I hate it when...

Last weekend I was ready to smugly post to this thread "I love it when a plan comes together". Then my carefully located holes in my scales didn't line up. Somehow my drill press table had managed to twist 3 degrees away from square. SOB!
Luckily I had glued an entire sheet of liner to a sheet of micarta and had enough to quickly do another set.
 
I hate it when unknowingly I bump my taped up knife in it's warmed up and soft Boltaron before I close my press, only to find a few minutes later that its edge or tip is either less than 1/4" from the edge of the sheath, or sticking out altogether. Happened to me just last night.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
EVERYONE says this too!
It must be a running joke with (on) us..... haha. :/
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The solution is to start bladesmithing! Lol.
It is frustrating how I’m always like “do I attempt to explain to this person that I do both and why some steel can’t really be forged?” I guess it just depends on the person.
 
...I get to the shop and my sharpie found it's way out of my pocket somewhere along the way.
 
Bunker Hill Blades said:
The solution is to start bladesmithing! Lol.
It is frustrating how I’m always like “do I attempt to explain to this person that I do both and why some steel can’t really be forged?” I guess it just depends on the person.
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Yeah. Thats the thing. I have to ask myself if its worth it to explain it, or just nod my head, and say yeah. When people think that forging automatically means its better, or thats what really makes it "making a knife, Not just cutting it out of some steel."
 
I hate it when I get that brutal knot in my back from standing at the grinder for too long
 
... when someone asks to watch me work in the shop. Then I have to explain how truly boring 95% of the work is. "It's more boring than watching golf and you don't even have the scenery."
 
Sando said:
... when someone asks to watch me work in the shop. Then I have to explain how truly boring 95% of the work is. "It's more boring than watching golf and you don't even have the scenery."
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I used to sharpen knives at a flea market type thing.

People would drop their knife off to get sharpened, and would say they wanted to watch because its interesting. I would let them know its pretty boring.

Anyway, they would usually be interested while i was on the coarse stone, by the time i usually started moving up the progression they completely lost interest.

For reference, one knife took me about 5-12 minutes depending on a few things.
 
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John has poor tang slot control. This is 4+ hours over 2 days. Don't be like John.
 
John Cahoon said:
View attachment 2019148
John has poor tang slot control. This is 4+ hours over 2 days. Don't be like John.
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John, I have a time consuming but foolproof approach for when you can't afford to mess up the guard and start over.
It's tempting to drill a row of 3 or 4 holes, slightly smaller than the width you need, but if they don't line up perfectly then the slot can end up too wide, skewed or both.
I make a single 1/16" hole dead center, then enlarge that hole with a bigger bit, staying below the width I need. Then scribe a line lengthways and chase it with a chainsaw file that is slightly smaller. Now at least you have a straight line about as long as you need it. Then I take a flat file with a width as close as possible to the length of the slot and slowly widen out the rectangle. I keep measuring and taking a little off each side keeping it centered. I have the tang tapered, and well before I reach that width I start trying to press it on, taking off only a little more and trying again.
People (especially those with mills) have much faster methods, but I don't mind as long as I know it's going to work.
 
One time I had to put my makers mark on a guard, well I like to use my press to stamp it in (instead of using a hammer). Well I way over did it, and I had to start over, There goes 7-8 hours of work! 😫
 
Richard338 said:
John, I have a time consuming but foolproof approach for when you can't afford to mess up the guard and start over.
It's tempting to drill a row of 3 or 4 holes, slightly smaller than the width you need, but if they don't line up perfectly then the slot can end up too wide, skewed or both.
I make a single 1/16" hole dead center, then enlarge that hole with a bigger bit, staying below the width I need. Then scribe a line lengthways and chase it with a chainsaw file that is slightly smaller. Now at least you have a straight line about as long as you need it. Then I take a flat file with a width as close as possible to the length of the slot and slowly widen out the rectangle. I keep measuring and taking a little off each side keeping it centered. I have the tang tapered, and well before I reach that width I start trying to press it on, taking off only a little more and trying again.
People (especially those with mills) have much faster methods, but I don't mind as long as I know it's going to work.
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Scribe line with tungsten carbide scriber , it will be deep enough so tip of center punch can sit in and holes would line up perfectly. First use some very small drill bits which will sit in center punch mark precise . After I connect holes I use this tool .Need little time to align but after that filing is fast and precise .Now for open slot like this one on picture I use my grinder , no more hand filing :)
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