What do your neighbors think?

How would they ever know?

-except for that cloud of coal forge smoke that enveloped their house that one time.
 
i4Marc said:
If there was a song that summed up what your neighbors think about your knifemaking what would it be?

This is what my neighbors probably think (and they would be pretty close):
Click to expand...
All I saw was the title of your thread and that Tom Waits "song" was the first thing that popped into my head.
 

My neighbours are mostly relatives who have about 50 of my knives combined, plus one of my wealthy clients’ business partner who received a trio of x-wear knives last year as a birthday gift. I didn’t know it was my neighbour until after he received the knives. Closest neighbour is 500m from my house, and the others are 1km+ away. I have very sharp neighbours.
 
Oh, I play a lot of Ramones, Misfits, Sex Pistols etc and they do not say a peep

 
Old Shop:

A storage unit. My neighbors were often people putting furniture and old clothes into storage. Knowing the management would probably frown on me building fires I tried to keep low key. But as one may suspect, there were times were I had the forge lit up, coal only then, and would be running a power hammer and someone would drive by seeing smoke and me holding red hot steel. No doubt they thought I was a lunatic. Almost three years there and never got busted haha.

IMG_0265 by Clint, on Flickr

Last year I bought a house out in the country with twice as much shop. I have a few neighbors here, but I'm on a couple of acres and they are not very close.

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I don't know how my neighbors will feel about my knife making. I just moved into our new house a couple of days ago. The gentleman acrossed the street already swore at my brother and I. Haven't figured out why yet but we are off to a good start. Already looking at power hammers for the new shop.:)
 
im the handy stay at home dad. i fix problems. grinder is the worst noise in my shop. all the other houses are 100yds away and my shop is well insulated. i used to get the the kids off the bus with kitchen knives in my hand. was walking up to the house why waste a trip. they find most of the work even the odd stuff as artistic.
 
Im in a subdivision with pretty close neighbor's we have not lived here but maybe 1.5 years and dont know them that well yet. I wonder what they think when they see me out in the back yard about dark heat treating knives in my forge or chopping through 2x4's and lined up water bottles. I also have my grinder on a cart and will be outside grinding...it used to bother me if they were out back to but now I really dont care....hey when you have time to grind you have to get it done!
 
When I started making knives we lived in a subdivision in the Burbs. My shop was in the basement so the neighbors couldn't hear anything but when they found out what my hobby was would nod their head and give an uneasy response like "Oh that's different" LOL.

Now we live 30 min north where my neighbor to the north is a state park and the closest human is 200 yards.

 
I had new neighbors move in nextdoor a few years back. They were having a backyard party for their friends, and they noticed me going from the wood shop ( which is in the back facing their yard) to the forge ( which they can't see, as it is on the side of the house). I was wearing my PAPR and grinding smock ... and probably looked like I was running a meth lab. A couple of the guys came over to ask what I was up to, and I told them to wait right there. I went and grabbed a sword blade that was almost finished and a few other knife bales, and came back. Their eyes went all glassy when they saw the sword, and before long, half their party was in my backyard and forge.

Most of my neighbors never knew what I did out back until I told/showed them. I used to worry about the anvil sound, but apparently no one ever paid it any mind - probably thanks to good insulation, air conditioning, and closed double/triple pane windows in modern houses. The new shop will be pretty soundproof.

I have a DOT sign that goes on tractor trailer trucks to let highway officials know what is being hauled. I plan on putting it on the new shop door (the one that faces the neighbors house, not the one facing the street) and changing it from radioactive, to explosive, to cyanide, etc. every day.
 
I live in a highly populated area of Apartments & Condos, when I started 20 years ago everyone was cool and I sharpened knives for a few to keep things coo! Made a few good friends too! A WWII Vet that would stop by, etc as that Gen has passed on a different kind of people have moved in and not for the better IMHO. For that and other reasons . we will be moving within the next 5 years for a more work friendly area!
 
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I live in Oak Park, Illinois right there on the map where it says "The People's Republic of Oak Park" that would be 9 miles due west of downtown Chicago. Needless to say it is a land of Land Rovers and Audis, helicopter parents, neo-liberals and proposals for $55,000,000 high school swimming pools (defeated by 28 votes thank god).

Now that that's been gotten out of the way, on to the block where I live, MY neighbors frikking love my variable speed 2 x 72 which sharpens garden tools (in moments but only for those without gardening services) into ninja weapons that actually cut through roots without employing a sledge hammer or a reciprocal saw (not many chain saws hereabouts) to say nothing of my ability to sharpen just about anything. So once they discovered that MY tools could benefit them in MANY ways (and for free too) they've come to love my hobby DEEPLY.

mack the knife.JPG

The 10 year old lad next door may be my BIGGEST fan of all. I have no idea why since none of my tools require coding skillz. Maybe it's the custom machined part attachments for his drone.....................

Corey "synthesist" Gimbel
 
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If most of my neighbors knew what I did this might be the song that came to mind:

 
I give them knifes and do all the sharping of knifes and scissors. They love me and are very happy for this service. If i work 6 am no problem. They are great people.
Jay
 
I bought the house I grew up in and the neighbors have known me since I was 5. My backyard and shop are pretty private, even being in a residential area. I'm pretty sure no one knows if I'm out in the shop or not. I do imagine they prefer the shop noise to the punk band I used to play in.
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