What's happening in the David Mary Custom shop?

David Mary said:
Wish you could have left me in my blissful ignorance
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so had a bunch of other languages and bunch of warning pages...didnt it.....I know as I always read manuals......its an ocd of mine. I even sit and read vehicle manuals when I buy one.
 
So am I. I let myself run out of 1/8" brass rods, and I need those before I can drill the scales. I hear the Amazon driver on the porch now.
 
Bah, it was the wind. I have found that pin stock doesn't always match the advertised size, and I want to make sure I don't drill the scales too far of from that. I have drills in both Metric and SAE starting from 1/16" all the way up to 3/8", so whatever size they end up being, I programmed the holes in the blanks to .130", so as long as they are not ridiculously oversized then I should be able to use them.

I did get a huge pile of grinding belts delivered yesterday, though, and I will likely use most of them on these, in addition to the stash of 24 grit ceramics belts I have been hoarding just for these. Sparkling Smile is a total bear to grind. Didn't get started yesterday though because it was FedEx and errand day in town.

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I tried to standardize to 1/4" pins a few years ago, but that seems to have been an idea of quite a few makers if I read knife supply inventories right. I would rather get these from actual knife supply places, but most of the time when I check the ones I am loyal too, they are out of stock of both 1/4" brass rods, and even more often 1/4" brass tubes.

But I am going to get back into the habit of buying the big three sizes, 1/4" (ish!) 3/16" (ish) and 1/8" (ish!), and work them into my designs going forward. Pin variation and placement has an art to it as well, that people appreciate.
 
I was given advice by Lorien Lorien to try this brand and when I asked Tony of Red Label Abrasives over the phone if he had it, he said “yes, for a knife guy, I’m surprised you aren’t already using it”.

Lorien says they cut faster and last longer. Will look at experimenting with higher grit finishes on wood in 2026. No commitments yet! Just a test first.

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And as a funny quirk to how my mind works…. He told me Lawrence has them in stock (maritime knife supply) but I also associate rhinos with another Lawrence who is a knife maker and has rhino in his username. That connection hit me instantly when I read Lorien’s DM. Weird eh?
 
Also I found when I crosscut the big slab of Bocote they were a little more prone to cracking than I would like, which is why I’ve only used it on small knives so far and haven’t used the larger pieces. I’m looking to send these to K&G in the new year!

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