Shop time with Tommy Gann

xaman

xaman

Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
9,574
Hello All,

I had a great adventure this weekend. I was in Tommy's home town, and he very graciously invited me to his home and shop. What started as a shop tour and evening dinner for our families evolved into a full Saturday of knife making. I felt like a kid at Christmas :D


We decided to tackle a knife together, start to finish. Here's the drawing we came up with:

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Tommy and I spent all day in the shop building my knife and having a blast. Then we topped it off with an incredible dinner and a few hours of coffe and table talk. We laughed, ate, then laughed some more. It was a ton of fun. This is one seriously cool family. It's a good thing for him that I live far enough away not to just "drop by" ;)



Disclaimer -- I intended to do better on the photo documentary, but as usual I got too interested in watching and learning to take sufficient pics. But here's a few I did get:



After breakfast Tommy lit up the forge (this thing is a monster.)

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Showing me what his press will do. I've only used a 6lb hammer to flatten round stock --- I like the press better, lol.

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Showing me the surface grinder, wow this was a major help:

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What I was most excited about, the grinding lessons:

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Glued the liners and setting the holes for the corby bolts:

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Learning how to shape the scales on a disc grinder:

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Finished product (with a flat grind instead of hollow, last minute change):

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Then finally one of our down time after dinner, notice Dr Darom's book :)


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It looks like Tommy did all the work, but he actually did let me help significantly. Thankfully he was there to fix most of my screw ups... This was a real treat for me. It was half knifemaking lessons, and half field trip (watching the pro do his thing.) I've got a much better understanding of what goes into making a simple blade like this, not to mention a highly complicated piece like Tommy is capable of.

Seriously, Tommy, you really helped me. Thank you, it was a day to remember. :thumbup:
 
Eli,

It looks like you had a great time and ended up with a very nice knife.

Jim
 
It looks like a good day for sure. Beautiful knife at the end. The shop is immaculate!
Did you flat grind or hollow grind the blade? The drawing says hollow ground. Just wondering.
 
Thanks guys, it was amazing fun.

Bruce, we ended up going with a flat grind in the last moment. I was glad we did, because I got to learn smething about using the disk sander for finishing up... And it really was an immaculate shop.
 
What a great way to spend a Saturday! Great work on that knife, too!
 
I love photo spreads like this... great job on the knife, too! Looks like a great combination of materials. I think I prefer the flat grind, as it seems to fit the overall 'feel' of the knife.

Definitely looks like good times, man - congratulations!
 
Thanks fellas, I feel very fortunate to have had this time. I forgot to post a pic of the tapered tang:


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BowieBooster said:
Lucky bastid! ;) Looking forward to the Holidays -- he should be starting my Bowie around that time. :)
Click to expand...


What did you order???

I know you are a fan of his work, so you know what to expect. Bet it'll be something really sweet...
 
hey guys

eli did do alot of the work. and as we where work on the drawing he was asking about the diffrent grinds so i drew in a line so he could see the difference in grinds. i had the knife profiled and heat treated before he got there so that we counld get it done in a day. the blade is of 52100 . we had a great time it was fun to work with someone that has the same passion for knives as i do. eli you can come over any time . glad you enjoyed the day. tommy
 
Eli that is cool . I am thinking you might have the knife making bug now. its a hard one to shake the only one that is worse is the Damascus bug . stay away from Crags list and knife supply web sites if your hoping to get over this. good luck
 
Tommy,

Good to see you online bro, you really need to post more!



Dave, you a right, it's a hard bug to shake. Although honestly, seeing all Tommy's expensive equipment made me think how many bowies I could buy instead, lol. I don't know how seriously I'll take making in the near future. But if I do, I'll be showing up at one of your classes, those look like fun. In the meantime, I learned a ton about what goes into making a fine blade. A day at work with an ABS guy makes the prices seem quite reasonable ;)
 
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