My First Knife!! -- Feedback Wanted

First Knife + Damascus = Ambitious, to say the least

So what exactly IS your day job? :D

-Jason
 
My day job? :)

Do you actually want to know?

I am an Automotive Engineer. It does not leave me nearly as much time as I would like for the knife making. If I had a years worth of orders, I would seriously think about quiting my day job. The way it works now, is the no sleep method.

I get home at 7pm and work until 1 or 2 in the mornig and get back up to go to work at 6 am. Oh well, I can catch up on sleep when I am dead. Also it does not help matters any that I can only spend every other weekend on knife related activities. All though my 5 year old daughter wants to make a knife. Once she gets over the fear of the forge and power hammer, I will have some child labor going on.:D

At least i don't have a wife nagging me!:eek: If I did, I hardly believe she would let me do all this stuff in the basement. Damn I need a garage!!!
 
Nice werk:D
You got a power hammer in your Basement????:eek:

Well guys he has to be an engineer, nobody eles would do that :) :) :)
 
Do you worry about CO2 levels in the basement? I would love to see a shop tour because I need to buy what you have. I have been doing this for about a year and while with a power hammer I believe the damascus could be done having a sym. double grind on your first knife a nothing short of incredible. How about a shop equipment list? Excellent job.
 
Laredo7mm: IMPRESSIVE!
I spotted as well Hrisoulas style, as I too have the books (not the video, though).
Well, what to say? My first knife was all ground by hand, has still to get HT, but surely I didn't forge it (living in an apartment I cant obviously put up any kind of forge).
Though I ground some steel for practice, I messed up it as my hand slipped when I was finishing it. Now it has a small dent on one side, but I'm pleased with it nonetheless. Yours is the correct approach, I think: don't do anything till you are sure you'll get it right.
Way to go and keep up the good work.
Wish I were as good as you. Right now I'm just manufacturing big amounts of steel dust :D
 
Laredo7mm,

That is a beautiful knife! The steel pattern looks great!

Automotive engineering is tough. ...I've "been there and done that" for the last 9 years....then I bailed out in Febuary to run my shop fulltime. Absolutley no regrets and no looking back. No more pagers, cell phones, spur of the moment traveling, timelines, headaches, ulcers, insomnia... etc. The best part now is that I look forward to a phone call from the customer....in the auto industry, a phone call from the customer was always a bad thing and it seemed to warrant some sort of emergency action.

With that in mind, I'm sure that you spend some time in the Detroit area. I believe Don Cowles is in Royal Oaks. You might look him up sometime.

Thanks for posting the photos....please post more of your work.

Feel free to drop in if you ever get down in Columbus.

Sincerely,
Rob
 
rfrink-

Damn man, I just got back from Columbus 5 minutes ago. I was down there for a Go 2-1 meeting with Honda. I stayed at the Marriot right acroos the street from the Bud Plant. I go down there about once or twice a month, email me with you contact info and the nextime I am down there, we will see if we can get together.


Blackboogers-

I have a 1200cfm blower in the window of my basement to exhaust out the fumes. My equipment list is as follows:

-25lb Little Giant Trip Hammer made in 2/22/22
-152lb Hay Budden Anvil mad in 1913
-Model 760 Burr King grinder with an 8 inch contact wheel
-Home made forge with a Ron Reil style burner
-Cheap little Chinese Buffer
-Home Made heat treat furnace with digital controls and 2300 deg F max temp
-36 inch tall, 8 inch diameter quench tank
-5 horse dymanic three phase converter to run the grinder and hammer.

I think that is it

I rebuilt the power hammer, well cleaned it up, new spring, new toggle links, new nuckles, new pins. I then had my gauge shop cnc cut me two bew sets of dies for it. One flat set and one for drawing out the billets. Made em out of S-7 heat treated to 55 RC. They work good:)

Here is a pick, let me know if you want to see more.

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Oh yeah, forgot to tell you all somethng.

I know this will get you all pissed off at me but here it goes:

Total I paid for trip hammer with new parts and new dies - $700
Total I paid for 152lb Hay Budden - $75
Total I paid for grinder - $0
Total I paid for heat treat furnace with controls - $150
Total I paid for dynamic converter - $50

Total capitol investment: $975

Material costs:

Pure Nickel: $1.00 per pound
15N20: $3.00 per pound
C1095: $1.00 per pound


Don't you all just love it? :D :p
 
I knew the level and quality was either one of two reasons and I'm sure it explains why some people on this thread didnt believe that was your first knife. Either you were b.s. us or:

You have a great mechanical skill (which explains why you repaired the power hammer yourself) and you had great equipment to start off with. I can only speak for myself, but I wouldent have the financial resources to get the things you had gotten (which you received at prices that words can't speak for;a hay budden for 75.00!!!!) Burr Kings start at 1000.00 and go up etc. I envy you, I have so many ideas that need some of the equipment you have. Well you are doing very well and in a year or so I'm sure we may well be reading about you in Blade magazine.
 
7MM, Do you mind emailing me with the adress of the place that sells the pure nickel? Thanks, Bruce B
 
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