Another Son of a PryThing!

Another Son of A PryThing rescued from the Old Shed in the Area51 complex. This one definitely shows signs of Alien intervention.... :P

High Voltage Imp

Five Turn Twist

Five Turn Twist Damasteel has a very natural looking wood grain kind of pattern that I find most appealing. Especially when it's on a teeny tiny Son of PryThing with rubber cordwrap. This is my personal carry piece lately. :)

Whistle Closeups

Had a couple more Whistle shots so I thought I'd post them.

Closeups!

Here's a couple of closeup shots of an Odin's Eye Damasteel Nano card. I really liked the second one in particular.

Nose to the Grinding Belt

It's that time of year. Leaves, lime and one last mowing to take care of the lawn and button it up for the winter. We've been having some very mild weather this fall and so the grass keep growing. The oaks have finally given up most of their leaves except for a few stragglers and there were a few big piles to haul away. The good weather is nice for working in the shop as my heat is not the best and I'm dreading the days when it will start to get really cold. It isn't uncommon to see temps in the lower 50's down in the shop on the coldest days, brrrrr!

So, aside from making piles of Prybabies, Whistles and Keytons to get a jump on the holiday orders this past week, the knife production has been suffering. Will be getting back to sheath making and the stuff that cuts real soon. I promise. :)

Also, Some Random

Apparently Mike Norris doesn't make much stainless random pattern dasmascus so when I heard about a few pieces that were available I snapped one up. Might have to try and get more.

Mike Norris Sunstorm

I picked up a piece with this pattern recently. Beautiful stuff! :)

Dam Whistle

Here were a couple of shots of a recent damascus whistle. This one is happy in its new home in CA but there may be more coming in the next few weeks.

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

Scooter

My new little shop buddy. Well, actually he's not allowed in the shop but he's good for after hours diversions. :)

The TT Returns

I finally got around to finishing a couple of these that have been sitting around for way too long. I'm really digging the rubber cord even though the 3/16" diameter stuff was a major pain on the bigger piece. The finished effect is really nice though, offering an incredibly comfortable and secure grip.

Tray 'o Boogers!

Knives!

I finally got off my lazy butt and ground a few knives recently. This is just a small sampling of what I just added to my site. Micro Bug Out Blades in several flavors...

Damascus Imp

Made from thick Mike Norris Gator damascus with rubber cordwrap. A unique piece! :)

Coupla Scouts

Visit with the Engineers

I had the great pleasure of a visit to my shop yesterday by the two top engineers from Norton Abrasives engineered belts division. My cousin happens to be one of them and he has graciously sent me various belts several times over the years for testing. For those that don't know, Norton and 3M are the two major manufacturers for the belts that knifemakers use on their grinders. Although 3M is the big player in the industry, Norton offers some outstanding products as well that often equal and in some cases exceed the high quality of the 3M belts.

Anyway, Norton would like to stay competitive and they are working on ideas for improvements and on ways to better reach the knifemaking market. So they asked if they could come out for a field trip and see how their products are being used by knifemakers. We had a great chat and I demonstrated most of my techniques and operating procedures. They were extremely helpful and gave me all kinds of info on the best uses and proper belt speeds for best results. I learned alot and hopefully I gave them a few ideas and insights into my needs.

We also discussed the needs of other makers who are doing different things than I am and what their requirements are and how they differ. I am optimistic that the mirror polish guys will also benefit from the meeting yesterday.

A good time was had by all and I'm looking forward to their next generation of high tech products.

Treading H2O

That's what I feel like I've been doing lately. Waiting for the energy wave of work to come back up. Hopefully I'll be able to take a deep breath and dive back down for some more pearls very soon....

Got a few new ideas that I'm slowly working out. Some of these things take forever and some can happen pretty quickly. It just depends and usually you can't predict how it will go. A lot of it has to do with how busy it is and how much energy I have.

All I can say is stay tuned, more goodies to come. :)

Rough Weekend

Sheesh, talk about your lousy weekends...I was taking it easy this weekend trying to give my aching wrists a rest. On Saturday, after my usual morning visit to the post office, I decided to run down the street to my favorite little drive-in diner for a cup of coffee. It was raining lightly and pretty gloomy outside. I chatted with the owners who are good friends of mine, got my coffee and headed out the back door intending to say goodbye to another friend who works there. I stepped onto the thankfully short back staircase and the next thing I knew I was picking myself up off the bottom step. I must have slipped on the soaking wet aluminum threshold in the doorway. Anyway, I landed hard on my left hip and elbow and spilled my coffee everywhere. Felt like a damned fool. So I went home and took it easy for the rest of the weekend. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the Patriots lost to the Broncos last night. Arrrrggghhh, will the injustices never cease?

Odin's Eye Booger

More of the fabulous Odin's Eye Damasteel. I did a good long acid etch on it and it really brought out the contrast. This piece is on it's way to a new home in Oregon. :)