Where's your favorite place to ........

coyote711

coyote711

Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
1,679
........ work on, or fiddle with, your knives? What brought this to mind was that today I got a "new" used knife in the mail that I bought on the bay. When I get a used knife like this, or even a new one, I like to clean, sharpen, and lube it and just generally look it over and play with it for a while. Not much new here - I'm guessing we all do pretty much the same thing. ;)

So anyway, I grab my paraphernalia and head out to the deck. Got a nice table there, some nice woods out behind with a great view, it's sunny or shady depending on where I sit, handy access to my workbench in the garage .... yada, yada, yada. It's become a ritual to do that (at least in the spring, summer, and fall), and it just feels good to be out there fiddling with a new knife.

That got me wondering about the various places where my fellow forumites might perform this same ritual ........ a picnic table under that big old oak tree? At your workbench in the shop, garage, or basement? On the front or back porch? Sittin' in your Lazy-Boy in front of the TV? Where's your favorite place for getting acquainted with your new knives?
 
I go where the tools are....TO THE MAN CAVE!

reloadingbenchsmall-1.jpg
 
Strangely enough, I work on most of the knives standing up so the kitchen ends up being the place because the counter tops are just at the right level for when I cleaning or sharpening or whatever. Plus the kitchen has those bright, non fluorescent natural light type bulbs that help me see well while working.
 
A Dillon fan! I am curious, what is the brown press next the green towel?

Nicely organized and laid-out reloading room. :thumbup:

Ken
 
Since I'm in a rural area college I just turn on the tv, sit at my desk, and get to work. I wish I had a nice dock with a table to work on.
 
ken erickson said:
A Dillon fan! I am curious, what is the brown press next the green towel?

Nicely organized and laid-out reloading room. :thumbup:

Ken
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That is an old...very old...Hollywood, has tremendous leverage and works great for resizing large rifle brass...
 
Sharpening is mostly done on my make shift rubbermade container with a board attached to the top. Fondling and other stuff is done where ever. I can't seem to pull myself away from my son. I just have to be in the same room as him if he is awake.


HAK
 
Either sitting on the couch watching TV or sitting on the bed, because I keep my knives in my room. Proximity or laziness...your call.
 
There's a spot in the woods by the house that I go with Pearl the wonder corgi. A good size tree blew down a few years ago, and I sit on the trunk and whittle/try out the edge on whatever sticks there are from the trees. Mostly a mix of oak and maple. Some of the oak is very hard, and leaves that glassy hard surface where its cut, so it's a good test of a sharp edge. While I play with the knife, Pearl keeps watch for any dangerous squirrels that try to come down out of the trees for evil intent. she's very good at it, so I indulge her while I fiddle with the knife.

Both of us like being in the woods.
 
I usually slip out to the back deck which is shaded most of the afternoons and start with a good sharpening, Flitz polishing (if needed) of the bolsters, oiling of the joints, and then a cardboard stropping session with some green polishing compound.

Until that process is finished, it can't go in the safe with the other knives. A ritual that must be done as soon as the package is ripped open.

Matter of fact: I got two that should be in tomorrow's mail. And I got to work late, durn it. :mad:
 
Interesting topic, Coyote. In addition to routine lubing and edge maintenance, when I buy a new knife, I usually remove the old oil or grease and add a drop of fresh lube to the joint; wipedown the inside with a little choji (Japanese sword) oil, which removes stubborn grunge and makes the knife smell like cloves rather than machine oil; rub a little Renaissance wax into the scales, and if it's a brand spankin' new factory knife, I'll occasionally shine-up the nickel silver bolsters and shield with a jeweler's rouge cloth to get rid of light handling swirls and bench marks.

My favorite place to conduct knife preening maneuvers? In the "sweet spot" right in front of the music altar; i.e., the audio system. Nothing like messing with a shiny new toy while listening to some good music via black wax 'n' hot glass (IOW, vinyl and vacuum tubes). No TV; no sterile digital; no transistors; no gimmicky surround sound; just two channels of pure analog. BTW, those huge silk kimonos aren't curtains, but decorative wall hangings that hide otherwise unsightly acoustic absorbing and/or defusing materials. An audio system is only as good as the room in which it's setup.

Room0809med.jpg
 
Either on the couch in front of the TV (if I'm sharpening a knife, I set up a TV tray to put my sharpening stones on), or on my back porch, when I'm smoking a cigar, and enjoying the outdoors :D
 
I go to one of two places depending on what I feel like. I'll sit on the couch if I want to just sit and freehand. Otherwise I'll go to the basement workshop to use my belt sander. There's also plenty of scrapwood to mess around with as well.
 
Okay I'm a total weirdo so laugh it up gentalmen. I love the sound of water running. I love to go into the bathroom and turn on the shower and sit on the dge of the tub and let the hot water hit the shower curtain which in on my back. Yes I'm fully dressed. :D I get the relaxing sound of the water and play with my knife also. If its raining I'm on the porch playing around. :thumbup:
 
I do most of my knife sharpening and fiddling right here at my computer desk. It allows me to browse the forums and maybe learn a thing or two while I'm working.
 
I like to fiddle my slipjoints at the front foach of my mountain cottage. I have a little cultivated spot infront of it and then a deep walley with forest and the sound of the stream. On the other side of the walley Its a big broad mountain with the slopes so high there is no wegitation on them or the high parts. Sitting there with a cup of coffee and a slipjoint is realy restful. There are other places just as nice but I think that the fact that I myself built the house and own the place makes it so special. Its best in the summer and with no moskitos witch makes it rather difficult to hit that right moment.

Bosse
 
I live in an appartment in a city, so I start trying out new knives there, in the living room. In the weekends or when I have a day off, I take a few knives with me to the woods and heath field nearby.
 
On my desk at work. Other than a good cigar from time to time, I don't smoke, so touching up the edge of a knife, dropping a little oil on the joints, wiping down carbon blades with a Miracle Cloth etc., is kind of my "cigarette break." Preferably there's a little Muddy Waters or Little Walter or Willie Nelson or Billy Joe Shaver blaring from the speakers. :D

(I should point out, I work remotely via telecommute, so there are no co-workers around me.)
 
NirreBosse said:
I like to fiddle my slipjoints at the front foach of my mountain cottage. I have a little cultivated spot infront of it and then a deep walley with forest and the sound of the stream. On the other side of the walley Its a big broad mountain with the slopes so high there is no wegitation on them or the high parts. Sitting there with a cup of coffee and a slipjoint is realy restful. There are other places just as nice but I think that the fact that I myself built the house and own the place makes it so special. Its best in the summer and with no moskitos witch makes it rather difficult to hit that right moment.

Bosse
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WOW! I am so jealous. Sounds like my dream spot.

Me, I sit on the couch with my big wooden box of slippies sprawled out on the coffee table. TV is on, scotch is in the glass. My wife thinks I am wierd.
 
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