Question for Dan

[chickenplucker]

This may be obvious to most but could you explain the term,Mid-Tech Production Run? Thanks chickenplucker :thumbup:

 

[Daniel Koster]

"Mid-Tech" is a relatively new term in knifemaking....and to be perfectly, frankly honest....unless you mine the ore for your steel and grow your own trees for handle material...you are participating in some degree of "tech"...


That said, the term refers to knifemaking that is neither factory made nor solely handmade...but something "in between".


For me, that "in between" means having the "roughing out" done out of shop...by machine shops.

Here's a rough comparison to give you an idea.


For a knife to be purely handmade by me, the following is done "in house".

1. Profiling barstock on a metal-cutting bandsaw
2. Clean-up perimeter on the belt grinder
3. Drill handle holes
4. Chamfer handle holes
5. Grind "45s" to start bevels
6. Grind bevels
7. Heat-treat (simple carbon steels only - O1, 5160, 1095)
8. Clean up after heat-treat
9. Finish blade "flats" to final finish
10. Finish bevel grinds to final finish
11. Etch (if needed - for damascus, hamon lines, or as a patina)
12. Split handle material (if in a block)
13. Cut out (profile) handle material
14. Drill holes in handles
15. Counterbore handles if using corby bolts
16. Profile handle fronts
17. Taper fronts on an angled platen
18. Finish fronts out completely
19. Prep for glue-up
20. Glue-up
21. After glue-up, grind down pins
22. Grind off excess handle material around the profile
23. Rough shape, adding contouring where needed
24. Begin finish sanding
25. Bead blast (synthetic handles only)
26. Complete final sanding
27. Chamfer any lanyard tubes
28. Finish the spine and tang
29. Deburr corners
30. Finish sanding inside the choil
31. Etch logo
32. Apply finish (natural materials only)
33. Sharpen

On the first Bushmaster Production Run, the following was done "out of shop" (highlighted in red)

1. Profiling barstock - by waterjet
2. Clean-up perimeter on the belt grinder (a must, even - and especially - with waterjet cutting)
3. Drill handle holes
4. Chamfer handle holes
5. Grind "45s" to start bevels
6. Grind bevels
7. Heat-treat - by Paul Bos
8. Clean up after heat-treat
9. Finish blade "flats" to final finish
10. Finish bevel grinds to final finish
11. ---n/a
12. ---n/a
13. Cut out (profile) handle material
14. Drill holes in handles
15. Counterbore handles if using corby bolts
16. Profile handle fronts
17. Taper fronts on an angled platen
18. Finish fronts out completely
19. Prep for glue-up
20. Glue-up
21. After glue-up, grind down pins
22. Grind off excess handle material around the profile
23. Rough shape, adding contouring where needed
24. Begin finish sanding
25. Bead blast
26. Complete final sanding
27. Chamfer any lanyard tubes
28. Finish the spine and tang
29. Deburr corners
30. Finish sanding the choil
31. Etch logo
32. ---n/a
33. Sharpen

And for the BushMaster Mid-Tech Production Run, this is how it will run:

1. Profiling barstock - by waterjet
2. Clean-up perimeter - by machine shop
3. Drill handle holes - by machine shop
4. Chamfer handle holes - by machine shop
5. ---n/a
6. Grind bevels - by machine shop
7. Heat-treat - by machine shop
8. Clean up after heat-treat - by machine shop
9. ---(see next)
10. ---stone tumbled finish on blade, flats and tang - by machine shop
11. ---n/a
12. ---n/a
13. Cut out (profile) handle material - by waterjet (synthetic only), natural materials done "in shop"
14. Drill holes in handles
15. Counterbore handles if using corby bolts
16. Profile handle fronts
17. Taper fronts on an angled platen
18. Finish fronts out completely
19. Prep for glue-up
20. Glue-up
21. After glue-up, grind down pins
22. Grind off excess handle material around the profile
23. Rough shape, adding contouring where needed
24. Begin finish sanding
25. Bead blast (synthetic handles only)
26. Complete final sanding
27. Chamfer any lanyard tubes
28. Finish the spine and tang
29. Deburr corners
30. Finish sanding inside the choil
31. Etch logo
32. Apply finish (natural materials only)
33. Sharpen

If I could do a run where it was almost entirely automated, I would...but it would be a Factory Production Run...and I still would do a good bit of hand-fitting and finishing. But that would not overtake my handmade and mid-tech runs...it would be separate....and mostly just to see if I could make it work.





But, as you can see - with the BushMaster list above - it's really only part of the work done "out of shop"....so that's what makes is "Mid-Tech"...and neither purely handmade, nor truly a factory production.


Because I have this done "out of shop"....it saves on cost...but more importantly it saves on time....my time. I can increase production quantities without sacrificing quality, since I do all the final finishing myself - just as I would with a regular ole handmade knife.


Thanks for asking the question....hope it's not too long of an answer. :foot:


:thumbup:

Dan

 

[chickenplucker]

Great explanation Dan of just how many details and steps you guys go through. It really shows in the finished product.:thumbup:

 

[Daniel Koster]

Sure thing, Bro.

Thanks for the kind words.

Dan