Stupid Mistakes

silver_pilate

silver_pilate

Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
3,974
You ever just make one of those "what tha fu......awww CRAP!!!" mistakes? :grumpy:

Case in point:

So tonight I'm working along on a knife that I'm delivering on Friday this coming week. I heat treated the knife last night and dunked it in the liquid nitrogen dewar overnight. This morning I took the knife out and started working on hand finishing and getting it ready for handles. This evening, I'm ready to glue up handles so that they can cure overnight and I can shape the handle tomorrow and make leather starting on Monday.

So I grab a decently figured set of desert ironwood scales out of the box and start going to work on the handles. I match up the flow of the grain, and it's going to look great with the flow of the knife. :cool: I trace the outline and cut out the scales and proceed with drilling for 1/4" pin and tube. My method of drilling involves one hole at a time and placing the pin/tube in the first completed hole before I drill the next to make sure everything lines up. I drill the first scale and go to town on the second book-matched scale. After drilling the pin holes using the knife as a template, I flatten the tang side of the scales and go to join them together so I can shape the front end of the scales. I can't seem to find that thong tube..."hmmmm...where did it go? :confused:....I swear I'd loose my head if....oh, there it is.....in that other knife on the table....wait a sec, what the heck is it doing....awwww CRAP! :mad:"

Yep, when drilling the holes for the second scale, I USED THE WRONG KNIFE as a template. The order I'm working on is for three similar knives and I've already ground all three blades. The one I was working on was heat treated and hand finished and had the blade taped with blue tape to protect it. For some reason, I didn't notice that I grabbed the wrong blade...not taped...not hand finished and used it for drilling holes in the second scale. And of course, the holes don't match up.

So, I ruined a fairly nice $25 set of ironwood scales (have to throw them in the scrap drawer for future smaller work) and set myself back a day in finishing this knife.

ARRGGG!!

I'm going to bed. :grumpy::grumpy:

--nathan
 
Hey Nathan, I can teach you to do that all the time!!! :D

One recommendation, (IMHO) it's better to get the scales flat prior to drilling your holes.

In theory, if you drill the scales with perfect alignment, but then flatten the scales and everything shifts... the perfectly aligned holes are not aligned anymore.

I know you weren't asking about that Nathan, just thought it was worth throwing out there :)
 
NickWheeler said:
In theory, if you drill the scales with perfect alignment, but then flatten the scales and everything shifts... the perfectly aligned holes are not aligned anymore.
Click to expand...

Yes they would be still aligned... scale material is usually not readily malleable (stretched one way or another). The only way this could happen, would be if the piece was missaligned on atleast 2 different axises each time it was drilled. kind of like trying to drill your scales with a hand drill after putting away a case of guinness... So long as the bore is kept at the same angle as it was drilled at, your bore alignment will not change during flattening. Which makes a vertical mill VERY HANDY.:thumbup::D
 
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Thanks, Nick. Appreciate the tip. Definitely make sense. The scales were flattened already, the pass I did on the grinder was with a 36 grit belt to remove any irregularities and to rough up the surface for epoxy.

--nathan
 
Nathan we all do that sorta thing. Lately i either cut or grind my finger into a router or burn the belt into my knuckle.At least your careful lol. I havent been that tired yet but did split a piece of wood that didnt line up perfect. I do thinngs a little different now. I have shark bite resistant gloves that i wear along with a flack jacket in case of flying debree, saftey glasses with goggles over top and respirator.kellyw
 
JasonSCarter said:
Yes they would be still aligned... scale material is usually not readily malleable (stretched one way or another). The only way this could happen, would be if the piece was missaligned on atleast 2 different axises each time it was drilled. kind of like trying to drill your scales with a hand drill after putting away a case of guinness... So long as the bore is kept at the same angle as it was drilled at, your bore alignment will not change during flattening. Which makes a vertical mill VERY HANDY.:thumbup::D
Click to expand...

I don't think I'm following you.

edited to say I think I understood what you thought I meant ;) I could have worded it better... Here, try this: :)

I'm not talking about the material stretching. I'm saying if the holes are drilled perfectly perpendicular to the scale, and then you alter the face of the scale, the hole will no longer be perpendicular to that face.

But then again, I know people that swear you can drill holes through a tapered tang with a scale sitting flat on the drill press table and still get Corby rivets to slide through the handle. Which you CANNOT do. :)

I'm all about tight tolerances which make for a good fit and finish.

You pour a foundation flat, and then put a square frame over it. Not the other way around. :)
 
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NickWheeler said:
But then again, I know people that swear you can drill holes through a tapered tang with a scale sitting flat on the drill press table and still get Corby rivets to slide through the handle.
Click to expand...

I once drove myself utterly bonkers trying to get everything lined up on a blade made from a knife-edge file (tapered from spine to edge). This was before I even had a press. My genius idea was "it's already beveled, this will save me a lot of time". Wrong :grumpy: I ended up getting everything so katty-wampus, you didn't even have to compare the two sides of the handle to see the pins were all screwy; just looking at one side, the ends of the pins looked like ovals, not circles.
 
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Nick i dont think that happened to nathan he drilled the holes in a completely different knife and expected them to fit .Then realized his misstake, Ide call it really tired or to many knives on the go at once.I hope to have more than one on the go soon a small assembly line ,then ill need some forieners that work cheap lol hhhhmmmmmmmm might not be a bad idea i got a guest room lol
 
I know what Nathan did, I was just offering some un-asked for advice based on his description of his process.

Based off the way I'm misunderstood around here the last few months though, I think that should come to an end. :)
 
No need for a foot in mouth Jason. I am the one that didn't articulate my thoughts very well. "Alignment" was a poor way to word it. From what I wrote, your response was right on. :)
 
A few months ago I ran a program, and when it was finished I noticed my part wasn't centered in the stock I was using. Not a problem, but it got me scratching my head wondering what happened...

...I got thinking about it and realized I never zeroed out on the work piece! I was just very very lucky and the height and location of the work piece was coincidently in about the same spot as the last thing I had run and the old work offsets just happened to work! Lucky...

The worst aw crap I've had recently was last year I had a part programmed with a 5/8" cutter, but I had a 3/4" cutter in the spindle. I didn't get so lucky that time...
 
One day I walked up to the drill press to drill the 1/16" holes for the scale pins,
turned it on and promptly drilled 4 -3/32" holes thru the scales and liners.
Ken.
 
Ummmm never try to edge quench a blade in a disposable bread pan that you had to stretch around to get long enough.......... :(
 
Last week I completely finished a sheath before sewing the belt loop to the back of the sheath.:o Boy it sure is a lot harder to sew from inside the pouch!
Matt Doyle
 
This knife must be cursed. The other DOPE!! I made on this one was I forgot to drill out the tang to balance the knife before heat treatment. Boy, that LN sure does get this steel tough. :grumpy: Thank God for carbide!

Nick...please don't stop posting unsolicited advice! It really is needed. And you're absolutely correct about having everything perpidicular. I drove myself crazy for a while with an out of level drill press table. I'm going to pay closer attention to that detail thanks to your post and make sure the scales are fully flattened and prepped for epoxy before I drill. Because if I push a bit too hard on one end of the scale after the holes are drilled, it WILL cause them to be out of level. I hadn't really thought of it before and luckly hadn't had it mess me up to this point.

Thanks for the stories everyone! Keep 'em coming.

--nathan
 
Ummmm always polish both ends of a mosaic pin to make sure there's no twist in it before you install them :( Did that last week.
 
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