edcforums.com

I just have to say a few words about the gadget and gear forum edcforums.com. The guy who started and owns the board, Jon S. Burlison, is just a total class act. He is a very bright and generous person who I have spoken to a few times on the phone and exchanged quite a few emails and messages. Jon is full of cool ideas and really has his head on straight as far as I can see. Recently I tried to send him some funds in support of the forums and he called me to tell me that he was returning the funds, that he felt I had already done alot to support...

Read More

Damascus #2

Here was piece #2 from the batch below. Man, I love that Odin's E...

Read More

The Elements of Design

There is a rule of thumb in the knife and tool world that when you are about to make something that might be close to someone else's design that you contact the other maker out of courtesy and ask if the design or even elements of the design are too close to theirs. I have done this with other makers and people have come to me and shown the same courtesy. It is the polite and respectful way to go about it.Usually the concern is nothing to get excited about and the prospective maker was being a little too sensitive and overreacting to a specific...

Read More

Damasteel Mini

Hey, remember the Odin's Eye Damasteel pieces I had shown below? Here's how the first piece came out, the Mi...

Read More

A Peek in the Oven

A peek in the oven. Temp was at about 1700F. on it's way to 195...

Read More

After Heat Treat

Here are some pieces after heat treat. You can see the thin scale and discoloration. After bead blasting these will become a uniform gray in appearan...

Read More

What's for Dinner?

Or I should say, what's in the oven? :)It's finally not as hot and humid today so I'm running the heat treat oven. Managed to scramble the last couple of days and got a lot of stuff done. In this load are a couple of Son of PryThings, some Mini Prybaby® XLs, some Prybaby® with spanner XLs, some Imps, a few Micro Bug Out Bars and a few regular Bug Out Bars, some tanto Goblins, the damascus goodies that I wrote about and photographed below and last but not least some wharncliffe Boogers. Not a particularly big load for the kiln but enough to keep...

Read More

Back Up and Running

Got the controller all squared away and running. Three cheers for Rob Frink, he's just great! :) Now my grinder is making a little noise on start up that I think might be one of the bearings. Won't be too bad of a fix if it turns out to be a problem but I am headed to the hardware store for a refill on my grease gun tomorrow and hopefully a little lubrication is all it needs.Working on another load of stuff for heat treat. Boogers of all kinds, more Mini XLs and hopefully some Imps. It's rather hot and humid in the shop right now and progress...

Read More

You've Got to Be Kidding Me

Those were the words that came out of my mouth followed by some choice expletives yesterday as I flipped the switch on my grinder. I have a variable speed controller for the 2 horse Leeson motor and for some reason it up and died on me just as I was about to sharpen a knife. I flipped the switch and nothing happened. No lights on the unit to indicate that it was getting power. I checked the circuit breaker, got out the multimeter and checked the outlet and it had power. So apparently it just stopped working. May have been due to a power surge or...

Read More

Been Quiet Around Here

Hello everyone, sorry for the long absence. I've been up to my eyeballs with alligators as the saying goes. Just spent the weekend cranking out some basic stock. Mini Prybabies®, Spanners, Keytons and such. Have to cover the basics first before getting back to new knives. My plan is get my basics replenished so I can get things turned back on on the site.I'm hoping to start some new pointy stabby things later this week. Might take off for a mid week overnight getaway with my wife up to Burlington on Tuesday but not sure yet. We'll see how we feel...

Read More

Start at the Bottom

See the sequence of making these pieces by scrolling down the page. Then work your way back ...

Read More

What's Next?

I will continue this series in the next day or two and show how these pieces evolve. They have already come a long way but there is still tons to do on them. I have left them with a 180 grit finish which will have to be much finer. I still have to debur the edges, grind the main bevels on the Drop Point Booger and the Nano Card. The V notch has to be milled on the mini Prybaby®. I have to stamp my name and then do a final once over before they can go into heat treat. The steel is Odin's Eye Damasteel. After heat treat there will be a further cleanup...

Read More

Cleanup on the Flats

...

Read More

Bevels!

...

Read More

Now for the Drilling

...

Read More

Ahh yes,

How about a micro kiridashi kind of thing? Back to the grinder to change the shape a bit. Then I proceed to drill my marks with a #2 combination drill/countersink to get the holes start...

Read More

Still Debating...

..what exactly to do with the piece marked with a ?. I'll figure out something. In the meantime I measure out and mark the hole locations with a nice automatic Starrett centerpun...

Read More

Next Steps

So we've got the rough pieces cut out. Next is profile time with a worn 80 grit be...

Read More

How About a Set?

This is how it starts.........

Read More

That Frightened Look

It never fails to amuse me.I'll be lying in bed reading a book and unwinding after a long day, sipping a beer or a cup of tea when suddenly a new idea pops into my head. It might be something that I have been thinking about for weeks or even months or it may be something entirely new. Whatever it is, I usually mull it over for awhile before turning to my wife and asking, "You know what would be really cool?"That's when it appears, that frightened look. Because she knows I'm about to come out with something that will at first sound utterly ridiculous,...

Read More