Thanks from a new maker, and link to work to date

T

Tinker Simpleton

Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
84
Hello:

Every Christmas, by boss buys a bunch of knives for his collection and when they get here, we always go through them and a couple of years ago I told myself I could do that and started looking for how, and that's how I discoved Bladeforums, which is the epitome of how the web should be used.

I've lurked on this site for a couple of years. Built three knives a couple years ago from 01, and this Christmas my dad bought me a motor to use for a grinder. So, I built a grinder, bought a Harbor Freight band saw and got to work on some ATS 34. The link shows where I'm at today.

I want to thank all of the people here who so graciously and willingly share their knowledge. Without this website, I would never have been able to undertake this hobby. I've asked a few questions, but have mostly gleaned info from posts that catch my interest.

So, the link shows where I'm at. The four similar knives will be gifts for my two brothers, dad and brother in law when we meet this summer in Yellowstone. They are supposed to be bird and trout knives but I wish I'd made the blade more pointed at the end. We'll see how they like them.

The other pic shows what I did with the rest of the ATS34 I bought. The top one will be a gift for the boss, who gave me all the steel I needed to build my grinder. The other three are paring knives, to be doled out to cooking friends so they can do some R & D on them. They all fit great in my hand, but I want to know what other people think of them. We'll see.

Also, the grinder and band saw cut the time down to make a blade by a couple of orders of magnitude. It's "easy" now :)

Finally, take a look at my pics and tell me what you do and don't like. Thanks again to BladeForums for being what it is. I'll continue to post updates as I progress.

Here's the link to my progress:

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss187/TinkerSimpleton/PICT0218.jpg
http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss187/TinkerSimpleton/PICT0219.jpg

John
 
Looks like you're off to a great start. There is only one pic you forgot to add........ the home made grinder!

Darren
 
Bali: thanks! Just don't look too close at all the knives that are supposed to be the same. They're all different. For example, one is shorter, because I found out the hard way I don't have the equipment at work to grind in a tapered tang. It flew off the magnet and slammed into the stop, so it had to be shorter. None of the grinds match eachother, either.

Wordsmith: I fixture the sh** out of things. I made a holder for the blades that I can adust the angle on, then on the grinder table, I clamp a block of metal for that fixture to stop against, so I can't go too far into the ricasso.

RT: I'll have to get a pic of my grinder. Didn't think about that.
 
looks good, are the first set sub-hilts?. Looks like a couple of the colby bolt holes are miss aligned, you can fix this prior to mounting the handle to get a good clean look. Very good otherwise.
 
be careful on getting the tang holes too close to the edges , if for any reason with the finish work you have grind the tang down ( you know , those little OOPS. ) you will end up grinding into a hole . Did you counter sink the tang holes ? Makes for a better epoxy grip around the pins .
 
Patrick: The first set will have micarta scales only, with a thong tube and 3/32" pins. The misaligned holes were drilled and tapped to fit the fixture I made for tapering the tangs.

ONeill: I know the holes are close. Possibly too close. I drilled them quickly a few nights ago without marking centers. Lesson learned. Let's hope there are no OOPs (yeah right).
 
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