 4 years ahead of me before I finish in addition to teaching full time.
About 2 years ago, my son was born, and between work, school, my wife, and my boy, free time to work in the shop has been non-existant. In fact, the last knife I completed was over 2 years ago now, just before Noah was born. About a year ago, we built a house, and I was able to consolidate and move my tools to a connected single-car garage shop.
(it's way dirtier now, BTW, from odd projects)
I was hopeful that this would give me the convenience I needed to get to the shop more to build knives. I built a new grinder bench and have done a few odd projects, but I have yet to build a knife there. I actually went out 6-7 months ago and resumed work on a blade I'd promised a friend, but the time-off showed: I ruined the blade as I rushed things in cleaning up the forged bevels. I haven't picked up a piece of steel since. Add to that some mysterious health issues involving my muscles and strength over the last two years, and I had just about put picking up a hammer to forge a blade out of my mind.
I've done a little bit of work on my truck.
And I've bought some more firearms, even made some holsters for them.
But ultimately, my time has been well-spent with my son and wife outside of work.
Now for the hopeful part. I'm starting to get more of an itch. Not a gross STD itch, but a knife making itch. I haven't had it in a while, and it's still not strong, but it's there. In fact, I took advantage of Mark's end of the year sale at Burl Source to pick up some more ironwood and redwood. I have a little stash of decent wood that I need to use, and I think the first order of business is to make a knife for myself. A really nice little EDC. I have kept a grand total of ONE knife for myself in my years of making. That's the reason I think I burned out. I made a decision a while back: I refuse to take orders. I refuse to promise knives. I will only make what I want, when I want to make it from this point on. I'm in a blessed position to be able to do this as a hobby and not to make a living, so I am hopeful that if I stick by these guns, I can slowly crawl my way out of the darkness and into the light of the forge and sparks from the grinder.
Here's to a new year, some new interest, and some new knives. Happy 2013 everyone! May God bless your family, your health, and your wealth.
--nathan
.The last 3.5 years have been really busy. I switched jobs from treating in the clinic to teaching, and it's been a busy time, though I love what I do. My role at work continues to evolve, and it has kept my interest and challenged my knowledge. As part of it, I started to work on my PhD a few semesters ago, and I have another 4 years ahead of me before I finish in addition to teaching full time.
About 2 years ago, my son was born, and between work, school, my wife, and my boy, free time to work in the shop has been non-existant. In fact, the last knife I completed was over 2 years ago now, just before Noah was born. About a year ago, we built a house, and I was able to consolidate and move my tools to a connected single-car garage shop.
(it's way dirtier now, BTW, from odd projects)
I was hopeful that this would give me the convenience I needed to get to the shop more to build knives. I built a new grinder bench and have done a few odd projects, but I have yet to build a knife there. I actually went out 6-7 months ago and resumed work on a blade I'd promised a friend, but the time-off showed: I ruined the blade as I rushed things in cleaning up the forged bevels. I haven't picked up a piece of steel since. Add to that some mysterious health issues involving my muscles and strength over the last two years, and I had just about put picking up a hammer to forge a blade out of my mind.
I've done a little bit of work on my truck.
And I've bought some more firearms, even made some holsters for them.
But ultimately, my time has been well-spent with my son and wife outside of work.
Now for the hopeful part. I'm starting to get more of an itch. Not a gross STD itch, but a knife making itch. I haven't had it in a while, and it's still not strong, but it's there. In fact, I took advantage of Mark's end of the year sale at Burl Source to pick up some more ironwood and redwood. I have a little stash of decent wood that I need to use, and I think the first order of business is to make a knife for myself. A really nice little EDC. I have kept a grand total of ONE knife for myself in my years of making. That's the reason I think I burned out. I made a decision a while back: I refuse to take orders. I refuse to promise knives. I will only make what I want, when I want to make it from this point on. I'm in a blessed position to be able to do this as a hobby and not to make a living, so I am hopeful that if I stick by these guns, I can slowly crawl my way out of the darkness and into the light of the forge and sparks from the grinder.
Here's to a new year, some new interest, and some new knives. Happy 2013 everyone! May God bless your family, your health, and your wealth.
--nathan
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