Thanks for all the views and input guys! I've learned so much in the year that I've been a BF member as well as other forums and websites. I feel like I'm finally not a "noob" anymore. I've still only taken just a few steps in a lifelong journey, but I feel like I'm finally in a position where I can reach back behind me and lend a hand to someone taking their
first step. 90% of my knife knowledge I learned from threads just like this, I can't even tell you how many dozens of hours I've spent over the past couple years reading and re-reading every single WIP, tutorial, and tool/technique discussion thread I could possibly get my hands on.
I just know that somebody is going search for something about making/fixing/restoring a pocket knife, and will find this thread. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe three or five or ten years from now, but if nothing else I hope they pick up a new trick or stumble across an idea that they can file away in their mental toolbox. Believe me when I say this, I
LIVE for those "ah ha!" moments.
At work I hear all the time how kids learn from each other far better than they do from any adult, and all of us here are students in our own right. The big name guys with books and professional videos are great, and a great example of how things
should be done, but they are still only half of the story. What really helps me get out there and make things is seeing how they
could be done by a guy like me with just few harbor freight tools and whatever other junk I've got laying around. The greater pool of techniques and ideas we can draw from, the better the experiences we'll all have and the better our knives will be!
Alright, now that all that sappy stuff is out of the way, I'd like to report on my new knife's first day on the job! I had a long day of fighting with my truck, and although most of my time was spent using a breaker bar and impact gun, the knife still came out to open packages! Including the package that my desert came in! It will also slice a tomato so thin that you can read the tang stamp through it.... a cherry tomato, but considering the scale we're working with here I think that's just fine! It was a soft, squishy home grown tomato too, not the firm, easy slicing store bought tomatoes. It won't do the one-handed tomato cut, but that's just a stunt anyway.
I usually prefer my deserts from scratch, since the harder I have to work for them the more I enjoy them (and the less often I eat them) but it never hurts to have a bit of pre-made cookie dough on hand! I always make the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag anyway, so they taste exactly the same.
