Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't been around. I started a new position with an outfit whose owner actually has integrity. He has already raised the bar for me a dozen times since I started 2 weeks ago. It's nice to know that when you go the extra mile you will be appreciated instead of being told it took to long.
I just wanted to inform you of whats been happening on my end. It's been near 4 years since Mace and I started with this venture. Since than, I've had to move the entire operation from a huge warehouse that belonged to a friend of mine to a 2 car garage(Same one my shop is in.)
Because of the lack of room I decided to rent a garage cheap. I had all the 1095 (about 15,000 lbs.) and 3,200 lbs of W-2 that I've slowly been collecting for the last 8 months.
Apparently someone took interest in it's scrap value and decided to alleviate me of all the W-2 and at least 6,000 lbs of 1095. The W-2 was in slabs from 2 1/4"down to 1" thick and I had planned on cutting it into bars so guys without power hammers could have a go at making beautiful "Don Hanson" type Hamons. At this point there is no recourse. It's probably already been shipped from China back to the USA in the shape of a toaster. Next time you buy one think of me.
A month later I was LAID OFF do to a lagging economy. I was alright with that cause the steel came in a week before and I needed the time. As it turns out UPS decided that my packaging methods weren't up to snuff and after 3 years of doing it the exact same way they decided to NAIL me for $6.50 on every bundle I've shipped for the last 3 months. We are,need I say, in negotiations as we speak.
We will be shipping in heavy wall tubing from this point on.
When the steel arrived there was 14 cents a pound tacked on for scrap charges. 10,000 x .14 = $1,400.THAT SUCKED.
I've had to shut down the PayPal account because some kid from Hong Kong decided to hack in and permanently borrow $461.00 for Online game time. Fortunately I caught the little bastard in time and stopped the transaction. Now I'm trying to remember all my new passwords.
My reward in all this is seeing the pieces that are being made by all of you. Trust me, it ain't about the money. Last week at Ashokan on Saturday night when we had the forges going I looked around and realized that, with one exception, every piece of steel being worked came out of my garage. It felt good.
My apologies for any screwed up or delayed orders. I'm a 1 man shop. I will, in the future, try to be more efficient and more aware of your needs.
At this point I would ask a favor of all of you. My E-Mail address is
njsteelbaron@gmail.com. I would so appreciate, if you would spend a little time and send me pictures of the knives you've made. I'd love to see what all of you have been doing and that the effort is worth continuing.
Thank you so much,
Aldo
PS- Steve, glad to hear you nailed the heat treat. Hope the rest of you end up with the same results.
