What's on my Bench Today?

So, I thought I'd take some time every once in awhile to share with you guys a sort of 'snapshot' of what I've got going on in the shop. Mostly it will likely be various gyuto or other kitchen based blades. Other times there may be Japanese swords or other blades, every day carry stuff, or even edged jewelry.

Today's a pretty good mix



Top two are 260(ish)mm gyuto with what will end up similar profiles, but the top one has been heat treated, which curves the tip downward. On the right is a two finger choil 3.5" on edge clip point EDC, and on the bottom we have a 13" nagasa hira-zukiri ko-wakazashi.

If you all are interested, I'll share more of my non-kitchen based work as its completed? I think it might be fun to mix it up some .

Thanks for looking!

 

I like where this is going.

 

I'll be sure to update it often!

Right now I'm mostly getting my shop all re-situated...rebuilding benches that the weather destroyed...building a more weatherproof structure...etc. All of these knives (including your suji lol) were made in a 20x10 tarp covered sun shade (open on both ends) which houses two benches (one with a vice), a forge, three anvils, two rolling tool boxes, a heat treat oven and quench tank for the Parks 50, bench grinder on a stand, 6"x42" belt/disc sander (which doesn't work half the time...love Harbor Freight!), and an unbelievably reliable 7yr old 3"x21" hand held belt sander (again, Harbor Freight...go figure) clamped in the previously mentioned vice for all of my grinding needs.

Needless to say it's a bit cramped.

I'm working on getting it all sorted though...hopefully by late next week I'll have some more pictures to post up here .

 

Love to see the WIP threads!

 

Today what's on my bench is...well, a bench lol.











And what I replaced, lol...



The bench is now 3' longer (and 100lbs heavier!), and has a second row of shelves where I can stack my steel. You also can't see it in this picture, but the center was bowed down 4" in the back from the rain getting to it, lol. I'll probably be putting my new grinder on the left side of the bench, where the oven is, and attempting to set it up in such a way that it can fold into a horizontal unit. I'm also putting a solid roof on my 'shop' to keep the rain from destroying my benches again!

Good stuff!

 

I almost thought that last picture was an 'after' picture, and got scared really quickly.

Good looking new bench though!

 

Noooo not after, lol.

Thanks man .

 

On my bench today is a new (to me) 1950's Shopmaster BS200 12" bandsaw. I've been wanting one for awhile, and when I saw this guy on Craigslist for $50, I just couldn't pass it up. The positives are that it's in excellent working condition in general. Negatives are no on off switch (gotta plug it in to turn it on)...it needs new blade guides, and the blade itself looks wore out (it also smokes cutting through claro walnut with a very slow feed rate). Soooo, since this is my first bandsaw and I don't know squat about them...maybe one of you guys could fill me in on a good replacement blade? The only blade specific I have is that it's 78" long. For now, I'll be cutting mostly stabilized and unstabilized hardwoods. The most dense probably being ironwood or red mallee burl.

Anyhow, here's a couple pictures!










All in all I think I got a pretty good deal. The thing tracks like an ace, and sounds very smooth. The guy I bought it from put some weird hollow nylon blade guides in it (you can see them in the last picture), one of which has melted away. I'm considering cold working a couple of shanks on some cheap 3/8" drill bits to a convex, and inserting them as guides until I can find some kind of roller setup to retrofit. With that, a new blade, and an on/off switch...this thing will be ready to go!

 

Man , compared to my set up your looks like Kramer's shop I have to upgrade so bad

 

That looks like a very cool VW in the background as well is that yours or where you got the bandsaw from?

 

That's not good! My shop's pretty freakin primitive man, lol.

That VW project belongs to the gentleman I bought the saw from, lol.

 

I will send you some pictures to make you question the meaning of primitive lol

 

I can hardly wait! As it stands right now, I thought I was the most backwards of the bladesmiths around here lol =p.

 

Sooo...on my bench today!!


Pheer 454 2x72 belt grinder! FREAKIN FINALLY!!

Here's a short video illustrating the difference between it, and what I'd been using previously =p.


Excuse the crappy quality and short duration...it's actually two Instagram videos spliced together =p. You'll notice that on the second clip, the noise filter on the camera lowered the volume. THAT is what that thing sounds like with double density ear plugs in. Seriously bad, lol.

Also on my bench today are three gyuto, and an EDC. One of those gyuto belongs to Larry Bard, and the other two are dedicated passaround knives. The EDC may, or may not be spoken for...I'm waiting for confirmation still.



So there we go...what's on my bench today!

 

Congrats on finally getting the new grinder! Give us an update when you've done some grinding, to compare usability, speed, comfort, &c.

 

Nice grinder indeed!
I'm still using the one like you had used in the past. Noise machine.

 

Thanks!! I actually spent a couple hours out there tonight messing with an EDC I'd previously forged and heat treated. The grinder's a monster, that's for sure. Even on 40% speed I found out just how fast I can turn a blade into a toothpick, lol. I think it won't take long though for me to adjust to its special needs. As far as differences go however...it's absolutely faster, though I think the belt quality and the fact that it stays cooler overall plays a large part in that. One negative difference is I'm used to looking down on my work. That's one of those special needs that will take some adjustment. The overall grinding position is more comfortable. I profiled the above four knives in about 30 minutes. Another big bonus is having a generous slack belt readily available.

Overall I couldn't be happier with my purchase...and I don't think the learning curve will be all that steep. Tomorrow I'm going to grind the little EDC in the above picture...then begin work on the three gyuto. I hope to have them all rough ground, and heat treated, by tomorrow evening...though that might be wishful thinking, lol.

 

Nice Cris! Time to thin some knives for me :BF

 

Sure thing man, I need the practice . I already turned one knife into a toothpick tonight, lol…this thing moves metal FAST!!

 

tangs templates could be a good practice… just saying