Stopping in to introduce myself.

BTW, a little warning upon slipjoint sir, never ever ever click that Blues' Knife Albums link on Blues signature!!! it's just made me sad. Honestly.


Falah
 
theblindog said:
BTW, a little warning upon slipjoint sir, never ever ever click that Blues' Knife Albums link on Blues signature!!! it's just made me sad. Honestly.


Falah
Click to expand...

Haha...too late:eek:

I love looking at custom maker's work. It gives me a target to strive for even though I know I'll fall short. Now I know where to find an excellent assortment of slip joint photos in one location.
 
Fantastic!!! I am always in the market for custom made "traditional" folders. Look forward
to seeing the next knife.
 
theblindog said:
BTW, a little warning upon slipjoint sir, never ever ever click that Blues' Knife Albums link on Blues signature!!! it's just made me sad. Honestly.

Falah
Click to expand...

JC in SC said:
Haha...too late:eek:

I love looking at custom maker's work. It gives me a target to strive for even though I know I'll fall short. Now I know where to find an excellent assortment of slip joint photos in one location.
Click to expand...

Wow, Falah, that makes me sad to hear. :confused: (And here I thought sharing them with my friends was a good thing.)

I know you're having a little fun and being a bit facetious but it's all relative and you should see some of the knives and collections of our members and friends whose albums aren't as readily accessible! :eek: Then you'd really see something worth coveting.

Truth be told, I try to enjoy looking at everyone's knives and collections and feel happy for those who have the opportunity to own some great examples. I never allow "envy" to enter the picture. In the end they're only objects.

JC, thanks. If there's a particular knife that you'd like to see a better image of (if I have one), just shoot me a PM or email and I'll see what I can do.
 
puukkoman said:
So.... when do we get to see some of what you've been working on??? :cool:
Click to expand...

Probably when I have something that I'm not embarassed to post. My first one has been a great learning experience, but I haven't completely finished it. Originally, I intended to finish it no matter what, but the more work I've done to it, the more I realized just how flawed it is. It makes it really hard to put more effort into something I know I'd most likely never carry when I could get started on the next one and incorporate all my lessons learned.

Probably the most embarassing thing is that I left the edge WAY too thick prior to heat treat. Being a hobby maker (at best), I don't have a good belt grinder, so all my bevels are done by hand. This is relatively easy on pre-heat treated steel, but properly heat treated CPM154 is pretty tough to work by hand. I left the edge about 0.050" prior to HT when I should have probably done around 0.020". I've spent probably 6 hours with a coarse diamond hone on my Lansky trying to put an edge on it. Even at a relatively steep angle, it still doesn't have an edge and the bevel is getting HUGE.

Secondly, I went a little overboard on the pull. Without the nail nick, it was almost impossible to open. With the nail nick, it is not a nail breaker, but more a nail chipper:o

Those are the two primary reasons I'm leaning towards not finishing it (because it wouldn't be very functional). There are also other construction type issues that have negatively affected the fit and finish.

tleav61 said:
Fantastic!!! I am always in the market for custom made "traditional" folders. Look forward
to seeing the next knife.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the theme here, which is exciting. I just need to figure out how to differentiate myself from all of the incredible makers already established here. Obviously it won't be from superior fit and finish as there are some truly spectacular makers here.

Blues said:
JC, thanks. If there's a particular knife that you'd like to see a better image of (if I have one), just shoot me a PM or email and I'll see what I can do.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much Blues. You have an incredible collection and have done a fantastic job of capturing it for the enjoyment of the rest of us. There are quite a few patterns in there that I'm really liking, so expect a PM from me in the near future:D
 
Last edited:
JC, I wouldn't throw any more time into a knife I knew was too flawed to ever be one I would use. I think you've learned all you can from this one, time for another. I recommend working with linerless, bolsterless (shadow) patterns using linen micarta for the scales as you're learning. That way you can concentrate on getting the blade, spring, and tang geometry right without wasting a lot of time with mostly cosmetic details. Don't worry about strength - it's been proven several times that you can easily make a linerless, bolsterless design with micarta or G10 that even with just a pivot pin (no outside washers) properly peened, you will destroy the blade long before you damage the pivot joint.

-- Dwight
 
Thanks for the comments Dwight. Your thoughts are consistent with mine, so that is reassuring. I've been giving the linerless shadow pattern path a lot of consideration here lately, so your suggestion just might be enough to push me that direction. I'm also taking a page out of Bruce Bump's playbook and doing a pattern/template out of 410SS 0.040" thick sheet. I also ordered some precision ground CPM154. I have access to a surface grinder here at work, but, as I mentioned previously, my time is limited. A hasty surface grinding job with the last blade and spring resulted in some of the cosmetic issues on my first piece. Staring with precision ground stock should help rectify that, save me some time and simply make things easier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top