Give it some lovin'

jhiggins

jhiggins

Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Messages
3,258
Today was a crappy day. Busted knuckles. Bruises. Scrapes. I smacked the middle-finger of my left hand so hard once today that blood squirted from all around the fingernail. Yeah that tickled a little bit. It just bypassed the blood blister and went straight-on into unbrideled pain.

Undaunted by all this - this being part of the job, and also because I got tomorrow off (grin), I pressed on.

When I got home, I started in on milling a guard. the mill was set up for another operation, so I started moving the stops around on the table and slipped and made a huge slice across the index finger of my right hand. How I got blood gushing from that all over my mill and floor.

I gave up for the day. Decided to call it quits and get a beer.

But as all my stories usually go, there's a moral here. Give your machines some lovin'!

If you are like me, you might not have the funds to set up a full shop with tons of capital to buy all the best machinery. So we knifemakers have to look towards machines imported from somewhere out on the Pacific Rim. Now, I don't know why the Asians outside of Japan have little or no concept of quality, but dang it if it don't really pizz me off to slice my finger real good on a place on the machine that SHOULD have been smoothed out before it was imported here. I sometimes think that imported machinery is their conspiratorical way of getting even with us somehow.

So give 'em some lovin'

Okay, Jeff... WTF are you saying? "GIVE 'EM SOME LOVIN'? What's that all about, Higgy?

I'm saying the Asian imports are pocketbook-compatible, but they need lots of attention right off. Don't be in such a hurry to get them going and working on things right away. Lubricate them. Clean them. Smooth them. Adjust them. file the rough edges. change the saw blades. Give them new chucks - WHATEVER! Do you what you need to do to make that import a decent - USEABLE machine. Most importantly, make them safe.

Nuff said!
 
Ahhhhhh nonsense. Drink a six pack and head right back out to the shop and show those machines who is boss!
 
I know exactly what you're tallkin about!!! Cripes, you either love these machines cause you wanted one all your life or you want to take a sledgehammer to em because they're so obstinant... But a little time playing with them pays off handsomely.

Now I have to get past my aggravation with spending so much more time in setup than in actually making steel chips! :D

One other gripe: why do they make the T slots such a stupid size? Clamping kits in these dumb off sizes cost about five times as much as the standard half inch kits. Sheesh. So you either make your own T nuts and use standard bolts, or pay out the nose for a kit that fits. I'm still cheating.
 
Whit said:
Ahhhhhh nonsense. Drink a six pack and head right back out to the shop and show those machines who is boss!
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I'll drink to that. :D :D Oh!!! Poor Little Higgy hurt your little pinkies. Should of had the beers earlier. :eek: :eek:
 
Jeff, which do I do first, the cussing or the loving? I gotta get things in order here. I usually do my cussing first, after first blood. Hey, your hands are going to be more sore the next day, so I can see why you would jump right back into the shop. You are fearless and feel little pain. Me, if I lose some hide or blood on the shop floor, I've had enough for that day. I do my rant and blue english, then go do what I was tempted to do, to start with. I base my personal findings on scientific approach, phase of the moon and temperature of the beer I have on hand. It's a scientific fact, guys.
 
John Andrews said:
Jeff, which do I do first, the cussing or the loving? I gotta get things in order here. I usually do my cussing first, after first blood. Hey, your hands are going to be more sore the next day, so I can see why you would jump right back into the shop. You are fearless and feel little pain. Me, if I lose some hide or blood on the shop floor, I've had enough for that day. I do my rant and blue english, then go do what I was tempted to do, to start with. I base my personal findings on scientific approach, phase of the moon and temperature of the beer I have on hand. It's a scientific fact, guys.
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John: You should be the Medicine Man of the Tribe :D :D
 
Cussin' or Lovin' first? LOL, I do the deed that promotes the cussin' THEN wish I'd done more loving to it! I swear, John, these danged imports have some silly little burr to snag your knuckle or something every time you turn around. Takes years to eliminate them all. I truly believe the only import machine worth it is the much-revered 4x6 bandsaw. Nice little workhorse, and once you get a decent blade on it and some sturdy legs, it becomes a fairly carefree machine.

IG... yeah I shoulda had the beers first!
 
I'll have that song stuck in my head all day and looking for my old Blues Brothers hat. Just remember...you are on a mission. :D Cavelady
 
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