What part of knife making do you like the least?

William Schrade said:
Getting the steel out of Aldo's shipping tubes.
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Shake it down to one end and put the tube on your metal cutting bandsaw with an old blade on it if you are nervous. DONE!

JG Custom Metal Works said:
IIRC Aldo's son is doing water jet now. Might knock out one link in the chain. FYI.
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Aldo mentioned that to me when we chatted on the phone, I might give him a try on the next batch.
 
I have no doubt: even if slotting the guards seem scary (and it is a pita sometimes, i have to admit it), there is (IMHO) something very perverse in our world, it is peening the pivot and pins on a slipjoint.... everything seems perfect, a clockwork, and then i must go hammering those little suckers, with the risk of (1) freezing the blade, (2) cracking the scales.
...also keeping clean the white handle materials is not a no-brainer ;)

P.S. About the cheap drill press issue: i solved the problem putting an hydraulic jack under the drill press table outer rim...it helped a lot preventing the table flexing under the drill pressure, and it is quickly adjustable in height.

Stefano
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
Shake it down to one end and put the tube on your metal cutting bandsaw with an old blade on it if you are nervous. DONE!
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Now that I have a metal cutting band saw I was able to do exactly that with my last order.

For me it's trying to keep steel dust out of my shop electronics. The computer/machine controller is at the other end of the shop from my grinder and it still doesn't alleviate it. Last month I turned on the computer and heard electrical arc crackling coming out of the power supply's fan. After that it's got to be interruptions while working with epoxy and plunge lines.
 
canid said:
Now that I have a metal cutting band saw I was able to do exactly that with my last order.

For me it's trying to keep steel dust out of my shop electronics. The computer/machine controller is at the other end of the shop from my grinder and it still doesn't alleviate it. Last month I turned on the computer and heard electrical arc crackling coming out of the power supply's fan. After that it's got to be interruptions while working with epoxy and plunge lines.
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I used a plastic Strip Curtain to contain dust in the rear part of the shop when I had a large retail space. Still its so hard. If you have a computer in a one or two car garage with out some siding and maybe a doorway of strip curtain its only a matter of time till you fry the Puter.

The magnetism of the electric current attracts the dust.
 
Lo/Rez said:
A couple of years ago I bought a Wicked Edge for sharpening my knives and doing it for the hunters at work. Now that I started to make knives I think it's even better. I use a digital angle cube and set the bevel angle and take it down to where I want it (usually 15DPS). If you decide to go this route keep checking/adjusting the angle as it changes as you remove steel from the blade.
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I'll have to take a peek thanks.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Have you tried a Bubble Jig for final sharpening. It takes 5 minutes with a new 120 belt. Its extremely accurate.
We made this video last year, check it out. [video=youtube_share;iFzVjH8DXYo]http://youtu.be/iFzVjH8DXYo[/video]

Fred

Sales is my least favorite part of knife making.
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I have a bubble jig so I'm definitely game to give it a try! Super slow speeds though.

Thanks!
 
JG Custom Metal Works said:
IIRC Aldo's son is doing water jet now. Might knock out one link in the chain. FYI.
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Hell no. Sorry, but I've tried working with Peter. I can't get him to respond to emails or finish anything he's started. I've spoken with Jay several times. He's got about the best hourly rate I've seen. If you wanted to prototype something before you made 500 of it, that would be the way to go. Good guy and he's got my business.
 
Bandsawing the blanks; It takes a long time hunched over the metal bandsaw cutting steel, and curves are slow to cut, my back does not like it and at times it seems forever.

Buffing; filthy and dangerous. It requires all my attention and patience. Even with dust collection and the window exhaust fan I blow the crud out of my nose and can tell the color of rouge I had been using.

Selling; everyone is looking for deals and wants a break on the price. Or alternatively, they have no money and want sharpening done for free.

Sheath making for fixed blades; sometimes I'm fine with it and stitch them in the comfort of my chair in the living room. However I'd rather make the knives.
 
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S.Alexander said:
Filing the guard slot for hidden tang knives. I don't have access to a mill, and so far I have been using bar stock. Lots of tedious work.
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I make mostly full tang knives. But I have at least a dozen hidden-tang blades that are HT'ed, finished and ready to build... but I always seem to find an excuse not to work on them for exactly that reason :o
 
My least favorite part is local code problems. When I moved into this space, I was warned about extention chords and other fire inspector issues. Concerned and totaly new at running a business, I called the fire department to ask for a list of regs. They didn't have such a thing, and still don't. Trial by error then, thanks for your time. When I had the electrical run, an inspector stopped by when the work was done. He didn't even open the panel. Literally walked through, nodded, and handed me a signed form. Then there are the constant letters from the feds. This has changed, you paid too much, you paid too little, you folded the form wrong in the envelope and must re-file. Thank goodness that for this part there are accountants to handle it. The rest of the jobs associated with knifemaking I usually enjoy. Of course, I don't make or supply sheaths at all, and I don't sand anything very often.
 
arthritis is getting bad in my hands so sanding is not much fun. Last week I had to work on my plumbing and I can honestly say I would rather hand sand with arthritis rather than do any plumbing.
 
Fiddleback said:
My least favorite part is local code problems. When I moved into this space, I was warned about extention chords and other fire inspector issues. Concerned and totaly new at running a business, I called the fire department to ask for a list of regs. They didn't have such a thing, and still don't. Trial by error then, thanks for your time. When I had the electrical run, an inspector stopped by when the work was done. He didn't even open the panel. Literally walked through, nodded, and handed me a signed form. Then there are the constant letters from the feds. This has changed, you paid too much, you paid too little, you folded the form wrong in the envelope and must re-file. Thank goodness that for this part there are accountants to handle it. The rest of the jobs associated with knifemaking I usually enjoy. Of course, I don't make or supply sheaths at all, and I don't sand anything very often.
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I has a retail spot here in S. cal Santa Monica for a few years for my sharpening, customs and production knives. I closed it last july when retail had finally gone to compete shit. Too expensive to keep so its back to my garage.

Just one word of advise. Never call any government agency and asked whats the code here or there type questions because then they will send someone around to check on you that wants to make it look like they are working for at least one day out of the month!

Let them call you or stop by on their own accord. You never know what demon you can let out of the bottle by calling them:eek:
 
Brian.Evans said:
Hell no. Sorry, but I've tried working with Peter. I can't get him to respond to emails or finish anything he's started. I've spoken with Jay several times. He's got about the best hourly rate I've seen. If you wanted to prototype something before you made 500 of it, that would be the way to go. Good guy and he's got my business.
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Brian, Yeah Jay does such great work at a great price and is a hoot to talk as well! :cool:

Has he cut a batch or two for you yet?
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
Brian, Yeah Jay does such great work at a great price and is a hoot to talk as well! :cool:

Has he cut a batch or two for you yet?
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Not yet, but I'm thinking the second batch of Dart EDCs is going to have to be water jet cut. So much faster and probably cheaper in the long run once belts and time are figured in.
 
Making brass end caps for bone handled knives. They get SUPER hot with the slightest bit of sanding/drilling (burns) and the burrs have sliced me more than once. I am now a believer in gloves for even what seems to be the most innocuous of shop tasks.
 
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