knife failures buried and the earth salted...

T

tmickley

Joined
Apr 4, 2001
Messages
1,803
I cleaned out a drawer of mistakes today. I went out back, dug a hole, chunked them in, salted the earth and covered them up.....

knivesinbox.jpg

Here is the box of annoyances. I can't believe it took me this long to get rid the da*n things.

knivesinhole.jpg

Here I've salted the earth just for good measure.

knivesindirt.jpg

After the next rain, no one will know.
 
I hate you.
:mad:

I'm hoping you're joking, because if your failures look like this, I give up.

...anyone want to buy a square wheel? (j/k!) :mad:
 
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: You could have just sent them to me ya know :D

So what was wrong with them? They looked pretty good from here :D
 
:eek: I hope you are kidding too. I know there are guys out there that would've paid shipping for those and maybe even some $$$ to use as learning steps or practice grinding :eek:

Heck... If you want, PM me and maybe we can figure something out. Some of those handles might make for some nice bolsters to mess up on :)
 
So where did you say you lived?........I know I have a metal detector around here somewhere.........
 
Some one has asked if I was kidding with these pictures. I wasn't. Those things are taking a dirt nap and that white stuff in the second picture is salt. These are some of my first knives and don't look too bad from across the room but are pretty rough up close. They all had my logo on them so they had to go. I gotta tell you, it felt good to bury the damn things too...
 
Ok I can see that barying the knives is one line of thought an an areas to each his own but the sheaths migh have fit future projects especially if you have a style thats yours. Poor Moomoos gave theri all for nothing.

Abe
 
I shold have done something like that with a bunch myself,instead they just got thrown down in the hollow behind the shop...

I know to you they were to ruff,but we got fighting boys that would have loved to use them blades and destruct them for you :D They wouldnt have cared if they were a little ruff or a whole bunch ruff,they are needing knives,I am sure they would have buried them overseas when they were done with them :eek: .....


Them steel seeds will grow in the spring to a real pretty steel magnola...LOL

Bruce
 
Cool Tracy. I normally just use screwups for testing. However, every now and then...


Here's one I didn't like:
el_camino_grande.jpg



First I chucked it up in the vise and bent it. Then I took a torch to it and burned the handle off:

destruction_1.jpg



Next I heated the guard and ricasso up to about 9 million degrees and beat the guard off with a sledge hammer:

minus_guard.jpg



Then it was time for a little creative forging. It went into the forge, was grossly over heated, and the forging began:

in_forge.jpg



And here's the end result:

finished.jpg
 
Bruce, none of the ones I trashed were tactical by any sense or I would have already sent them over.

Terry, your way was more creative. Next time I'm going to fire up the forge.
 
At first it hurt me greatly to see all that. Honestly the more I thought about it, there are a few I have made that I couldn't bring myself to give away as even a shop knife. It's usually when I try something new and it fails. Or when it looks so much better on paper than in reality. It feels good to do a destruction test.

I have to admit the ugliest knife I have ever made exists somewhere in Arkansas. :barf: I hated it and it was on my bench as I contemplated it's destruction. A friend stopped by with his cousin from Arkansas. He loved the knife offered me more than it would have been worth had it been pleasing to the eye. I refused and gave it to him for free.

I am bothered that I let it leave the shop and would never do it again. He got a message to me a year and a half later, giving praises on his favorite knife. I'm glad he is happy with it but with the way I feel about it I should have destroyed it. Though it pains me to say it, you did the right thing with the salt and burial. You would have regretted anything else.
 
If that's trash, I give up.
Primos, was the other side ugly? or did it look the same? I would have called that good.

Here's an idea, mark the blades with an acid etch, 'reject' and give 'em away to whoever wants 'em. That way your reputation as a maker isn't in trouble.
~Brian
 
Ok guys, sometime is better to bury the dead. If I can't canablize anything from them the torch comes out. Even the ones marked with 2nds on them will always come back to haunt you. If they are not marked you can use them for give-a-ways . Otherwise, ashes to ashes and dust to dust, another knife made is a must. :cool:
 
Terry I hope to God YOU'RE joking!! What the heck was wrong with that knife in the first place. :rolleyes: For future reference guys, feel free to scrape your name off of any of these future "mistakes" and ship them north. :mad: :grumpy:

Roger
 
ok. I guess I need a perspective.
Looking at those knives, I can barely hope for something that nice. Looking at Tracy's 'good' knives, I can just dream. If I was in his shoes, I suppose something several steps down from my usual quality, I would not want to get out of my hands. Even if someone else calls it a beauty, to us it's a piece of trash. OK. I get it now.

~Brian
P.S. what the heck was the matter with them anyway?
 
RogerP said:
Terry I hope to God YOU'RE joking!! What the heck was wrong with that knife in the first place. :rolleyes: For future reference guys, feel free to scrape your name off of any of these future "mistakes" and ship them north. :mad: :grumpy:

Roger
Click to expand...
Yeah Terry...what didnt you like? ;)
 
Hahahahahahahah -- that is some good stuff guys. I'll bet it was very theraputic. :)

I keep my worst in plain view to remind me to stop sucking so much. :D
 
*rebeltf will cry himself to sleep tonight thinking of those poor , lonely blades buried deep in the previously un-salted Earth*
*rebeltf will thrash himself 100 times with Willow branches for tmickley's sins*

Primos , you could take your creation and say it is an ancient relic statue of a half bull /half scorpion god that virgins were once sacraficed to.
If you want i'll make up a story and you can sell it on ebay , we'll say you found it while digging for Amber in the wilds of Uruguay.


:D
 
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