Snark it like you stole it!

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Another good way to get knife blanks WW is to get your own Murph. Set him in the corner of the shop with a bandsaw, a stack of steel, and a cooler of beer. 8 hours later, you'll be out of beer, the kids will be crying, your wife will be mad, your toilet will be clogged and there will be one blank cut out! :D
 
Thanks for all the answers and knowledge Todd.

So, to start I guess I need to find a good waterjet shop and find out the minimums and prices. There are a few of us pitching in for this so hopefully we can manage the prices, we are waiting until after xmas anyway so it gives us some time to save some, i just want to find out everything in advance so we can be ready. maybe we might have to bump the number of blanks up a little just to reach the minimum but if prices are reasonable it might not be that bad. It might be nice to have a few extra for gifts or contests or something.

To get the design converted into a CAD program what will I need to supply them with? a picture, cutout or something?

Thanks again, Im saving the post, its a great step by step so i dont forget.
 
TMHunt said:
Another good way to get knife blacks WW is to get your own Murph. Set him in the corner of the shop with a bandsaw, a stack of steel, and a cooler of beer. 8 hours later, you'll be out of beer, the kids will be crying, your wife will be mad, your toilet will be clogged and there will be one blank cut out! :D
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Hmmmm... that's how it goes in my shop too, except I'm by myself and have to buy my own beer. Can I come work for you? :p
 
I have cherry filled chocolate tamales and Benton's bacon in the fridge. :D
Also had some of the all time best fried taters & onions with breakfast -- but I have to put on work clothes and go to the office now, they've already called once...
:(
 
DerekH said:
Go ask in Shoptalk. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/741-Shop-Talk-BladeSmith-Questions-and-Answers

That is going to be your best bet, and the most accurate answers. Those guys do that regularly.

I personally haven't dealt much with that sort of thing, but I was quoted $40 once for a large knife blank, singularly, so it might go down for more, and even though we never touched on it I am betting that didn't include the steel. I've heard of places like Peter's heat treat doing knife blanks for around $15-20 each, but each time I heard a price it was in relation to larger orders, not singular blanks. More than one might bring the price down, or he might have the ability to squeeze one in with another batch or something and cut you a break, no idea. Steel, depending on what you get, well, I can't give even an idea without knowing which kind of steel you were shooting for. Hope that helps.
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Thanks man those prices seem reasonable to me! And I might go check the shoptalk but it looks like we have plenty of knowledge right here, and I like talking to you guys here more.

And the knife will be 10-11" OAL and the steel will be 52100

TMHunt said:
You can save yourself some time, money, and a huge headache if you know someone that can convert your design into CAD for you so you can just take that to he waterjet shop. Its very frustrating tweeking a design over emails and phone calls across 8 states. Id also suggest you make a to scale exact model out of something like plexiglass or alluminum to help. But like I said, just five knives whould not be cost efficent at all, for that many knives, it probably be more cost effective just to have a custom maker give you a deal on 5 knives. then you also dont have to worry about all the different processes and shipping costs for all the different services.
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What do you think would be a reasonable amount to make it worth it for the waterjet shop? and do i have to pay the CAD fee for each blank or just once and then pay for the cutting on each?

Would it be like, estimated of course, 40 once for CAD, then 20-40 for each blank? or 40 cad for each and 20-40 cutout each as well? Even if I did 10 blanks, at 40 rough estimate each cutout with only 1 cad fee $440 wouldnt be too bad for 10 blanks i dont think.

TMHunt said:
Another good way to get knife blanks WW is to get your own Murph. Set him in the corner of the shop with a bandsaw, a stack of steel, and a cooler of beer. 8 hours later, you'll be out of beer, the kids will be crying, your wife will be mad, your toilet will be clogged and there will be one blank cut out! :D
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Id trade a case of beer for 1 blank, and my wife gets mad anyway, and the kids cry all the time so maybe I should put up a want ad for a personal Murph LMAO
 
Damn Todd that was cold! Murph prolly got his feelings hurt on that one. LMAO!!!

I did a little Google-fu on the manganese thing and was wondering; does the tungsten improve wear resistance and the manganese makes the steel less brittle? From the 5 minutes I spent on Wikipedia that's the impression I got.

Thanks for taking the time to learn me somethin' new. :)
 
Guyon said:
P1060087_zps80385494.jpg
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I like this Yuma...... A lot.
 
rkmoore said:
Damn Todd that was cold! Murph prolly got his feelings hurt on that one. LMAO!!!

I did a little Google-fu on the manganese thing and was wondering; does the tungsten improve wear resistance and the manganese makes the steel less brittle? From the 5 minutes I spent on Wikipedia that's the impression I got.

Thanks for taking the time to learn me somethin' new. :)
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Uh...yeah, its a little more involved than that, but basically, higher maganese content equals higher tensile strenth.

And don't worry so much about Murph. His feelings would be hurt if I didn't give him sh!t. He'll be over tonight, I'll give him a smootch and say its from you! :D
 
TMHunt said:
And don't worry so much about Murph. His feelings would be hurt if I didn't give him sh!t. He'll be over tonight, I'll give him a smootch and say its from you! :D
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Tell him the Taint Squire still loves him.
 
Also, by far easier to get the steel and cut them out yourself, IMO, if you're only doing a few. I could do 5 blanks in an afternoon if I had a good pattern, using my methods. They'll not be completely exact, but plenty close enough for fine-tuning.
 
It certainly is. I really like Todd's work. I originally was interested in the Magua, and then was going to get a Yuma (and maybe I will someday) but my wife reminded me of my priorities, which is to get a few more Beckers. I might kick myself later for not pulling the trigger now wile I have the money, but how can I go wrong with a few more Beckers.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys.

WW. It is impossible for me to tell you the costs. Every situation is different of coarse. The only thing I have waterjetted is my M-18. I still hand cut my everything else. For what I was spending in saw blades and time it was more cost effective to have the M-18 done. But the more blanks you have done the better the cost. The cutting cost is per blank, the CAD transfer is a one time fee.

You have to put some thought into your peice of stock as well, the right size for the most yield. The M-18 kinda defies all the rules. For me to get a piece big enough to do MANY. There wasn't a gringder big enough to surface grind it. So the stock was .280 oppossed to .250. But if I cut the piece of metal up to grind it. The way the ptterns layed out I would of gotten 3 less blanks. So, you gotta figure which is worth more. Do I spend a couple hundred bucks surface grinding .030 off of each one. (Which I'm in the process of doing now) or have 3 less blanks. You do the math. There's a lot of up from expense with waterjetting. I don't think 5 blanks would be worth your time personally. Crimsonfalcon said it best. Pay someone like him to cut them out for you.
 
james terrio said:
Hmmmm... that's how it goes in my shop too, except I'm by myself and have to buy my own beer. Can I come work for you? :p
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Id love to have ya Terrio, were always running short on beer swiggin, smartasses around here, Murph and I could could use the help representin. :D the commute might suck for you though.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Also, by far easier to get the steel and cut them out yourself, IMO, if you're only doing a few. I could do 5 blanks in an afternoon if I had a good pattern, using my methods. They'll not be completely exact, but plenty close enough for fine-tuning.
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Sweet man, Ill be talking with you even more soon :D

TMHunt said:
Thanks for the compliments guys.

WW. It is impossible for me to tell you the costs. Every situation is different of coarse. The only thing I have waterjetted is my M-18. I still hand cut my everything else. For what I was spending in saw blades and time it was more cost effective to have the M-18 done. But the more blanks you have done the better the cost. The cutting cost is per blank, the CAD transfer is a one time fee.

You have to put some thought into your peice of stock as well, the right size for the most yield. The M-18 kinda defies all the rules. For me to get a piece big enough to do MANY. There wasn't a gringder big enough to surface grind it. So the stock was .280 oppossed to .250. But if I cut the piece of metal up to grind it. The way the ptterns layed out I would of gotten 3 less blanks. So, you gotta figure which is worth more. Do I spend a couple hundred bucks surface grinding .030 off of each one. (Which I'm in the process of doing now) or have 3 less blanks. You do the math. There's a lot of up from expense with waterjetting. I don't think 5 blanks would be worth your time personally. Crimsonfalcon said it best. Pay someone like him to cut them out for you.
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Makes sense, and im sure it would be much quicker as well. Thank you for all the answers and the information, i appreciate you taking the time to help me out.
 
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