Nos 85-89 --- Finally!

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Messages
5,179
Finished the last one of these up today, finally. The last one in the picture is the one you guys helped me fix. (A big Thanks Again!) Then this morning I finished off the first one, and called it a day for the shop - because my honey-do list was calling. :) Otherwise I might have gotten started on the sheaths... Naw, I'm ready for a break!

These are "low dollar" knives for a tourist boutique and I struggled with how to get within their price range and still make knives. I ended up making them relatively small, on what's for me thin stock, with a lazy finish. I haven't added up my time but I think I'm working for about .50 per hour! Good thing I like my job.

Specs:

They're all 1/8" O1, finished to X45 (about 320 grit) and blended with a Scotchbrite belt.

No 85
Handle - Pink Ivory
OAL - 7 1/2"
Blade - 3 1/2"

No 86
Handle - Desert Ironwood
OAL - 8 3/8"
Blade - 4 1/4"

No 87
Handle - Sheephorn
OAL - 8 3/8"
Blade - 4 1/8"

No 88
Handle - Bloodwood
OAL - 6 1/8"
Blade 4"

No 89 - The Problem Knife!
Handle - Tulip
OAL - 8 1/8"
Blade - 3 3/4"

RakuOrder02Sm.jpg


Sorry for the irregular photography. I still don't have a handle on lighting or Photoshop, so nothing comes out the way I think it should. Oddly enough, this is the first time I've taken a step back and looked at them. This got my feet wet again, I guess, but not the kind of knives I prefer to make.

Anyway, that's it for this week for me. Time for a cigar and maybe crack a cold one on the deck before I crash. Tomorrow's gonna start a long week at the actual paying job, I got to get primed!

Thanks to everyone for all the valued - invaluable! - help.
 
That tulipwood is spectacular! I love tulipwood and use it quite often, but I've never gotten a piece like that. Great job on the fix too!
 
Thanks guys. Yeah Scott, you can see why I wanted to save that Tulip if I could! I was really glad that mostly worked out.
 
Hey Dave those are great knives! I particularly like the sheep horn one. The tulip looks nice too. Nice job Buddy.
 
Thanks for the kind words, Bruce. My personal favorite is the pink ivory one; it's a nice compact size and for whatever reason (I promise I'm no girly boy) I like the pink ivory itself. No way would I be caught dead carrying it though! :D I made some pink ivory grips for my wife's chrome derringer, she loves it.

One thing about pink ivory, it burns very easily. Sharp belts and hand work are the way to go.

For what it's worth, I added up my time on this project and with my estimate of what it's going to take to do the sheaths, I'm at $7.50 per hour - way better than I thought, better than working in a bookstore anyway, and it's tax free. :D
 
Ah ..come on Dave- you'd look good wearing that pink ivory in color, especially with your wife wearing that fancy derringer. I like the way it turned out.

Good work! I sawsome of the blades roughed out- they all turned even better than I thought they would....

Now.. if I can just find a knife-making teacher out here in Montana.... by Helena....
 
Thanks for the kind words, Steve! Except for the pink knife part. :D Maybe I could outfit Jeanie with a pink knife to go with her gun though...

I miss our Saturdays in the shop... Maybe one of these days you'll get tired of the cold and move back here ... Wait! It's just as bad here, huh? :D

Okay, then you should start a thread in Shop Talk to see whether there are any makers in your area. I'm sure there are and someone would be willing to work with you to get some of those projects of yours going. And you should hang out here more! It'd be good to hear your questions and thoughts.
 
Well, I got them all packed up and ready to go in the mail today! I'm back rolling again and it feels pretty dang good.

Amusing anecdote: My printer's been on the fritz for a couple months and to make an invoice and the certificates to go with the knives I finally had to spring for a printer this weekend. Being the person of questionable judgment that I am, I had decided that I wanted a printer that would use the new ink I'd just spent $50 on trying to keep the old printer running. I ended up spending more on a printer than if I'd just bought a cheap printer that would do the job, and trashed the ink...

So anyway, I came home with it Sat afternoon, spent an hour getting it installed, and ... my computer could not see the freakin printer! :mad: I tried everything I could think of, enabling myself with a fistful of Buds, and still no go.

My brother is a Unix admin and my Mac uses a variant of Unix so he's my tech guy. Actually, he'd be my tech guy no matter what but you get the point. He knows his stuff and I know jack. Being the kind of guy he is, he came right over having spent the day tuck pointing his chimney and suffering through two migraines. He messed with it for several hours and finally had to go home. Yesterday he came back so we could call Canon's tech support line - which was closed.

So my brother did some more poking around online and decided we'd try just hooking the printer directly to the network with an ethernet cable.

That's when he noticed I had plugged the printer's USB cable into the ethernet port. When we plugged it into the USB port - viola! Printer.

Thanks Bro! :D
 
Great looking knives, Dave.

Your work always impresses me.


Fred
 
Dave, those knives are great! No surprise, either. Hey, your pictures look better than mine. You still using that white box you showed me?
 
Great knives Dave, thanks for sharing.
That's when he noticed I had plugged the printer's USB cable into the ethernet port. When we plugged it into the USB port - viola! Printer.
Click to expand...
BTW how could you plug that USB to Ethernet socket, wow I have to try that :D
 
Aw Fred, yer just sayin that because you're a nice guy. Tell me that when I show you a knife I've put my heart into!

John Andrews said:
Dave, those knives are great! No surprise, either. Hey, your pictures look better than mine. You still using that white box you showed me?
Click to expand...

John, I bought a cheap light tent off eBay. I'm glad I did, but the real expense is going to be lights... There's always something else, eh? :) I think I'll just add a few more $5 shop lights for now and that should fill in. But something ain't right, and I know what it is: lotsa money for proper lighting. Some day I'll dedicate a room to photography and all its stuff, and be like Coop! :D

galadduin said:
Great knives Dave, thanks for sharing.

BTW how could you plug that USB to Ethernet socket, wow I have to try that :D
Click to expand...

Aw, Emre -- don't bother; it doesn't work! :D My brother noticed it when he bent way down and looked into the port. He said something like, "That's not a USB port!" I felt like the doofus that I am, so he was gracious enough to let me (mostly) off the hook. But I owe him desert with his dinner. ;) I think I got off light.
 
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