Thinking of doing a group buy

[big_adventure]

Congratulations Taylor! Good luck, no more zone defense for your family, you will be strict man-to-man.

 

[tostadas]

Congrats!

 

[gregfisk]

I know you’ve probably heard this before but it’s important. Take time and relish the little things that these little humans do. Take video of the things that make you laugh, the things that drive you crazy and even the things that seem unimportant. Because in the blink of an eye they’ll be grown up and living somewhere else.

 

[Kgp]

Crazy week so far. Lots of communication being sent back and forth, trying to get finalized dimensions. I appreciate everyone's quick responses, and patience. Today is all about detail work, and getting all the T's crossed, and I's dotted, so I can start heat treatment. Heat treatment probably won't happen till tomorrow, and I expect I won't be finished with it until Tuesday, as there's only so much room in my Dewar for cryo. But I should be able to start grinding geometry by Monday on some of the knives. I'll also start building some of the handles next week as well.

Yesterday was basically grinding and emailing. As the picture shows, it feels like I was left with nothing but dust, but not to worry, we're making good pace, and I'm still feeling that we're on schedule.

Other exciting news. We're getting a new addition for our family, coming September 25th. Some of my time has been reserved for the doctors visits associated with that this week. Just glad I was allowed in the exam room to see the little one for the first time. Approximately 3cm long with a good little heartbeat.

Maybe I'll actually remember to take more than just pictures of wood today

Congratulations! Fun times ahead!

 

[The Edge]

All the T's crossed and I's dotted now. Everything is ready for heat treatment, except for a couple thicker carbons that will need to have their initial bevels ground in, so they can harden all the way through. Actually remembered to take some photo's today.

Went over the dimensions a couple times to make sure everything is kosher with what everyone has asked for. Also squared up the neck, so that it will fit flush with the handles. For the westerns, I drilled some holes for the bolsters, as there's no way in fire I could do that after heat treatment.

Have everything organized, and more belts arriving tomorrow, so I don't run out of them. New belts just make everything easier.

Will most likely push off heat treat till Monday, so that I can actually spend time with the family. Shouldn't impact the timeline, but next week will be busy with heat treating 3 different steels, starting on handles, and starting on grinding. It's nice having so many knives to do, as there's less tools switching between tasks, and it feels like I'm more productive.

Thanks everyone! Enjoy your weekend, if you get one! And thank you everyone for the warm wishes

 

[jacko9]

I should pay closer attention to this web site as this group buy looks like a very special event. Thats pretty impressive that you started offering a group buy of 10 blades and it looks like you have 14 individual designed blades coming together! I'm very impressed.

 

[LewRob80]

All the T's crossed and I's dotted now. Everything is ready for heat treatment, except for a couple thicker carbons that will need to have their initial bevels ground in, so they can harden all the way through. Actually remembered to take some photo's today.

Went over the dimensions a couple times to make sure everything is kosher with what everyone has asked for. Also squared up the neck, so that it will fit flush with the handles. For the westerns, I drilled some holes for the bolsters, as there's no way in fire I could do that after heat treatment.

Have everything organized, and more belts arriving tomorrow, so I don't run out of them. New belts just make everything easier.

Will most likely push off heat treat till Monday, so that I can actually spend time with the family. Shouldn't impact the timeline, but next week will be busy with heat treating 3 different steels, starting on handles, and starting on grinding. It's nice having so many knives to do, as there's less tools switching between tasks, and it feels like I'm more productive.

Thanks everyone! Enjoy your weekend, if you get one! And thank you everyone for the warm wishes

Beyond excited! And happy for you to have time with the family. If I’ve learned anything the last year it’s to spend more time with my family

 

[big_adventure]

I'm all at once extremely excited to watch this birthing process, stoked to be a part of it, and patient enough to enjoy it. Take all the time it takes and définitely enjoy the family time.

 

[The Edge]

Got all the stainless blades wrapped in foil yesterday. The s35vn were quenched last night. They were brought up to 2025, and then quenched between aluminum plates. They just came out of the cryo this morning, and are currently tempering in the oven. I'll be quenching the aeb-l today, and grinding the initial bevel into the 26c3, as the carbon needs to be thinner before I attempt to quench. This means everything will be heat treated by tomorrow night, and I just had more belts come in, so I'll be able to start grinding this week. The grinding is going to be the most labor intensive part of this, well, besides the fit and finish, so bear with me the next couple of weeks, while I'm donning on my respirator, goggles and hearing protection for 8 hours a day.

It'll be exciting for me to see these come to life. There's always a sense of accomplishment when you can see progress

 

[tostadas]

The progress photos are awesome! Also really interesting to see all the variation among the various knives.

It might be cool to have a "before" (current rough cut profiles) and "after" (finished w/ handles) of the whole batch to show how much work goes into transforming each of these one-of-a-kind pieces.

 

[phoka]

Thanks for the update and they look great!

 

[ian]

Nice looking stuff, Taylor.

 

[big_adventure]

This is looking awesome. Thanks for keeping us posted on all of the details. We are all midwives to 14 shiny new babies.

 

[The Edge]

So, I probably won't post updates everyday, but I will keep you informed and try to take pictures along the way. All knives are heat treated. Embeded a video from youtube to slide past all the knives, and also including some pics from different stages. First 3 are s35vn, next 4 are aeb-l, and then we have the rest in 26c3. Hard to say what the hamons will look like until they are cleaned up and ground to shape. Today will be some clean up, and then double checking hardness to make sure I'm hitting the mark I set for myself. Then after that, grinding, and then more grinding, and more grinding. Yeah, you can see where most of my time will be going now. I'll try to post before and after when everything is done, which reminds me, I should go take individual photos so I can make that happen. Thanks for going on this journey with me .

btw, the first photo is some of the stainless coming out of cryo, it's cool to me how they frost up, even in a low humidity environment. The next photo is a more traditional clay set up for the hamon, and then the last photo is a group shot, though the video goes 1 by 1 through all 14.

 

[Mingooch]

I think I see mine!(6) Love what you are posting. Cant wait to get this when they are done.

 

[The Edge]

Was able to grind the initial bevel into the aeb-l knives today, and at least got a start on the s35vn. Will start to work on the carbon tomorrow. After grinding the initial bevel, I'll start to grind in the hollows. Then it's a back and forth process of thinning, and then back to the hollows, and so forth until the knife has the proper geometry. In between all of that, once I've done the rough hollow, I'll start to work on the handles, so that I can take balance into consideration.

 

[The Edge]

All the knives have the initial bevel ground in, except for the lone full tang. The full tang has had the tang tapered, and one scale epoxied on. Holes will be drilled this morning on the one scale that's been attached, and then I'll epoxy the other scale on before shaping and pinning. Just started on grinding in the hollows yesterday, so I'm looking to continue on that path, as well as start getting handles ready (pieces cut, and initial holes drilled in the wood). That should set me up to start getting the handles fit, epoxied, and shaped next week, so I can then work on the final grinding to get everything balanced out. After all of that, I'll then be able to start working on fit and finish, followed by the final sharpening. Hope everyone is have a great week. We're getting there, so I appreciate everyone being patient with the process.

 

[The Edge]

Started working on handles this week. Showing some pictures of materials that have been cut to size, sanded flat, and had holes drilled (wish I had a milling machine, but I get by). If you don't see yours, don't fret, it's either a surprise, I'm waiting for more material, or it's still in the cue. I'll be able to get some of them epoxied up this week, and then I'll be able to shape them next week, so I can then start doing the final grind on the knives.

 

[big_adventure]

I love the way it's all coming together! Awesome work, Taylor, and thanks for making us a part of it all.

 

[daddy yo yo]

Can't wait to see them all finished... Looks like we're going to see some sweet handle work!

 

[The Edge]

So, nothing fancy for me when fitting up ferrules. Just a drill bit, a jewelers saw, and small files. I taper the tang just a bit, get it to fit in the hole, and then steadily file it till the knife fits snug. Also, realized that I was just about out of g-flex, so I ordered more that arrived yesterday. Now I can start gluing the handles together, and I'll be able to shape them once their dry. Then it's just a matter of the finish grinding on the knife, polishing it up, and putting everything together. Going to be a busy week, but I'm looking to make some major headway. Thanks for looking!

 

[The Edge]

Full tang is ready to be ground (with full tang, that's the last thing on the list before f&f). Some wa's ready to be epoxied together, and refitting some wa's that were already epoxied. Starting to feel like I'm making progress . I'm just as excited as you guys to see these coming along. Can't wait till they're finished, just need to make sure I"m not rushing and doing everything right!

 

[preizzo]

 

[Barmoley]

That's a very good looking western.

 

[tostadas]

These are coming along great!

 

[TonyZ]

Dang I'm sad I missed this, congrats to everyone in this group buy.

 

[The Edge]

Dang I'm sad I missed this, congrats to everyone in this group buy.

I'll be doing more of these in the future, though I may switch up the details slightly.

 

[TonyZ]

I'll be doing more of these in the future, though I may switch up the details slightly.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

 

[big_adventure]

I'm extremely stoked. And I'm pretty sure I... don't know what I'm talking about (this is an edit).

Thanks again Taylor, this process is awesome.

 

[phoka]

They are looking great and thanks again for the update and beautiful work!