Some Things I've Learned Making Knives
 

Ok, I may not learn fast but some things I've learned well.

No. 1, Smoke from finger tips while grinding blades is an indication something is getting warm.

No. 2, When pulling blades from the liquid nitrogen (-300 something degrees F)
the wet stuff on the blades surface is not water and the finger prints left there are going to hurt later.

No. 3, Trying to straighten a blade at the wrong time during the heat treat cycle may cause a bright "tink" sound. This is never good.

No. 4, Sharp edges cut many more things well than dull edges.

No. 5, Stay good friends with the local medical community.

No. 6, Grinding belts, on the belt grinder, designed to aggressively cut very hard and highly alloyed tool steels are not damaged by knuckles or finger tips.

No. 7, When out in the field with others and someone asks, "Anyone got a knife ?", pretend not to hear, walk away or point to a non existent elk on the distant ridge.
Your knucklehead buddy already has a knife on him but wants someone elses to cut something that would ruin any blade no matter what it is made from.

No. 8, The old saying, " A dull knife will cut you worse than a sharp one "
In my experience this is not true. Refer to No.s 4 and 5 here.

No. 9, Anything can be broken, period. The biggest toughest blade I ever broke? The road building blade on our D-8 Cat. Don't ask.

No. 10, Bring in enough paychecks on occasion that your wife thinks she married better than her daddy told her she did.

Sounds like some solid advice.

Thanks for sharing, my friend.

TR

Bill very good points that apply to a lot of us that do not make blades.

#2 and 3 are the only ones that do not apply to me.

I have a lot of scars on my hands as I bet you do.

Bryan

:D

Have you passed these lessons on to the apprentices, or are these lessons left for experiential learning?;)

Depends on the student.

Nice list, Bill!

Didn't see anything about plastic packaging, though...

Bill,

Birthdays are great occasions for reviewing lessons learned. Many happy returns!

Bill - Jatx's comment is the first thing thing that came to my mind after I quit laughing. Thanks for a worthwhile bright spot on an otherwise dreary Friday.

Bill, you made some stellar points there


regarding the scars on hands, Mick once told me that you know you have knifemaker's hands when you're never allowed to touch a nipple again

Well, guess I'm not going to try making knives... :D

Micks right.

Dayum, T - ya beat me to it.

Bill - you forgot ... a custom knife shop can be a great place for an unconventinal wedding.

Also, ALWAYS clamp your blade down when drilling handle holes.

It is if you have great friends there and part of the ceremony is conducted by an elder member of the Crow Indian nation who was a warrior in service to this nation.

For the ceremony the knife shop got renamed by the Crow Elder, "Our Lady of the Edged Weapon".

Affirmative!