NFS......................

[Eamon Burke]

Nice! Just read on your blog that you stuck your hand pretty good a few months back. Doing better?

[tgraypots]

Eamon, much better. Thanks for asking.Belt broke and slapped a knife into my hand while buffing out a very sharp blade.



I have 5 knives in the oven as I write, tempering at 335F after having been heated up to roughly 1500F. Tomorrow I will run another few knives through the HT, and hopefully finish grinding on the ones from today's HT. Lots of hours spent in front of a belt grinder in my near future!

[tgraypots]

Thanks for the comments guys. Being a total newb at this, it's nice to get some encouragement here. The paring knife is my take on a William-Henry I acquired a few years ago. Traded pots for it. ZDP 189. Love the shape, but don't care for the steel. I'm chomping at the bit to get them finished over next coupla days. More to come-Tom

[El Pescador]

thanks for update tom...its good to see you're back at it!

[Don Nguyen]

Are those magnets you're using for grinding? What kind are they, and where can I get them?

[tgraypots]

Don, amazon.com has them. The one with the nicer handle has a 100# pull.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J3RYMU
$10.00

[Don Nguyen]

Thanks. I'll try it out.

Would there be any problems with a metal platen?

[tgraypots]

Don, nope, the first time I saw these in use was when the flat grinder at school needed adjustment and we flattened on a belt grinder platen, with these.

[Don Nguyen]

Perfect. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks!

[tgraypots]

In continuation, here are a coupla more knives that are going out for Christmas. The first is a 7" chef's knife with Mark's sycamore scales, and the second is a 7" usuba with Mark's koa scales. These are number five and six that I have made so far and I can find a zillion flaws in them. Nevertheless, I made them with my own hands, using limited equipment, and I'm pretty proud of that. BTW, the usuba is hollow ground on the back side, of course, and potatoes don't stick when slicing.