Knives (handmade) 101 #10 Little WorkShop of Horrors

in #life6 years ago

Hello Steemians,

for today's post, I've decided to show you a glimpse or two of my little workshop. And, when I say little I do mean little - it's like 2.5x2 m :)

Why would I do this? Well, on the week after Ester I am moving a part of my workshop to a new part of the edifice.
The thing is, when I started this knifemaking adventure, my father was kind enough to cede a part of his summer-kitchen-hoarding-cave, which is basically a big shed in his yard that for some unknown reason has doors on both ends.

So, I build a wall and occupied the south 5sqm.

You can see me cooling down in the rain after a forging session (looking all mysterious as fuck) in front of the shed in this pic.

outisde_3.png

Anywho, next week I'll be moving everything but my grinders into the north side. That way, I'll have a nice big clean room and this smaller part will be for all the dust-producing activities.
That being said, this is probably my last chance to show how things are now...

Oh, one more thing before I start: as I was choosing the pics for this post I've noticed a certain pattern, a light motive one might say - all the pics I have of the inside are when the workshop is when I'm resting from grinding or something like that. Consequently, it's a bit messy in all of them.

So I just wanted to say, that even though I don't do it as often as I probably should, I do clean my shop from time to time.
Usually, it's when I can't find some tool or when I can't recognize anything because of all the dust.

I. The outside
Since my shop is a bit small, I do like to bring my work outside when the weather allows it.

This is how I usually start and end my day - coffee, cigs and checking my WIPs

the start.jpg

I have a portable table without the top, that my father uses or feeding birds (don't ask) that I bring in front of the door, and two old chairs. And when I can, I like to do all the "cleaner" stuff outside.

Glueing up the handle

the outside_1.jpg

The small anvil and the big vice

outside_2.jpg

II. The Inside - The Bearnessesities

I won't be showing all the small tools just the big 4 - there's actually also a drill press inside but for the life of me I can't seem to find a single pic with it.

My big hammer and my big anvil

I remade this 4kg hammer to better fit the forging needs - rounding it up and scorching the handle with a flame for better grip.
The big anvil was a great find from my friend from scrap-yard. It's a 100kg - a bit too big if I'm being honest, but anvils are like a dick, they can never be too big. There's an en face view down below.

hamer.jpg

The propane forge

I build this myself from scrap. It's a bit too short, I'll probably cut the back end so I can heat the bigger knives more comfortably.

forge.jpg

The tempering oven - it's my mum's old oven that got some parts fried off when the lightning hit a nearby el. lines.
I've built the salt bath on the inside, that way when I open the doors the temperature doesn't drop.

owen.jpg

The vices - the big one and the small one. I have a few more somewhere.

vices.jpg

The Crown Jewel - my 5x2000 grinder. It really is the most important tool in my shop. I know you can make knives without one, but I wouldn't for all the files in the world.

grinder.jpg

For some reason, I tend to blow up my VFDs a lot. And, the way I do knives, a variable speed is essential so I've spent quite a lot of money on them. And learned a lot about instaling them along the way.

.

And that's it

shop.jpg.

This is what it looks like after I'm done with work.
It is small, and either too hot or too cold but it was a perfect hideaway for the last couple of years. And even though I'm looking forward to having more space and, hopefully, a bit less dust, I will kinda miss it when all said and done.

As always, if you have any Qs or just feel like saying something, just drop a comment below and I'll get back to you in no time.

Thank you for reading and for your support...

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Thanks for the hard work and great content. Keep it up.

Your post had been curated by the @buildawhale & @upmyvote team and mentioned here:

https://steemit.com/curation/@buildawhale/buildawhale-curation-digest-04-02-18

Thanks guys - much appreciated!

your posts are always very interesting friends.
and I always support you @docsmith

Thank you - I'm glad you're enjoying them

La tana del lupo!!
un saluto, nicola

Haha ha, I don't think any wolf would be willing to spend any time in all that dust ;)

Wow !!! Great workshop @docsmith... I love workshop...
Your grinder is really well.....

Thanks man.
Yep, I love my grinder - it was a gift from me to me ;)

Good post..

You got a 2.86% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @docsmith!

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