What's going on in your shop? Show us whats going on, and talk a bit about your work!

So I need to hijack this thread for a minute. I check this thread at least once a day, as it's my favorite on the site. I'll be contributing my newbknives shortly. But at the moment I'm acquiring used tools off of craigslist, and quickly realizing I need some kind of dust collection set up. I have a shop vac, but no way of hooking them up to the various tools that I have. They all have different sized outlets. So just wondering, those of you who use shop vacs, what you use for reducers/adapters?

So that's what is going on in my humble shop at the moment:p

If this isn't the right thread to be, feel free to tell me to take a hike.
 
Finally got around to making a set of "training wheels" for the grinder. This is the grinding jig I put together. Have a few blades getting water jet profiling now, so I had a little time to play with this. Found some 3/8" & 5/8" aluminum stock (couldn't find a heavy flange angle here near me, pity) so I used 5/8" for the bottom plate & 3/8" for the fence. Milled out a slot on the table saw for the plunge stop & used some 1/4" X 1" steel stock for the blade-holder to go in the slot. It should work OK, bit of a beast with the materials I used, but it should be fine for holding the blades & keeping them in place when working on the grinder.

Need to be careful of the drilled & tapped aluminum, but I can get a couple of inserts & set them in place when the screws start to loosen in the fence. Used some epoxy to fuse the fence to the plate & some #8 screws to fasten it in place while the glue is setting up. I'm happy with what I got, since I'm basically a wood worker & not a machinist.

JigF_zpsfhwsyog1.jpg


Now I guess I need to get more serious about making a 2X72 grinder, since the 1X30 is a bit on the puny side for grinding. The nice thing about the 1X30 is that it takes longer to make mistakes with it. Still in the planning stages on the 2X72, but I have a few ideas about how to do it & have a place to buy some small steel stuff to use for parts. I have a friend who welds, so it's just a question of getting the stuff, cutting them to size & then fitting it together to make things work. Should be fun to have something which is actually up to the task for a change. In the mean time, I'm still learning & just plugging along.
 
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trying something new in the last few months... wooden models. R&D only obviously, but theyre allowing me to work on new designs in 3d and get the fit and feel right without having to make 10 prototypes. top was the original and the bottom is the first i did with a roughed out metal profile. you can see i added wood shims to the handle in the middle one to see how it felt with a bit thicker handle
 
HkHF0t9.png


big ol 260mm blade in W2 this length and thickness=difficult to keep straight!
 
Completed my third successful knife. This is .0625" 15N20 with zebra wood scales rubbed with beeswax. About 9" OAL. Finished the blade 1000 grit cork belt. About .001 BTE or a little less. Sharpened at 17° per side.

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f7c78cea85e9da5c30606e99521a1ce0.jpg


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efdb4fae1dfc4bfec2b5c357f5056206.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
rustyrazor said:



trying something new in the last few months... wooden models. R&D only obviously, but theyre allowing me to work on new designs in 3d and get the fit and feel right without having to make 10 prototypes. top was the original and the bottom is the first i did with a roughed out metal profile. you can see i added wood shims to the handle in the middle one to see how it felt with a bit thicker handle
Click to expand...

Smart!
 
Thanks Daniel. best part about this process is that i can have 5-10 handles done up to compare different characteristics in the same time it takes me to make one full up steel prototype.
 
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Here's the equipment I've acquired in the last month or so. A used scroll saw, disc sander(really nice find), and portable hardness tester. I also built a tempering oven. Also, my first attempt at making/heat treating my own blades/knives. It took me a few times to get the hardness I wanted. I guess I wasn't soaking them long enough in my Atlas forge. Used 1/8" 01 tool steel. A Japanese inspired petty knife and Kiradashi.

For the dust collection issue. I just bought a PVC reducer that was close to the sizing I needed, then just used tape to get a snug fit. Not the most elegant solution, but works just fine.











Reminds me, I need to find another site to store my images. Photobucket is the worst.
 
rustyrazor said:



trying something new in the last few months... wooden models. R&D only obviously, but theyre allowing me to work on new designs in 3d and get the fit and feel right without having to make 10 prototypes. top was the original and the bottom is the first i did with a roughed out metal profile. you can see i added wood shims to the handle in the middle one to see how it felt with a bit thicker handle
Click to expand...

We do the same thing! Makes the initial prototyping much faster and cheaper too!
 
a little video, this is the 800 grit cork belt...

[video]https://youtu.be/gJl4GnWxqls[/video]

 
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Been wanting to spend some time designing knives with the 3D software I use for work. Then print them out at the local library using their 3D printer. They charge by weight, and seems like it would be pretty cheap. I imagine it has it's pros and cons compared to prototyping with wood. But a good resource to have when I get to the point of needing to prototyping new designs. Especially with folders. At this point though I'm still learning the basics.

I wonder if many knife makers use this method for protoyping though.
 
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I'm just not seein' how this jig works. Could you clamp a blade into it and take another pic?

-Peter

noseoil said:
Finally got around to making a set of "training wheels" for the grinder. This is the grinding jig I put together. Have a few blades getting water jet profiling now, so I had a little time to play with this. Found some 3/8" & 5/8" aluminum stock (couldn't find a heavy flange angle here near me, pity) so I used 5/8" for the bottom plate & 3/8" for the fence. Milled out a slot on the table saw for the plunge stop & used some 1/4" X 1" steel stock for the blade-holder to go in the slot. It should work OK, bit of a beast with the materials I used, but it should be fine for holding the blades & keeping them in place when working on the grinder.

Need to be careful of the drilled & tapped aluminum, but I can get a couple of inserts & set them in place when the screws start to loosen in the fence. Used some epoxy to fuse the fence to the plate & some #8 screws to fasten it in place while the glue is setting up. I'm happy with what I got, since I'm basically a wood worker & not a machinist.

JigF_zpsfhwsyog1.jpg


Now I guess I need to get more serious about making a 2X72 grinder, since the 1X30 is a bit on the puny side for grinding. The nice thing about the 1X30 is that it takes longer to make mistakes with it. Still in the planning stages on the 2X72, but I have a few ideas about how to do it & have a place to buy some small steel stuff to use for parts. I have a friend who welds, so it's just a question of getting the stuff, cutting them to size & then fitting it together to make things work. Should be fun to have something which is actually up to the task for a change. In the mean time, I'm still learning & just plugging along.
Click to expand...
 
OccamsBlade said:
Here's the equipment I've acquired in the last month or so. A used scroll saw, disc sander(really nice find), and portable hardness tester. I also built a tempering oven. Also, my first attempt at making/heat treating my own blades/knives. It took me a few times to get the hardness I wanted. I guess I wasn't soaking them long enough in my Atlas forge. Used 1/8" 01 tool steel. A Japanese inspired petty knife and Kiradashi.

For the dust collection issue. I just bought a PVC reducer that was close to the sizing I needed, then just used tape to get a snug fit. Not the most elegant solution, but works just fine.



Reminds me, I need to find another site to store my images. Photobucket is the worst.
Click to expand...


I left photobucket, tried Tinypic, they reuse URLs so sometimes your linked images change to hot chicks on corvettes or whatever. Now I'm using sli.mg. It's very streamlined, I'm much happier there.



I've been finishing these three. Need to make sheaths and get them out the door.
N0oLd0.jpg
 

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timos- said:
HkHF0t9.png


big ol 260mm blade in W2 this length and thickness=difficult to keep straight!
Click to expand...


I really like that. I do a lot of over 240mm blades, and correcting warp is the most time consuming part of the process. :grumpy:
 
Cpm S35vn petty knife. Dyed and stabilized curly maple handle, with carbon fiber pins.

The handle looks blue or purple depending on which angle you hold the knife at :cool:





 
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