My boss is an engineer and is in charge of all the engineers and skilled trades departments. Some body showed him an edge I put on their knife and he decided he want one of his sharpened that way.
So he hands me this 7" no name, stainless steel bowie with a brass guard, stacked leather handle and aluminum pommel. The guard is black with verdigris, the pommel is loose and falling off and beat to heck and the leather looks like garbage. Parts were even missing from the handle allowing !/4" of threads from the tang to hang out the end. Geez.... I was shocked an engineer would own a knife in this state of neglect. It appears the factory never put any bevels on the blade instead opting for a quickly done belt sanded edge of questionable geometry. I decided a minor restore was in order. Well, maybe it's an engineer thing to let your knife get that way but he's getting back an example of an OCD tool makers work
This is a labor of love for me. I adore getting a piece of junk from some one and surprising them with a razor sharp edge and cosmetic touch ups. Give the dude back something he can be proud of and brag to his friends about. Usually my edges are the sharpest thing they have ever handled.
I polished up the guard and pommel, resurfaced the leather and made a universal language translator (skull crusher) to cover the extra tang. Hope he likes it... In turning my attention to the edge I started with a medium India to laboriously grind some proper bevels on this beast. That took forever by the way. I proceeded with my usual knife type progression ending on a black Ark where I'm going for maximum hair pop.
Around about lap 8 or 900 on the black Ark I was questioning my sanity and OCD realizing I've probably put 50+ hours into this edge alone. I think I could have done 2 or 3 carbon steel knives in the time it's taking to baby this stainless into shape.
That made me realize something profound.... I really love doing this!
My boss has been with us for about a year and is the first guy in his position in my 45 years of experience, that I've ever had a lick of respect or admiration for. If you are asking the question... No I am not a suck up. We finally got a good one and he's top notch.
Well, a few more laps on the Ark and I'm calling this one done. Good playlist, an adult beverage or 3 and something to sharpen. It's the most fun I can have with my cloths on.
So he hands me this 7" no name, stainless steel bowie with a brass guard, stacked leather handle and aluminum pommel. The guard is black with verdigris, the pommel is loose and falling off and beat to heck and the leather looks like garbage. Parts were even missing from the handle allowing !/4" of threads from the tang to hang out the end. Geez.... I was shocked an engineer would own a knife in this state of neglect. It appears the factory never put any bevels on the blade instead opting for a quickly done belt sanded edge of questionable geometry. I decided a minor restore was in order. Well, maybe it's an engineer thing to let your knife get that way but he's getting back an example of an OCD tool makers work
This is a labor of love for me. I adore getting a piece of junk from some one and surprising them with a razor sharp edge and cosmetic touch ups. Give the dude back something he can be proud of and brag to his friends about. Usually my edges are the sharpest thing they have ever handled.
I polished up the guard and pommel, resurfaced the leather and made a universal language translator (skull crusher) to cover the extra tang. Hope he likes it... In turning my attention to the edge I started with a medium India to laboriously grind some proper bevels on this beast. That took forever by the way. I proceeded with my usual knife type progression ending on a black Ark where I'm going for maximum hair pop.
Around about lap 8 or 900 on the black Ark I was questioning my sanity and OCD realizing I've probably put 50+ hours into this edge alone. I think I could have done 2 or 3 carbon steel knives in the time it's taking to baby this stainless into shape.
That made me realize something profound.... I really love doing this!
My boss has been with us for about a year and is the first guy in his position in my 45 years of experience, that I've ever had a lick of respect or admiration for. If you are asking the question... No I am not a suck up. We finally got a good one and he's top notch.
Well, a few more laps on the Ark and I'm calling this one done. Good playlist, an adult beverage or 3 and something to sharpen. It's the most fun I can have with my cloths on.