What's happening in the David Mary Custom shop?

David Mary said:
I am a weak, weak man. I couldn’t resist putting another one on the bench today since things have been flowing smoothly. It is a Barax. It’s for me. I decided to treat myself and splurge on a massive handle upgrade.

It’s over there curing.

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I love my new Barax, haven’t had enough time to beat it but balance is perfect, enjoy the fruits of your labor
 
13.5 hours, no food since Sunday night, but finally allowed to go home. It’s two minutes away. Here I was worried I’d be tempted to take tons of breaks and go home to play chess or have a nap or something… maybe tomorrow erm, later today lol

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RSL19 said:
What a set on that table. Red handle wow
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Thank you!

Crag the Brewer said:
Wow!!!! That's like 3 months for me. :)
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It used to take me that long as well. The more knives you make, the more you'll develop the muscle memory for all the various tasks, and your workflow will inevitably become more efficient as well. Doesn't hurt to stay in shape with some kind of exercise as well and if you don't mind going 20+ hours without food, then you're all set. :)
 
David Mary said:
Thank you!



It used to take me that long as well. The more knives you make, the more you'll develop the muscle memory for all the various tasks, and your workflow will inevitably become more efficient as well. Doesn't hurt to stay in shape with some kind of exercise as well and if you don't mind going 20+ hours without food, then you're all set. :)
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Ugh...I only do intermittent fasting during the week, on weekends it's off. :p

In your defense, haha.... I know time goes by fast in the shop.

I can spend many hours in the shop, I just don't get enough accomplished....

For me, I spend too much wasted time on hardware, and glue-up choreography.

I need to make a tool holder with just the bits, tools, and layout gauges. All in a handy carrier. So I don't have to keep looking for everything all the time. I need better organization, now that I got a few designs worked out. I just need to streamline the process.

I like how Fast you can work.
 
Efficiency has always been important to me, whether I was a line cook for the truck stop, a pail filler for the cleaning products company, or a laborer for my friend's roofing company. That last one was really hard for my ego though, my friend and his small three man crew were basically elite at the their jobs and I could never keep up. But I didn't know just how capable I really was at ripping a roof until I worked a single day with another crew and to my surprise found that I was the fastest ripper on the team.

And then the job I had before the Covid layoff that pushed me to knife making as my living was a factory making auto parts. It was all dexterity, finding the most efficient movements to assemble to parts, and then letting muscle memory do its job. Thanks to a martial arts and fitness background I was always one of the fastest, if the not the fastest worker for any line I was put on, with the exception of one particular line which for some reason I just could not get the hang of.

But you've seen my shop. You know it's not exactly the picture of tidiness. That being said, everything does have its place, so I never have to search for anything. But there was a time when I didn't have my workflows figured out and so I spent a lot of time doing tasks in suboptimal order of operations. Even to this day I sometimes find myself backtracking, or having to fix something that either I didn't notice at first, or that manifested in subsequent steps. It's on ongoing learning process, and I doubt very much that I will every be able to say I have it completely figured out to perfection.

But the journey is worth it, because along the way I get to meet new friends and make their lives a little bit more enjoyable. I sense that you see it similarly, which is just one of the reasons I love you.
 
David Mary said:
Efficiency has always been important to me, whether I was a line cook for the truck stop, a pail filler for the cleaning products company, or a laborer for my friend's roofing company. That last one was really hard for my ego though, my friend and his small three man crew were basically elite at the their jobs and I could never keep up. But I didn't know just how capable I really was at ripping a roof until I worked a single day with another crew and to my surprise found that I was the fastest ripper on the team.

And then the job I had before the Covid layoff that pushed me to knife making as my living was a factory making auto parts. It was all dexterity, finding the most efficient movements to assemble to parts, and then letting muscle memory do its job. Thanks to a martial arts and fitness background I was always one of the fastest, if the not the fastest worker for any line I was put on, with the exception of one particular line which for some reason I just could not get the hang of.

But you've seen my shop. You know it's not exactly the picture of tidiness. That being said, everything does have its place, so I never have to search for anything. But there was a time when I didn't have my workflows figured out and so I spent a lot of time doing tasks in suboptimal order of operations. Even to this day I sometimes find myself backtracking, or having to fix something that either I didn't notice at first, or that manifested in subsequent steps. It's on ongoing learning process, and I doubt very much that I will every be able to say I have it completely figured out to perfection.

But the journey is worth it, because along the way I get to meet new friends and make their lives a little bit more enjoyable. I sense that you see it similarly, which is just one of the reasons I love you.
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Efficiency is key, there was a time when I was doing 16 hour days 6 days a week, now we work about 7 hours a day for maybe 5. I enjoy letting my dad and brother get in the bucket so I can keep my ground work skills honed, but it's far faster when I fly or climb. Sometimes they get frustrated, I just have to remind them on occasion that I have many more years and a few thousand more removals under my belt.
 
Good afternoon friends. Today has been mostly administrative work, sales and customer service replies. But my kind and generous friend Auglaize117 Auglaize117 notified me that a package we split on was marked as delivered. So I rode over to the shop mailbox and found it.

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Firstly, it contained these G-Carta scales that he has purchased for his MagnaCut order, filet knife of course:

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And a pair of scales for another customer who a couple years ago told me he wished he could get a Hudson Bay themed handle. I finally found the material.

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And a gift from my friend that I knew he was sending, some "American Trout" G-Carta scales that he knew I wanted to try out:


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But to my surprise and delight I found a number of other scales in the box as well, additional surprise gifts from my friend. Some layered natural and OD Micarta scales:

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Some burlap Micarta scales:

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Some jade G10 with thick black liners:


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And another pair each of Micarta and resin scales that are going to remain secret for now because they are too awesome to reveal until the right moment.


Thank you Auglaize117 Auglaize117 , for your amazing generosity even despite the heavy damage to your homestead during the windstorm. You are one of the shining stars in the bladeforums community and I am lucky to have your friendship.
 
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