An excuse to stall...a present for my wife.

[Osprey Guy]

As many of you have heard me discuss-ad nauseam...which basically means a little more frequently than is needed, I am making some kitchen knives and actually getting paid for it.
I have discovered a few things along the way...

Unlike folders, especially kitknife folders, when you make a fixed blade you're pretty much committed once you epoxy things up. There's no changing your mind, no correcting the filework which isn't quite working, no switching blades, spacers, or handles, or anything else for that matter.
Worse still, when you're getting paid for a great knife(s), the pressure is really on not to screw it up!

So, I've been taking it real slow and easy. The first one is nearly finished, the 2nd not far behind. Still gotta do the filework, cut the pins, and finish it off. Since I didn't know in advance exactly what I was going to do with the front edge of the scales I held off on the epoxy, so sometime soon I actually have to glue it up...and there's the rub!

I find myself avoiding this step at all costs! I add a little something here, I play with the handles a little there, anything to get out of making the final commitment. It's actually kind of comical because I am definitely not a tentative sort of guy and I find myself in strange waters.

Now, along comes my wife's birthday and I think...I know! I'll make her something with all these groovy new tools at my disposal (and at the same time subconsciously thinking how this will "force" me to put off the knives for a little while). I invited my daughter to come in on this with me and make it a joint gift. We decided, with all of our formidable shop skills, to make a little wooden box!...something my wife could put her everyday jewelry in when she gets ready for bed.

Now we're not talking dovetails, or mitered joints, or any of that kind of stuff, this is a box with sides that are glued together and then a decorated top...figured we could knock it out in one night.

Five days later, three days past my wife's birthday, and we were nearly done with her belated gift. As it just so happens, I had a lot of nice wood collected over the past few months (possible handles)...we used a combination of redheart and yellowheart..they turned out looking really nice together! We sanded the sides up like nobody's business, applied Tung Oil (which worked great) and then finished with good old Rennaisance wax. Brass feet and a little brass handle from "Michael's" crafts...some attractive inlay strips from Woodcraft for the decoration on top and ####!...it looked pretty good for the novices we are. My daughter and I beamed with pride as we presented my wife with her gift. SHE LOVES IT!

O.K....so now I have to get back to dealing with the kitchen knives...I seem to be fresh out of excuses...

You know, my mother's birthday is coming up soon...hmmmm.

Dennis

Yeah Baby!

[SharpByCoop]

Originally posted by Osprey Guy
Five days later, three days past my wife's birthday, and we were nearly done with her belated gift.

He he he! Now why does THAT strike a chord with ME!!???

That's such a great story. I know about that procrastination thing, boy, do I! What's the rush? Even though we're all aware and pulling for you on this, take WHATEVER time it takes to get things right.

I'm ~trying~ to get a small shop in order, and I have been feeling the pressure from myself to get it up and going in a hurry. "I've told so many folks about my endeavor, I NEED to produce!" That's the falacy. I, you, we ALL need to step back and take it easy. Now maybe if my income depended on it, I'd might rethink that one....

At any rate, so glad that your project fulfilled itself--time is relative, eh? Say 'HI' to your 29 year old wife for us.....

Coop

[Bob Sigmon]

Dennis, Way to go!!!

Making something like that jewelery box is the best. Bonding with your daughter, handcrafting the gift for your wife (one of a kind jewelry box - She'll be showing that around) and using all the tools that, even though she's cool with your getting them, were maybe an extravagance.

Now as to your putting things off. That's not too unlike me! I've had a heat treat oven sitting on my bench for months. I have to take apart the shop and rewire some stuff to be able to run the 220V for the oven. Half is the hassle, half is wondering how much I'll screw up when I start to heat treat the blades that I've made. I've tried to take it easy on getting this going, trying to not get to crazy with the cash expenditures. But I really do have to get it together to take the next step in the journey.

My first kit was a hunter from TKS. Getting the bolster to the point where I pinned them to the knife was the same thing your going through. Ya just don't wanna screw up.

When you do decide to take the plunge, Good Luck. I know that you'll do a great job.

Bob Sigmon

[Osprey Guy]

She might be kinda pissed if I gave out her age. My wife walks every day, for one hour. Not a little stroll mind you, but one of those exagerated-looking fast walks where nobody can possibly keep up. She starts up every year around late March or April (when the weather turns nice), and by July she's looking pretty amazing! When the weather becomes too unfavorable to suit her, like around November, she stops again until the following Spring when it starts all over. Gives me something to look forward to every year! When she's looking good, she's feeling good about herself and that winds up benefitting me.

Most people take us to be 39-40ish...their off by just a bit. I often say that we're living proof that supplements work. I'm considered something of an expert and we take quite a few vitamins, minerals, enzymes, herbs, and probiotics every day. Sounds like a big hassle, but once you get into the habit, it's just a question of taking the right pills at each meal.

I'm a former president of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Maryland and I can tell you that nobody would ever guess I've been an insulin dependent diabetic for nearly 30 years!...All things considered, I look and feel pretty good, and my wife's not too shabby either.

Dennis

Yeah Baby!

PS. We have one kid, a 13 yr old daughter. She's been taking supplements for over
7 years and hasn't been sick a day in the past four...and that's while going to public school!

[Bob Sigmon]

Dennis,

We'll have to get into the whole vitamin thing.....you could have the CDK Vitamin outlet.

I mean the CKD "discount" Vitamin Outlet.

Bob Sigmon

[Osprey Guy]

Bob-
Whenever you're inclined, feel free to give me a buzz and it would be my pleasure to tell you about the things that have worked for me. (By law, I can't make recommendations, especially not over the phone).

Nothing pleases me more than turning friends on to this thing called supplements...because they really can do some good...regardless of age or state of health. I love it when I hear back from friends telling me how such and such vitamin, mineral, whatever, worked so well for them.

Shoot me an e-mail sometime and I'll give you my phone #

Dennis

Yeah Baby!

Oh, BTW, I did find another excuse last night to stall...did some REALLY cool filework in 440C for my favorite EV4N1...by far my favorite filework to date. I've been playing around with ideas on 3 feet of 1 1/4" X 1/8" piece of cheap steel from Lowe's (I think it was $3.00 but it worked fine for practicing) I'll try and shoot a quick photo later today and post it!

[Osprey Guy]

Drac-
That is funny. I hadn't thought of it that way. The folders are a piece of cake until you start doing things like making you're own backspacers...then the tolerances can drive you nuts! But, for me that's the fun of it. (Speaking of being off 1/32"...I can't tell you how long it has taken me to correct the backspacer on my "Tiger Coral" knife...it's a DDR-II and it turns out they take an 1/8" backspacer, not the 5/32" that was posted in the most frequently asked questions column of KnifeKits...the 5/32" is for the bigger kits like the DDR-1 or EV4N1. Just try sanding down 1/32" of stainless with precision, by hand, after the filework was already finished! After all this time, it's still not quite right Oh brother,...well you live and learn)

Re: The kitchen knives-which I now refer to as "Chef's Knives"...I think I'm the one who's getting tired of hearing about them. I want to be finished with at least one already! (Check my latest post in the KnifeKits forum for an update).

Dennis

Yeah Baby!