Evenheat is in, and some shop pics

[silver_pilate]

I thought I'd post some pics because well all know that without pics, it never happened .

Here's my 22.5" Evenheat:

I added to the heat treating area a bit:

I've stored my steel under the Evenheat. Here is W1 rounds, W2 flats, 52100 bearings, 1084, Cruforge V, O1, 44C, and CPM154 along with some 416SS:

Here's the two bandsaws:

The two grinders:

The work bench/drill:

The forging area:

And my new layout bench:

On the oak bench, you can see the EERF 2x72" grinder I'm building. I got it assembled tonight and I'm just waiting to order some parts to complete it. Thought I'd share; thanks for looking!

--nathan

 

[FTO_dude]

looks awesome!

wish i could even keep a work area that clean

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I use the same oven, you will love it.
I mounted mine on a rolling equipment cart, and strore the HT supplies underneath.
One suggestion I would make is to replace the top piece of composite board on your table with a sheet of steel or a piece of cement board. The ovens will get hot, and the particle board might deteriorate.
Also, note that the outer surface of the oven does get quite hot, and be careful about touching it or putting things that melt near the oven.
Enjoy your new toy.
Stacy

 

[Halecky Knives]

Nice looking shop. Even heat is nice furnace. I use the same blue cooler for my cryo tempering, pretty funny.

 

[Phil705]

Nice shop and equipment! But your supurb organization and cleanliness make me look like a slob. Please dirty it up a bit.

 

[ChasePhase]

It's nice...but as far as clean...he swept all the dirt under his new oak bench; busted!

 

[chris609]

Wonderful setup and so clean too.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

Well Nathan , now that you have got yourself a brand spanky new oven , you can sell me your old wore out , too small , home built one .

 

[Justin King]

I would be afraid to work in your shop. WAY too clean, I would leave a trail of destruction and debris everywhere I went
I would be an hour cleaning for every hour of knifemaking to keep my shop looking like that. And if there was that much clear floor area my wife would be using it for storage and my kid would have Hot Wheels scattered everywhere. :grumpy:
Sick, dude. Nice equipment though.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

I would be an hour cleaning for every hour of knifemaking to keep my shop looking like that.

Might we be exaggerating a tad?
10-15 minutes at the end of each work day putting things away and using the shopvac would keep a shop reasonably clean. To me it just helps to be more productive.

Thanks for the pics Nathan, really nice setup you have.

Patrice

 

[Sam Salvati]

Might we be exaggerating a tad?

No, he is that messy :barf:

VERY nice shop Nathan, I thought you had a powerhammer?

 

[Justin King]

Might we be exaggerating a tad?
10-15 minutes at the end of each work day putting things away and using the shopvac would keep a shop reasonably clean. To me it just helps to be more productive.

Thanks for the pics Nathan, really nice setup you have.

Patrice

Actually no amount of time would make my shop look like that-too much stuff in too small a space. I also do a lot of woodworking in my shop related to my day job. Sawdust and hot-metalworking do not mix well so I do spend a good deal of time cleaning, usually both before and after doing knife work. So I was probably exaggerating a bit, but not as much as I might wish...

 

[Justin King]

No, he is that messy :barf:

Jeez, you think I should hire a maid? I probably can't afford one but that's no reason to not consider the idea thoroughly and maybe do a couple of interviews

 

[panch0]

Nice shop! Congrats on the oven!

 

[silver_pilate]

Thanks, everyone!

Stacy, I've used it for just a little bit already, and it's a joy to use! I had it at temp for about three hours after breaking it in, and I monitored the area around it for heat build up. It stayed cool on the table, and there's nothing in proximity that is heat sensitive (though the outside does get hot ). I will look around for something more substantial to place underneath it.

Halecky, don't you love Wal-Mart . My cooler is full of vermiculite for pearlitic anneals. I use the large dewar for liquid nitrogen cryos.

Jack, if I put that oven in the mail, all you'd end up with is dust and twisted metal . Now, if you want to make a drive down to West Texas, bring it on! I'd give you the oven, and my wife and I'd take you out to dinner to boot!

Sam, I wish I had a power hammer . But it would have to be a small one as it's a rented shop, and I don't want to go bustin' up their floor . I actually will probably get a press before a hammer. And some day, we'll be building a new house, and I've already put my wife on notice for a finished 20x30 shop in the corner of the lot.

As for the cleanliness comments, you got me, Chase! If you look carefully on the far side of my drill press cabinet, I have a wall mounted shop vac mounted to the cabinet. It has a long tube, a handle mounted on/off switch, and is set up with a sweeper head. That thing works great to quickly vac/sweep up the floor. If I had taken pictures later in the evening, you would have seen a bit more mess. And the pics of the KMG were taken right after it was put together. It's got a fine protective layer of metal dust on it now .

I don't know what it is, but in between projects, I have to get the shop clean. Now, during a project, it will be a wreck with trash and bits and dust scattered everywhere. Afterwards, my agent orange gets to acting up, and I get the urge to clean (who knows the movie quote, slightly modified ).

--nathan

 

[Patrice Lemée]

I don't know what it is, but in between projects, I have to get the shop clean. Now, during a project, it will be a wreck with trash and bits and dust scattered everywhere. Afterwards, my agent orange gets to acting up, and I get the urge to clean (who knows the movie quote, slightly modified ).

I am so happy to see that there are at least 2 of us out there.

Patrice

 

[Fletch Helical]

Are your saws hooked up to a foot pedal? Or am I thinking that's something else? If so where did you get them?

 

[Frank Niro]

If my shop was that clean, I'd be afraid to use it. Lovely set up !!!!! Frank

 

[Timolius]

Your shop looks great. Congrats on the new forge. Couple of newbie questions. Is the gas forge in your shop for working the steel and the electric for treating it? Did the racks in the new forge come in it or did you order them, or make them?
Thanks
T

 

[silver_pilate]

Fletch, they are indeed hooked to foot pedals. The portaband is on a switch that you have to hold down, and the 4x6 is on a press-on, press-off foot pedal. I got both of them from Harbor Freight. You plug in your saw to the pedal and you're set. For the big saw, you have to just turn the switch on the saw to the run position and leave it. For the portaband, I have the trigger held down with a clamp.

T, welcome to the boards! I'm in Dallas area now and again as I have family in the north Dallas / Denton area. The new Evenheat oven is for heat treating. It has precise temperature control without large swings which will make your heat treating more accurate. The forge by the anvil is indeed for heating and working steel. It's propane and set up on a digital controller with a two stage blown burner. Basically this allows the forge to stay lit and cycle between a low/pilot stage and a high burn stage. The controller cycles it automatically to maintain your target temp. With this type of setup, you can heat treat many carbon steels, but you just have to be careful of your temperature as overheating the steel can cause poor results in your hardening. Many makers heat treat W2, 1084, etc. in a forge. For stainless steels which require much higher heat (1900F vs. 1500F) and longer soaks at temp (30+ minutes vs. 2-5 minutes), the digital oven is the only way to go.

The racks inside the oven I ordered with the oven from Evenheat. Tracy at USAknifemaker.com sells them, or you can easily make something similar with ceramic tiles or fire bricks.

--nathan