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

Hey Guys, I've actually got something to contribute this afternoon. :)



The details are all in the video (please make sure the youtube settings are on HD, to best see the details). If you don't want to watch the video- the jist of it is: It's a big ass forged 52100 bowie with Sycamore handle. ;)



[video=youtube;8fhHsXpljy8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fhHsXpljy8[/video]

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Beautiful work as always Nick.

Question, when polishing the guard, how did you keep from hitting the the areas that were left non mirror finish?
 
Thats pretty amazing Nick. Are those tiny facets around the gaurd face edge or just the light with the camera? Probably the cleanest looking blade Ive ever scene.
 
Nick, no matter how much progress on fit and finish I make I can always count on you to post pics like these and bring me right back down to reality...I sucked! :o;)

You know I am kidding of course. Great work and to the contrary it is just pushing us mere mortals to do better. :thumbup:

For me it's alignment pins day in the shop. Am I tho only one who hate those.:mad:

 
Eric Kidwell said:
Beautiful work as always Nick.

Question, when polishing the guard, how did you keep from hitting the the areas that were left non mirror finish?
Click to expand...

I am far, far from being Nick, but I would have(and have) polished the mirrored bits first and then satin finish the rest.
Darcy:)
 
Thanks guys- :)

Sam- My beautiful wife made it clear that I would not be getting any of the camcorders that were on my list. ;) But still... the one she got me definitely shoots video that is more clear/sharp than the little point-n-shoot camera I was using. The new one is a little Samsung--- really easy to use other than the controls being made for a right handed person (just like ALL of them are! :foot: ;) ). The still pics were done with the same 12(?) year old Sony I've been using.

Eric- Darcy hit the nail on the head. I round and polish the choil & spine before I even finish grind the blade. That just needs to be buffed as a touch up right before doing the "final pulls" on the hand sanded bevels.

For the handle, I sand everything up to at least 1200 (as high as 2500 depending on materials) this one was 1500X. Then I cover the front end of the handle with Gorilla tape (you have to cut it into narrow strips so that it will wrap around the tight curves) and buff the inside surface of the lugs. Hand sanding the sides of the guard was THE last thing I did on this knife.

Hope that helps! :) (I know you just asked about the guard, but I thought I'd try to explain both parts)


Corey- Yep, there's a tiny facet there. :) I sand it by hand, up to 1500X. It does two things- it takes the sharp edge off the guard perimeter, and it adds a little teeny bit of bling. Not as much as be-dazzling... but a little bit, none-the-less. :D

Patrice- You're too kind my friend. I have just figured out how to take pics that don't show all the scratches, divots, and gaps! :eek: :foot:

You've got me really intrigued about what you're building there! :cool: I used to hate doing alignment/locating pins too... I've found a few things that have really helped make it go smoother in my shop. What exactly is giving you headaches while doing the pins? Maybe I can help. :)
 
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Nick, I am sure your knives are full of scratches, divots, and gaps...under a microscope that is. :p;)

This is the follow up knife to one I made last year called the Inquisitor. This one will be a bit larger and named the Confessor. I didn't want to put up a full pic in case it doesn't work out. :o Got a few things planned for the handle that I am still not sure I can pull out to the level that I want.

I appreciate your offer of help with the pins. One thing that still infuriates me is breaking drill bits but that has more to do with proper setup, speed and practice I guess. I am drilling .250" thick with 1/16th drill bits after all so there is no "winging" it. :(
The other problem is everything not lining up perfectly even with taking all the precautions I can. I use CA to keep parts together and even put a couple Kant-twist clamps before putting in the vise to drill. I use 1/16th stainless steel dowels (pre-made) and 1/16th drill bits. Even then I almost always get slight misalignments, not much but going for such a tight fit it is enough to prevent them from smoothly going on.
Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated.
 
Patrice Lemée;13088712 said:
Nick, no matter how much progress on fit and finish I make I can always count on you to post pics like these and bring me right back down to reality...I sucked! :o;)

You know I am kidding of course. Great work and to the contrary it is just pushing us mere mortals to do better. :thumbup:

For me it's alignment pins day in the shop. Am I tho only one who hate those.:mad:



Click to expand...

Patrice I'm interested in what you are working on. What are the purpose of the alignment pins? I guess I understand they are used to align things, but curious when you would need to use them? Please keep us up to date on that project.

Nick That is a gorgeous. I love the polished spine.
 
Gorgeous knife, Nick. 15 year old stabilized wood surprised me. As slowly as I go through my stock I'll probably have some when the 15 year mark passes me by. :)
 
Jess, the pins are to help locate the fittings through the whole build which usually involves taking the handle apart about a million times. :( Essential when you don't have another way to index them like with a round through bolt but even when working on the higher fittings that fit on the rectangular cross-section of the tang, pins help make it more precise.
 
I don't use alignment pins very often. In the extra time it takes to fit them right(not easy to do for all the reasons Patrice mentions) I can spend that time making the fit extra close......my spacer on this knife was fit so close that when I cleaned up the shoulders of the tang to finish seating a slight gap at the guard, I had to take a couple thousandths off the inside of the spacer to get it to fit up against the guard again. I probably had only moved the shoulders forward by 6 to 10 thou. If the components fit the tang close enough, there is no room for misalignment during final assembly.

Darcy:)
 
here's the workshop on a tidy day...
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and here's one during set up, it was quite a bit less cluttered than it is now...



current project: making some punching and forming tools from a piece of 4140 and an old hammer head,
they will be used for making blanks for fuchi and kashira (ferrule and pommel fittings)...in the background
is prototype finished piece in copper that i am working to for dimension and shape...

db9749e279b111e392e30a2da99b08fd_8.jpg



and the bottom of the bin is getting close, so soon time to make another batch of charcoal...
 
Love that shop. Very cool stuff. Ive visited your website many times for inspiration and to see the designs and what not that you come up with.
 
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