Two Cheezeburgerz and a large SNARK

[TBL]

Your also gonna need to get some handles for those files. Laugh now, but I know many people that have been injured with hand files without handles. The sharp handle point gets pushed up your hand and wrist and in some cases can be a serious injury,

I learned this the hard way lol I was using a wood file, and extreamly aggressive one at that. I had no problem using it for about 30-40min without it binding and I was working away real good until it caught and my hand slid along the top :foot: I lost a few layers of skin off my palm and it stung like the dickens. Never again!

 

[worldwood]

The vasoline used along with the masking tape will ensure you dont get glue on places you dont want it when your putting the knife together. For example, tape the blade. Then put a thin layer of vasoline on the choil area where it will meat the handles. Makes clean up 100 times easier, which in turn makes your fit and finish nicer. Also, since your gonna be a knife maker now. Its always nice to keep some vasoline in the shop to help ease the pain when someone screws you on a deal. SNARK!

LMAO!!

Great tip on the vasoline for clean up!! Thanks man!!

Im sure it will be a LONG road before i make anything i can consider good enough for selling, but by that time if it happens im sure ill have already screwed myself a good number of times LOL

Im doing this for me really, I constantly want new blades and love testing new designs and steels and that gets expensive buying in the custom market. Plus with both kids in school this year i will have a lot of empty time to fill... So im not starting this with plans to become a seller. Although it has of course crossed my mind. Being a stay at home father on a pension it would be a nice way to at least keep some steel in the shop and belts on the grinder. But im sure ill always be my biggest customer. The wife says she wants the first thing i make that cuts. So thats cool to me, she has never had much interests in my knife hobby but she is showing some interest in me making them. Im happy about that.

Weather i ever sell knives or not when my gold membership runs out ill upgrade to a knife maker subscription. Just so i can show my work and not feel like im breaking any rules.

 

[james terrio]

I've been using Gorilla Glue lately so clean-up really isn't an issue. But vaseline is also good for just coating blades to prevent rust. O1 will rust practically right before your eyes before it's hardened... you do not want to leave a couple ground blades laying around on a humid week while you work on others, and then have to regrind them all before sending out to HT because they're all stained and pitted. Don't ask me how I know this... :grumpy:

I'm not gonna get into the "politics" of the membership thing, but I will say this much... $75/year (or $45 extra if you were going to get Gold again anyway) adds up pretty dang quick if you start buying magazines, books and DVDs to learn what you can learn right here. So I think it's a pretty fair deal.

 

[worldwood]

I learned this the hard way lol I was using a wood file, and extreamly aggressive one at that. I had no problem using it for about 30-40min without it binding and I was working away real good until it caught and my hand slid along the top :foot: I lost a few layers of skin off my palm and it stung like the dickens. Never again!

Yea man that sucks!!

The nicholson file handle came in while i was out picking my daughter up from school. Makes a huge difference. Ill still try the golf ball thing though, i like the idea.

Now i need to grab some bolts to get that vise secured. Man it came with enough grease on it to last a lifetime. Need to clean a little of that off its getting all over the place LOL

 

[worldwood]

I'm not gonna get into the "politics" of the membership thing, but I will say this much... $75/year (or $45 extra if you were going to get Gold again anyway) adds up pretty dang quick if you start buying magazines, books and DVDs to learn what you can learn right here. So I think it's a pretty fair deal.

Yea i agree, its worth it to me just for all the stuff im learning already from you guys here. I could of easily wasted way more than that buying the wrong stuff without your guys help.

75 a year is nothing ill complain about to keep getting this type of help weather or not i sell anything. I keep gold membership anyways, so the extra is not that serious IMO Plus if something did turn out nice enough to sell i wouldnt have to worry about it then when i wanted to try and sell it.

 

[TMHunt]

Yea man that sucks!!

The nicholson file handle came in while i was out picking my daughter up from school. Makes a huge difference. Ill still try the golf ball thing though, i like the idea.

Now i need to grab some bolts to get that vise secured. Man it came with enough grease on it to last a lifetime. Need to clean a little of that off its getting all over the place LOL

The vasoline trick I picked up from my old man, the golf ball thing if I remember correctly I read in Wayne Goodards book the $50. knife shop, which by the way WW I'm suprised no one has mentioned to you. You definately need to go out and get that book. Its totally devoted to making good knives on a low budget. I've wore my copy out. Still pick up good info from it every time I open it. Its a must have.

 

[james terrio]

There's a huge list of great books in the ST stickies. :thumbup: Many are available as free PDFs online, too.

 

[worldwood]

Checking out some of the books right now!! Thanks guys, That sticky is awesome!!

Im like a sponge right now trying to absorb everything i can before i even start!!

The $50 knife shop is a free PDF as well SAAWHEEETT!

 

[dresnor]

Got a link to the PDF?

Jeremy

 

[Chameleonbear]

So, funny random story (since I have nothing to add to the shop talk) I'm sitting outside my sister's job picking her up since I used her car while mine was in the shop today. Apparently 3/4 of the girls that work in this building didn't check the weather today. They come outside where it is pouring buckets, and go for their cars. However there are an overwhelming number of them that are wearing white shirts, and don't have umbrellas. Also they seem to think running will let them not get as wet... Yeah.

 

[daizee]

The $50 knife shop is a free PDF as well SAAWHEEETT!

For the love of DOG, do NOT make 'goop' for quenching carbon steel blades!
SUCH TERRIBLE ADVICE. (there are other good ideas in there)

-E

 

[GSO1962]

I have been to Asia. Not china specifically but South Korea and Japan.

When i was in South Korea (~2005-2006) the cell phones seemed way more advanced and better quality than the ones from the states. They were all watching TVs on their phones long before it was affordable for the normal person to do so here, i had one of the cheapest prepaid cell phones i could find and it still had a universal TV remote built in, Internet, and everything.

When you walked through some of the larger cities it just felt like technology wise they were far ahead of us. Huge clear screens on the sides of many of buildings, bullet trains, even the elevators seemed quicker and you could barely notice they moved. None of that weird feelings and squeaky sounds you often get here. Going up the Seoul tower was quick and you couldnt believe how fast it was going and how high up you were actually until you got out on the top and everyone was quite impressed.

Its my opinion they do have quality products. I had a hand built computer there that would rival anything i had seen here and it only cost me around 400 bucks, i sold my 750 dollar computer i brought from the states immediately for 300 bucks and it was only several months old because it just wasnt anywhere near as good as the one i got there.. my surround sound was spectacular. Pretty much all the electronics just seemed better.

Maybe we as Americans dont want to spend the money to import the more quality items, but that doesnt mean all products from other countries are crap. Im a proud American and i supported my country with honor, I joined up knowing there was a good chance of deployments into really nasty areas and did so without reservation. So im not knocking the US in any way, but some people are just so gung ho thinking Americans are best at everything and do everything better than other countries when its just not always the case.

They do have the capacity to make quality products. However, quality CONTROL is another thing entirely. There's certainly good stuff out there, but the thing is, "Made in the USA" tends to mean "Built with pride and to high standards." The same tends to be true of German and Japanese products in my experience. "Made In China," on the other hand, could mean anything. You could get something great, or something terrible. I think that's the difference. It's not that all things made in China are crap. But it is a crap shoot, if you know what I mean.

Both of these posts are very true. I know of two scope manufacturers (there may be more) that produce scopes in US-run (i.e. QC) factories in China with Chinese labor. The Chinese have apparently bought most of the rare earth mines that source the minerals needed to produce optical-quality glass, so raw Chinese glass is sent to Japan for finishing and coating, then back to China for final assembly to US quality standards. One manufacturer does this for their higher end 30-mm tube scopes (the remainder of their line is the cheaper "Chinese" stuff), and the other does their budget line there (the high end line is manufactured here in the US). Both offer really good scopes for the money (typically $200-$300). Of course the only way I know this is extensive e-mail or phone conversations with distributors and manufacturers. Unless you do careful research, you could wind up with junk. Are these scopes as good as a $1,200 Leupold or $2,400 Schmidt & Bender? Certainly not, but the difference is not particularly noticeable to all but the most demanding of users. I've sold several of the high end Leupolds, and own an S&B that I got in the early '90's at the Rod & Gun Club in Germany for way less than current market price. They high end models are great scopes, but probably not worth the extra coin for most folks. You do score "cool points" though if you have spent more than $1k on glass.

 

[worldwood]

Got a link to the PDF?

Jeremy

:thumbup: There are links to that one and more here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/603203-Online-Knife-making-books-on-Google

 

[TMHunt]

So, funny random story (since I have nothing to add to the shop talk) I'm sitting outside my sister's job picking her up since I used her car while mine was in the shop today. Apparently 3/4 of the girls that work in this building didn't check the weather today. They come outside where it is pouring buckets, and go for their cars. However there are an overwhelming number of them that are wearing white shirts, and don't have umbrellas. Also they seem to think running will let them not get as wet... Yeah.

Yeah, but what you didnt tell anybody is you are sitting outside the girls club and what your doing is illegal. SICKO!

 

[TMHunt]

For the love of DOG, do NOT make 'goop' for quenching carbon steel blades!
SUCH TERRIBLE ADVICE. (there are other good ideas in there)

-E

I'll give you that one Diazee. Might not of been a home run there. When I bought the book I was was already beyond that point.

 

[worldwood]

For the love of DOG, do NOT make 'goop' for quenching carbon steel blades!
SUCH TERRIBLE ADVICE. (there are other good ideas in there)

-E

I read the best way to quench carbon steel blades is human flesh.

For real though i read this .... "2 parts Automatic Transmission Fluid, 3 parts Parrafin wax, 3 parts Lard (home rendered or store bought, your choice). Heat 'em all up, mix well, and cool. The wax tends to harden the whole pan into a solid block that should, at room temp, allow you to press your finger in about 1/4 inch without too much resistance. To use, just bring on your critical blade and edge quench directly into the solid mass. You can then immerse, interrupt, or whatever... with good results, even on lower carbon blades according to Mr. Goddard. It's his reccomendation for RR spikes, as well."

But i wont be doing any type of HT myself. Ill let PHT handle all of that LOL

Both of these posts are very true. I know of two scope manufacturers (there may be more) that produce scopes in US-run (i.e. QC) factories in China with Chinese labor. The Chinese have apparently bought most of the rare earth mines that source the minerals needed to produce optical-quality glass, so raw Chinese glass is sent to Japan for finishing and coating, then back to China for final assembly to US quality standards. One manufacturer does this for their higher end 30-mm tube scopes (the remainder of their line is the cheaper "Chinese" stuff), and the other does their budget line there (the high end line is manufactured here in the US). Both offer really good scopes for the money (typically $200-$300). Of course the only way I know this is extensive e-mail or phone conversations with distributors and manufacturers. Unless you do careful research, you could wind up with junk. Are these scopes as good as a $1,200 Leupold or $2,400 Schmidt & Bender? Certainly not, but the difference is not particularly noticeable to all but the most demanding of users. I've sold several of the high end Leupolds, and own an S&B that I got in the early '90's at the Rod & Gun Club in Germany for way less than current market price. They high end models are great scopes, but probably not worth the extra coin for most folks. You do score "cool points" though if you have spent more than $1k on glass.

Cool points??? Id rather have a grand than any amount of cool points LMAO

 

[granitestateofmind]

So, funny random story (since I have nothing to add to the shop talk) I'm sitting outside my sister's job picking her up since I used her car while mine was in the shop today. Apparently 3/4 of the girls that work in this building didn't check the weather today. They come outside where it is pouring buckets, and go for their cars. However there are an overwhelming number of them that are wearing white shirts, and don't have umbrellas. Also they seem to think running will let them not get as wet... Yeah.

Wet t-shirts you say? And there is no photographic documentation? If I were a mod, I'd ban you for life.

 

[Silverthorn]

Wet t-shirts you say? And there is no photographic documentation? If I were a mod, I'd ban you for life.

His hands were otherwise occupied GSOM

 

[worldwood]

SO of course im too impatient to wait until my grinder and steel gets here to try playing a little bit.

And I have already learned how VALUABLE a decent vise and good files are.

Several days ago i decided to try filing away at a small piece of steel without a vice or anything. Terrio sent me this piece last year i believe so i could see the difference between steel before HT. It started off about 2" long and 1.5" wide or round about there... When i got it i put the weak looking edge you see on it in the first pic.

But last week i wanted to try and shape out a small blade shape, my idea was to nail it to the log to support it and file away... I gave up after a while not getting very far at all because most the effort i was putting into it was just moving the steel around on the log.

Not my best plan ever i admit.

Today however i stuck that little piece of steel in the vise, used the hack saw to cut away some of the steel and got to filling. didnt take very long or much effort at all to get to this point here.

Is that GREAT? No. But im still going to enjoy the hell out of trying to turn steel into sharp things

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Both of these posts are very true. I know of two scope manufacturers (there may be more) that produce scopes in US-run (i.e. QC) factories in China with Chinese labor. The Chinese have apparently bought most of the rare earth mines that source the minerals needed to produce optical-quality glass, so raw Chinese glass is sent to Japan for finishing and coating, then back to China for final assembly to US quality standards. One manufacturer does this for their higher end 30-mm tube scopes (the remainder of their line is the cheaper "Chinese" stuff), and the other does their budget line there (the high end line is manufactured here in the US). Both offer really good scopes for the money (typically $200-$300). Of course the only way I know this is extensive e-mail or phone conversations with distributors and manufacturers. Unless you do careful research, you could wind up with junk. Are these scopes as good as a $1,200 Leupold or $2,400 Schmidt & Bender? Certainly not, but the difference is not particularly noticeable to all but the most demanding of users. I've sold several of the high end Leupolds, and own an S&B that I got in the early '90's at the Rod & Gun Club in Germany for way less than current market price. They high end models are great scopes, but probably not worth the extra coin for most folks. You do score "cool points" though if you have spent more than $1k on glass.

Any experience with Vortex? Thinking about a nice variable high power scope for my 308 AR build. Don't really want to shell out 1500+ on a scope though, and Vortex has some options in the 500-700 range. Had given some thought to the Leupold Mark AR, but that's set for the .223, I think, and would thus not be as fitted for the .308 round.