Taking the dive into knife making













Glue up


3,720 year old Bog Oak and 110 Copper


Burl and 110 Copper


More liner material. Red and White G10. Also Moonglow




Got a little time in on the grinder today.
Sketched out a slightly longer handle for those with bigger hands.


Three designs I'll be working on in this batch.
Mudlore, MudloreX, SPM1


Dykem on A2 and 1095 then Scribed


Sawing on the Portaband




Trying out the Blaze belt for the first time, I like it a lot. This things hogs steel noticeably more than the VSM's I was using previously. Also cut smoother than the VSM, and tracked better.


Blades rough ground.


Kephart


Some more photos of the templates. I did another new design today.
















Slightly longer handle Mudlore.


Cut out the two new blanks




Tried the Cubitron II belt for the first time. Can't say I liked it more than the Blaze. Although I found it better than the VSM belts. The CII did have a little more control over the Blaze, hogged off more steady with less pressure. Adhesion of the abrasive seems much better- but having only tried one belt from each- I can't say for sure. What I do feel however, is that the Blaze belts might give me more mileage when it comes to grinding out blanks. Also not sure if it's in my head, but the CII belts felt like they cut close to the same no matter how much more pressure I put on it. With the Blaze, I could really lean into it and hog steel. Where the CII started changing in performance a little, but in a way I could not quite figure out. Important notes for the future, with that said- favorite belt for profiling is the Blaze, followed by the Cubitron II, then VSM. From a price point- the VSM has them all beat, but adhesion to abrasive seems the worst of the three, and overall the stiffest.


Blanks rough ground.


 
Thanks! Definitely takes more time than I thought. Wish I had more time to work on them, progress is slow when you only have an hour or two before a full time job.
 
Well, I can honestly say this has been one of the worst years for me, in terms of illness. I've never gotten sick this many times in just one year. Not being able to grind and work on knives is a bit annoying, but I can still draw them.
Here are the templates plus a monster one. Think I'll name it the "King"


 
Did what I could today, as soon as I got home from work. Cleaned up the profiles on all these blanks, getting ready for ht. Of course I need to drill the holes still.








My filthy canopy backyard canopy shop.
 
Spent most of my day assembling this Frankenstein buffer. Looks hideous, but works like a charm, and I can switch between two speeds. Up to three different speeds if I shift the motor a little.






Also finished up this knife. Stitching up the sheath tomorrow.
















Closeup of the Mosaic pins and Hawiian Mango.
 
Got a new workrest for my KMG today that I was super excited about. Stitch told me about it, great timing- as I was just about to look for someone to make me one.


Some nice welds- not many people will tig weld parts in this price range these days.








The full system: DD Workrest


Height adjustable with tons of articulation






Table configured vertical. *Note* I was in a rush to snap the shot, before the rain started really coming down. If you flip the mount upwards, the table will sit in line with the platen surface.




Cleaned up the scales a little more today. Ran out of usable daylight as the rain started coming in.


Moonglow action


What happens when you screw up a handle. Chop it off!


Hmmm


Snapped a few more shots today, while the rests are still clean. I am very pleased with how many configurations the 3 different work rests can be setup.

Here is the standard rest with some tilt. About max for this particular one.




This is the extreme workrest- I was able to get just under 7* out of it. Actually think I could get even less.


The Small Wheel Workrest




Some angle to it




And tilt




The extreme angle set at 15*. Going to take some adjusting to get used to, but I am excited to get smooth on the grinds.
 
Thanks Shawn! I've been following you on instagram, your work is amazing. Hope to get to your level some day, you've definitely given me a lot of new inspiration.
 
would like to hear you feedback and experience with the new workrest, I've been looking at one myself
thanks
 
How do you purchase a DD workrest system? I've figured out that they are made by Donald Dentz but can't find a website. The only thing that comes up in searches are a couple of instagram pages. Is there a website that you know of?

Thanks.

Mike
 
logem said:
How do you purchase a DD workrest system? I've figured out that they are made by Donald Dentz but can't find a website. The only thing that comes up in searches are a couple of instagram pages. Is there a website that you know of?

Thanks.

Mike
Click to expand...

he has listings on ebay, I messaged him and that's how I got in contact with him.
if u email me, I can forward you his contact info - harbeerchahal@gmail.com

I really need to renew my paid membership....
 
hsc3_90293 said:
would like to hear you feedback and experience with the new workrest, I've been looking at one myself
thanks
Click to expand...
I've used all 3 rests a little bit, and so far I love them. We'll see how they hold up in the long run. With all the adjustments possible, I do find that it takes a little extra time to setup. But once it's dialed in, the rest doesn't move. The extreme is a little tricky, in the sense that some spots are hard to reach once you go past a certain angle. But if you don't need the extra articulation, I wouldn't get one. That money would be better spent on knife supplies.
logem said:
How do you purchase a DD workrest system? I've figured out that they are made by Donald Dentz but can't find a website. The only thing that comes up in searches are a couple of instagram pages. Is there a website that you know of?

Thanks.

Mike
Click to expand...
Don sells them on ebay. or you can contact him via instagram if hsc doesn't get back to you about the contact info. He doesn't have a website yet from what I can tell.
 
Finally got my VFD up and running. I was saving up for the correct motor. Must admit, Baldor makes a noticeably nicer motor than Leeson and Techtop. Nice to finally convert to variable speed.

My hobo mount, made with angle iron and pop rivets.


All mounted up and ready for action
 
Got a little more work in today before leaving for my full time.


Redwood and Moonglow liners


Dyed Maple Burl and copper liner




Cleaning up a little


Rough profile


 
Another shot of the knife with moonglow. Excited to finish this one.


Got this ridiculously awesome center punch today from Brent Bailey Forge.


 
Spalted Big Leaf Maple Burl dyed Teal with red paper liner
Roughed out








Smoothed out facets on slack belt to 400 grit












Also made an upgrade to my safety gear after seeing a friend's. Had been wanting a full face, but didn't like the ones I saw prior to this one.
Replaced the old respirator and safety glasses with a full face


Hand sanded another blank for the next knife order.






Did a little warm up blade, before I get started on orders. This is a blade I botched a while back, and decided to keep it as a personal knife.
A2 Steel, Drewcarta handle with black liner. Sanded to 400grit then polished.
Left side of the handle at 400 grit via scalloped slack belt- right straight to the buffer




Finished




Current batch: Did a little more profiling to get it where I want.








Vise also came in




I've been wanting a bigger tracking knob for my KMG a while now, the stock one works great. But too small for constant tracking, as I've been doing on the new surface grinding attachment.

Black G10, Red G10, and Natural Canvas Micarta glued and clamped.


After drying, I drilled a counter-bored hole and passed through a nut and bolt. It was then covered and epoxied with a layer of Orange G10 to hide the bolt. Threw the knob on my drill press and started removing material.


Went through the grits up to 2500






Polished with pink scratchless on the buffer


Setup on the KMG


Old tracking knob next to the new one


Also made an extended tension arm


Put the surface grinder to work today. Got everything rough finished at 60 grit




Before:


After:




Also got a new hammer for bladesmithing and a sweet center punch from Brent Bailey


Got these super sick handle broaches from John Perry. They will be very helpful when I start working on the hidden tang knives.
 
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