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

Corey- Very nice! Is that alligator?

Bowman- that's one heck of a start you've got going! :)

Jeremy- that should be an excellent machine! :cool:

Hengelo- This link should take you to a page where I was doing a domed pin. It was only my second domed pin on an actual knife (I did a bunch of practice ones first). I've done a couple hundred domed pins since then, and my process hasn't changed a whole lot. I don't glue the pin in anymore. My technique was 100% inspired by information that John White shared with me.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-s-Steel-*-Stuck-in-the-metal-with-you/page26


Side note- here's something that was just thrown on my plate (not directly on my bench thank goodness) because of a very windy night. :eek: :grumpy: Now I have to find out if it will be better to fix it myself or get our insurance company involved... :confused:

Nov shop roof 1.jpg Nov shop roof 2.jpg Nov shop roof 3.jpg
 
Hengelo, Nick is talking about the opposite, a punch with a concave surface. I just bought a cheap pin punch set and using a burr in the rotary tool, carve different size punch with different size round depression at the end. It helps a lot in keeping the punch on the pin while you hammer. Nick also posted a jig for holding a knife especially for this purpose. Like he said, having the knife solidly attached is a must.

*Sorry, I am a slow typer* :eek:
 
Patrice- I do have a couple punches with concave ends/faces, but I rarely use them... most of the doming I do is done with two punches that have very slightly rounded and polished ends/faces.

I found the punches with a concave tip can make it very easy to hammer a halo into the handle material around the pin... :foot:
 
Nick, I was sure that the reason I had such a hard time with not punching a halo like you said in the handle material was the talent chasm between me and you. I am glad to hear that it was because of the tool....and the chasm. ;) I did change to a very shallow dimple, enough to help it stay on the pin but not enough to mar the handle.

Sorry about the roof but I am glad that nobody was hurt.
 
Nick, Here you go man.

I have better photos of the attachment points for the concrete bench. This one was getting thrown out because someone found a few benches without reinforcement bars in them. That wouldn't be cool at all since it weighs near 3-400 pounds I think.

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Let me know if I can add anything. The bolts are wire twisted to the rebar and then retained in the poured table top. The legs are simply drilled through to cross bolt them to the top. Given that wood can get very expensive nowadays a (few) 55 pound bag of concrete for $30 bucks sounds like a reasonable alternative for a permanent bench. It can give you the weight of steel, without the cost and difficulty of transporting it.
 
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A dirty shop is a productive shop!DSCN5687.jpg

That's my Hardcore Products grinder after an morning of grinding steel and shaping handles.
here is one of the results of the morning sessionDSCN5703.jpg
1/8" 440C RC 59 11 1/2" Italian Job Chef knife with a Stabilized Turquoise green Ash wood handle and Loveless style S/S pins along with my Rhino Head.DSCN5706.jpgDSCN5708.jpg
 
The concave tools are what I was referring to when I said anvil. Different nomenclature.

I've seen a few pins in slipjoints with the halo. Maybe I'll skip the anvil and try peening. Otoh, I prefer flush pins so I'm not sure I'll try anyway.
 
Nick its ostrich knee, looks pretty cool for inlays and sheaths. Was that from the winds a couple days ago? I would fix it myself personally unless I needed a whole roof redone then I would just use the insurance.
 
Thanks Ron- that's really cool. The square nuts tell me that's pretty old... or are those just what was around at the time? I like the idea of alternative options like the concrete.

Hey Laurence, that looks like quite a slicer. What are the holes in the blade for?

Corey, yea... definitely fixing it myself. I figured I better check with insurance co though, or somehow it would come back to bite me. The limb came down a couple days ago and we all thought it was just laying on the roof. I got up there to take it off and that's when I saw it had punched right through. Of course we had another storm last night with pouring ass rain and 40mph winds :rolleyes:

But I'm counting us very fortunate because it is a relatively simple fix and like Patrice mentioned, nobody got hurt! :)


FWIW- I got the sheath done and am working on a couple concealed carry bowies and the big 52100 bowie.
 
Nick,
These are 2 12" tall at the heel so its more of a chef knife but the holes are my patent pending butterfly to facilitate pinch grip. The French culinary schools in paticular are always pushing, You hold da knife like dis! So This is my method of giving chefs a way to hold the knife safely & securely in a spine pinch grip.

It really seems to help, especially after you have been cooking and prepping food for a few hours with moist hands. I also round the spine and the heel so there is only one edge on my knives.
 
Ron that is a impressive bench, dont think I have ever scene one made of concrete. Looks like it wouldnt be too terribly bad to build :foot: ofcourse if you had the room to lay out the forms and a couple extra hands to move things around once it is laid. There is a guy around my parts who builds the big slab tables and he pores his own legs for them out of concrete and decorative rocks. They look pretty cool and I imagine hold up really well.


Not as much excitement in my garage. Just working on this forged large hunter and finally decided I needed a wood hammer. Built that guy out of a scrap chunk of bubinga and a strip of osage orange. Will see how it holds up.

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Thanx for bringing that link up again, Nick.
If I understand right the face of the punch is only slightly confex?
I'll be building me a good clamping jig like that.
 
I played hookie from work today and went nuts with my portaband and grinder :devilish:

This is one of my small work benches and where most of my work gets done. It's not much but it works for me :)

IMAG0227_zpsdb8206e6.jpg


And this is what I got out of two 48" sticks of 1095 today - five hunter/camp knives with 4" blade and 4.5" handles and eight EDC's with 3" blade and 3.75" handles.

IMAG0228_zps2d38f08e.jpg


Now I just have to send them to peters heat treat :) (after I drill some holes that is...)

I also finished up this little thing -
IMAG0221_zpsf5d8cdcc.jpg
 
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Rhino, got a pic of the rounded spine? If not, and you don't mind taking one, can you get a close up?

Strigamort,
DSCN5724.jpg Here is a shot of the rounded spine and the distal taper.

These work great for the guys that do the Texas BBQ with the large brisket and for Soup & Chili makers too!
 
GHEzell and Nick

Thank you for the compliments. I don't want to admit how much time I have invested in that blade. It's been a great learning process just to get this far. I appreciate everyone's efforts to post their works, advice, and methods. Is it possible to be a hamon addict? I just can't seem to get enough of them. I can only aspire to pull off a hamon like so many I've seen pictured on this site. Yes, I do believe at this point that it is magic....:)
 
I spent a couple of hours profiling some new blades. I had several small chunks of 1095 laying around, and I wanted to use them up before I forget what they are. The one is an oversized chopper.
 

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Well my brother always said I never played well with others.. But I will join in the fun with all you guys showing off what's going on in my humble shop. Basically I have a few orders and I have a Bowie knife I am working as shown in first picture. Its a hand forged blade of 1095 I have it almost ready for heat treat. Its my first Bowie and I am going to try and pull it off somehow. and the rest are some hand forged stuff and three in D2 that are orders. My equipment is run of the mill stuff KMG a Evenheat oven my Wilton and basic shop space.
 

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Nick and Quint,

It is a solid option in my personal opinion. I actually didn't find it to be too difficult to move. It is heavy for sure, but it is reasonably moveable.
 
I have a pretty exciting weekend lined up. First, I bought a mill for slotting guards. It's an extravagance but my carpal tunnel syndrome is slowing me down too much. I have seven knives that need guards so I just bit the bullit. My 9" 1* taper disk came in from Nathan, and I have a 1.5hp 3ph motor and vfd to control it. I now have all the supplies for my 2x72, and decided to do a proper vfd, rather than the step pullies I was going to run originally. The 2hp 3ph motor will be delivered Tuesday. I know I won't get it all done, but I will be enjoying some cool beverages and playing in the shop. I'll take some pics of how far I get at the end of the weekend.
 
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