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

I have a full plate in front of me these days. Lots of orders, many kitchen cutters, and as bunch of customs in the works.



I'm working on a Searles Bowie variant using the blade on the left in the above photo:


On the bench at the moment:








and some Cocobolo goodness:


-Peter
 
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Just finished my first ever batch of knives! This batch has taken a really long time (3 months!) as I've been having to iron out processes and such as I went along. Many tools and jigs were made, and the next batch will definitely go significantly faster! I got the engraving, sharpening and photos done this afternoon...

These are all A2 @ ~62HRC, G10 handles, graphite black Cerakote, and kydex sheaths for the lot!

fgmL50kl.jpg


7lOMfs1l.jpg


I'm especially pleased with how the sheaths and belt loops came out! It took a lot of mucking about to get the right kind of webbing, and work out how to attach it in an ambidextrous and low-profile way, but I'm very happy with the result!

sixSqmMl.jpg


S4WusTGl.jpg


I accidentally put the same serial number on two of the knives, kicked myself big-time after doing that, as there's no way it can be un-done! The engraving was done on a CNC router, using a carbide v-scoring bit running at 16K RPM. I tried having some test blades laser etched, but it looked much fuzzier at the edges than the mechanical engraving did!
 
Aaron,

Your logo looks killer. Thats about as clean as it gets. I've never even thought about using a router to do logos. Great idea!
 
KalEl said:
Aaron,

Your logo looks killer. Thats about as clean as it gets. I've never even thought about using a router to do logos. Great idea!
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Thanks mate!

I tried it initially because that was really the only way I could do it (I had a small semi-homebrewed CNC router in the shop), I was surprised when I first tried it that it worked so well! I think it's less useful on uncoated blades as the contrast isn't there... To try to fix that issue I'm going to try applying a resist to the blade, engraving through it, and then etching with Ferric Chloride and see how that goes. I will definitely report back on that front!
 
Still nothing as extravegant as most of you guys...but I reworked my electrical to reverse rotation on my disk grinder. And the 16" disk grinder is a lot more useful now.

ac6z.jpg


The plug on the left is 208 single phase on a twist lock for the lathes. The longer one is the VFD output for the mill, and grinder. I really wanted to purchase and mount a drum switch, but I need to finish rebuilding this stuff and use it.
4b9x.jpg
 
Will Morrison said:
Great work, Aaron! Clean all round, and your mark really pops. Very professional looking work.
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Thanks Will! You actually hail from where I grew up... I made my first knives under the tutelage of Neil Charity over in Ringwood... No chance you knew him is there?
 
Quint.
In fact Tru Grit will get belts made up in custom sizes if you ever go to an "odd" size belt grinder. Frank
 
IMG_2166.jpg

built myself a little jig to get good fit on guard and hold in place while I JB weld the back side.
Jim
 
aarongough, those look mighty good! Great design, fit, and finish!
 
Lights for the shop ! 5 - t8 fluorescent panels. Pretty over kill for a 10x14 shop, but I got the lights for free so they are all going in. uploadfromtaptalk1391131990476.jpg
 
aarongough said:
Just finished my first ever batch of knives! This batch has taken a really long time (3 months!) as I've been having to iron out processes and such as I went along. Many tools and jigs were made, and the next batch will definitely go significantly faster! I got the engraving, sharpening and photos done this afternoon...

These are all A2 @ ~62HRC, G10 handles, graphite black Cerakote, and kydex sheaths for the lot!

fgmL50kl.jpg


7lOMfs1l.jpg


I'm especially pleased with how the sheaths and belt loops came out! It took a lot of mucking about to get the right kind of webbing, and work out how to attach it in an ambidextrous and low-profile way, but I'm very happy with the result!

sixSqmMl.jpg


S4WusTGl.jpg


I accidentally put the same serial number on two of the knives, kicked myself big-time after doing that, as there's no way it can be un-done! The engraving was done on a CNC router, using a carbide v-scoring bit running at 16K RPM. I tried having some test blades laser etched, but it looked much fuzzier at the edges than the mechanical engraving did!
Click to expand...

Your work has improved so quickly, it's hard to believe man. Everything is so crisp and the designs are solid.
 
What I love about Aarons work is how much effort goes into testing.

I fully understand the importance of testing if you're going to be selling. It probably pays for itself if you are offering a warranty, but at this stage in the game I cannot even imagine breaking a blade.

Those do look excellent.

Boatbuilder, nice jig. I wish I had half of the ability some of you have for problem solving.
 
aarongough said:
Just finished my first ever batch of knives! This batch has taken a really long time (3 months!) as I've been having to iron out processes and such as I went along. Many tools and jigs were made, and the next batch will definitely go significantly faster! I got the engraving, sharpening and photos done this afternoon...

These are all A2 @ ~62HRC, G10 handles, graphite black Cerakote, and kydex sheaths for the lot!

fgmL50kl.jpg


7lOMfs1l.jpg


I'm especially pleased with how the sheaths and belt loops came out! It took a lot of mucking about to get the right kind of webbing, and work out how to attach it in an ambidextrous and low-profile way, but I'm very happy with the result!

sixSqmMl.jpg


S4WusTGl.jpg


I accidentally put the same serial number on two of the knives, kicked myself big-time after doing that, as there's no way it can be un-done! The engraving was done on a CNC router, using a carbide v-scoring bit running at 16K RPM. I tried having some test blades laser etched, but it looked much fuzzier at the edges than the mechanical engraving did!
Click to expand...

where did you get the black Chicago screws at. are they 1/4
 
Don Nguyen said:
Your work has improved so quickly, it's hard to believe man. Everything is so crisp and the designs are solid.
Click to expand...

Thanks Don, that means a lot to me mate.

Strigamort said:
What I love about Aarons work is how much effort goes into testing.

I fully understand the importance of testing if you're going to be selling. It probably pays for itself if you are offering a warranty, but at this stage in the game I cannot even imagine breaking a blade.

Those do look excellent.

Boatbuilder, nice jig. I wish I had half of the ability some of you have for problem solving.
Click to expand...

I'm sure a lot of makers do testing like I've done, just perhaps not so much all at once... Can't say I blame them either as it's costly and tiring work. But as you said it's worth it when you start thinking about warranty. I'm putting a lifetime warranty on everything so I really want to make sure it's not going to come back!

crank78 said:
where did you get the black Chicago screws at. are they 1/4
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The chicago screws are from KnifeKits.com, they have a pretty good range actually. The ones I'm using are called 'slotted posts', basically the female half of a chicago screw that has been machined with a screwdriver slot (usually only the male side has a screwdriver slot). I like those for the sheaths because it means my customers can put loctite on the screws and still be able to get them back off if they want... if you put loctite on a regular chicago screw I can't imagine you'd ever be able to get it apart again!
 
ahh ty so much. I wasn't aware of them I thought you had machined them or something. ill head over and check them out. just ordered from jantz again. all they have are nickel and brass.
 
crank78 said:
ahh ty so much. I wasn't aware of them I thought you had machined them or something. ill head over and check them out. just ordered from jantz again. all they have are nickel and brass.
Click to expand...

Knifekits is the best place I've found for Kydex sheath supplies... They have a really wide range of stuff!
 
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