A Ton of Work No One Will See

Status
Not open for further replies.
When I actually have to grind the knives it's a problem as are my elbows. My shoulder hurts to sleep on it and I have not been doing what hso said, which was great advice about icing it regularly during the day. When I did do that it calmed down so I am just living with it until I can get in to see the shoulder doc next week.

Edit - I forgot to put in here that the MRI showed some kind of tearing in the big ol' tendon. Not a complete tear but enough to make things miserable at times. It also talked about "tendinopathy" or something like that. I just hope it doesn't need surgery!
 
Last edited:
I tried. I was all pumped up after calling Tom and determined I'd turn 6 feet of bar stock CPMD2 into 6 knives ready for heat treat. I got them drawn out, bandsawed them, profiled them and ground the bevels on all 6. Then I went for the home run, getting them ground and after one lousy knife my elbows and back said "no more!". Shoot. So I sat a few minutes and went and drilled pin holes and lanyard tube holes in all of them.

I should have them finished tomorrow, then I can profile and grind a few Small Skinners and send it all to Mr. Bos for heat treat. :)
 
If I were to order one of the CPMD2 Fighter knives, how long would it be to delivery? I keep eyeballing those and thinking how nice one would be.... :D
 
Don you do beautiful work. I just bought a new kife not too long ago but next time I am in the market I am definately talking to you. I definately like the way you post your process and the pictures. I can appreciate how much hard work you put into these knives and I commend you on doing a fine job.
 
PTK, I would guess a month at this point to finish it and then the sheathmaker's time. The Kydex seems to take a couple of weeks and the leather guy 4-5 weeks. So probably 2 months.

But I'm delivering some way earlier than I predicted and there's others who ordered Super Camps in March and I still don't have them done. This is why I don't take money up front! If the shoulder doc next week says I need surgery there'll be a much bigger delay!

redraidermgr, thank you! :)
 
Are you saying, if I put an order in now, it's pay when it's ready?! NO custom maker does that anymore... you're amazing, if that's the case.

Also, if that's the case, I'm putting an order in. :D
 
PTK, to me no good maker takes money up front. If something happens to me 2 weeks from now we're all good because you haven't lost anything.

Eleven Mike, I think 3 years is about the waiting period on those. LOL

Thanks Tom, that really helped me. I read about how you glue liners to the handle stock and I've heard of that before but never done it and recently ruined a knife because of it. The liner shifted and I didn't see it until the next day - ruined and thrown across the shop!
 
26 knives going to Paul Bos today, so if you're knife isn't already done and at the sheathmaker's it's in there. :)

There's a few CPMD2 Small Skinners and a very few CPMD2 Bird & Trout in there. If anyone wants to make a "matching set" let me know. :D
 
Is the stock used for the small skinners the same thickness? I may take you up on that.... :D
 
No sir - these are made from 1/8" x 1" bar. They are thinner to cut like they're supposed to. :)

If you add a Small Skinner with Brown Micarta it'll be $125 plus whatever sheath you want. Grn/Blk Linen Micarta orders are killing me so $15 extra for that. $50 for leather or digital camo Kydex, $40 for black Kydex.

If you add a B&T with Brown Micarta $145 ea. plus sheath - $15 extra for grn/blk Linen Micarta. I only have 3 of these coming back and I have one I am currently making with a bolster and stag. That one will be $350 plus the sheath. :)
 
Nice work Don. Ever thought of tapering a few of those tangs ?

Do your sheaths in house bud and cut down that turn around time :)
 
It's taking forever on the leather stuff, for sure. My wife did it but her hands got bad so I outsource it. At least the Kydex guy here only takes 2 weeks!

I have thought of tapering the tangs on the CPMD2 fighters but haven't done it yet. I have a batch of Landsharks I did taper and had Bos HT and now I find all my tapering was not straight - there's a bend in the middle of where the handle goes and it's a royal pain to fix. I've always said tapering was easy but I fudged these up good. :eek:
 
Sniper, I have a couple of ATS-34 Landsharks heat treated and ready to go - these are not tapered. For "regular" handle materials like micarta or G10, $225 plus sheath.

Thanks JTW - I might have to try that.
 
PM sent V, I guess you finally talked me into one. Also, tell us about the zippers you have on your "Knives I have made" page. You been holding out on us?
 
JTW Jr.
I taper after HT Don... less chance of warpage.
Click to expand...



Folks,
Valkman could probably be bribed to get a knife out sooner.
You see, the boy does not have a air conditioned shop.
He had a "swamp cooler" but he got rid of it, when his wife said he was going to get Air conditioning in his shop.

The wife obviously did not say when...and dingbat got rid of the swamp cooler.
The boy never said he was smart...*wink*

Valkman gets "warped" working in a hot shop. More warped than he already is mind you ...

I can't wait to see the results of the contributions I shared with Valkman...
Valk, you did get the paint sticks, that paper, chamois leather, talcum powder , that other stuff and bees wax didn't you?

I mean everybody knows talc is a old , and I do mean old polishing tip. Right?


Steve
 
Got it Chip, and thanks. :) The "Zipper" was a one time deal where I had a narrow piece of Damascus and just made what I could of it. A guy gave me home-made micarta stuff and I used it on that. Camoe out real nice but no one would buy it, so I traded it to another maker for one of his.

sm, That's why I'm in the house right now looking at this stuff instead of working - I gotta get back out there!

Thanks midnights - I need to redo the Fighter page as I have much better pics now.
 
Thanks for posting this.

Sorry if this is a stupid question:
Would a cheap plasma cutter do as good a job skeletonizing the handles and be a lot faster, or would the heat from it cause warpage? (I really doubt the heat would cause a problem if done before tempering) A diamond wet saw is another possibility, but I dunno if I've ever heard of one being used on metal and there's probably a reason for that...
 
I don't think plasma cutters are accurate enough. If someone was swimming in money, they could wire EDM it.

Are you getting carbide bits through a traditional industrial supply catalog like MSC? Or are there stores catering to smaller purchases? At work, we order stuff through some large local tooling suppliers but I don't think they're going to open an account for a guy that needs a #45 carbide drill, a Kennemetal K21 cutoff tool, and a 3-flute 3/16" TiCN carbide ball mill. It would be nice to get carbide tooling for home projects when cobalt M42 doesn't work (ie hardened steels, titaniums).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Valkman
  • Locked
Making Some Blades Available
Replies
14
Views
806
Valkman
Valkman
Valkman
  • Locked
Finishing a Heat Treated blank
Replies
3
Views
797
Valkman
Valkman
Valkman
  • Locked
Amber Stag Landshark
Replies
12
Views
719
wheelgunslinger
W
NorthBorder
Advice from some knife makers
Replies
13
Views
666
Valkman
Valkman
J
  • Locked
Modifying a Cold Steel Laredo Bowie?
Replies
13
Views
1K
pendentive
P
Back
Top