JTW Jr.
Member
Decided since I missed Blade , that I would go and spend the weekend up in Portland with my bro Dan , he used to be my shop bud when he lived here in Vegas. Had a great time , we hit the show , saw a bit of Portland , took lots of picts around town and Dan took me over to visit Bill Tuch.
I was pleasantly surprised when Bill not only offered to open his shop and invite us in , but to also give me tips , pointers , discussions on knife making , design input and some tutorials on his shop equipment and methods.
I feel in love with his horizontal JL , as well as his dust system , mill , and his sandpaper cabinet. Who knew there was 8000 grit sandpaper ? The finest in my shop is 400 grit... but not for long ! I got about 65% of the knife that I am making for Bill done while at his place , now to taper the tang , fit the scales and etch to bring out the raindrops !
Bill was also kind enuff to surface grind some steel for me , that machine amazed me , I stood there in awe of the precision of it , and how Bill made it look so dam easy
Blade West will be a yearly trip for me , and I need to work in another trip back up there to spend more time chillin with Dan and hanging out with Bill , he mentioned something about me making a folder next time I visit.
It was great to see the Bybee's , Steven Kelley , Shane Sibert , Shane Atwood , Chad Nichols , and many other names I already forget , which is why I took pictures
Dan & Bill , thanks for making the trip one hell of a good time. Also thanks to Matt Cook for the trade while we were at Bills place.
Just walking into Bill's place it shows the cleanliness of his knives.
This is lobby before you get to his door...
Dan on break , while Bill hides the pricey precision files before turning me loose.
Bills running the surface grinder:
Dan bestowed on me a new shop mascot..." Stitches " , he is a psycho schitzo serial killer clown who comes from the darkside of planet banned.
we took him all over Portland taking picts..
Steven Kelley brought out some nice stuff:
I was pleasantly surprised when Bill not only offered to open his shop and invite us in , but to also give me tips , pointers , discussions on knife making , design input and some tutorials on his shop equipment and methods.
I feel in love with his horizontal JL , as well as his dust system , mill , and his sandpaper cabinet. Who knew there was 8000 grit sandpaper ? The finest in my shop is 400 grit... but not for long ! I got about 65% of the knife that I am making for Bill done while at his place , now to taper the tang , fit the scales and etch to bring out the raindrops !
Bill was also kind enuff to surface grind some steel for me , that machine amazed me , I stood there in awe of the precision of it , and how Bill made it look so dam easy
Blade West will be a yearly trip for me , and I need to work in another trip back up there to spend more time chillin with Dan and hanging out with Bill , he mentioned something about me making a folder next time I visit.
It was great to see the Bybee's , Steven Kelley , Shane Sibert , Shane Atwood , Chad Nichols , and many other names I already forget , which is why I took pictures
Dan & Bill , thanks for making the trip one hell of a good time. Also thanks to Matt Cook for the trade while we were at Bills place.
Just walking into Bill's place it shows the cleanliness of his knives.
This is lobby before you get to his door...
Dan on break , while Bill hides the pricey precision files before turning me loose.
Bills running the surface grinder:
Dan bestowed on me a new shop mascot..." Stitches " , he is a psycho schitzo serial killer clown who comes from the darkside of planet banned.
we took him all over Portland taking picts..
Steven Kelley brought out some nice stuff:
