Disclaimer first. If you work Saturday and Sunday, then you must do some maintenance during weekdays. You will note the typical lousy swinging weed whacker plastic knives with their embedded steel serrated blades - which wear out in no time. Then you will find the Barnes quick and dirty solid tool steel set - probably about 45 minutes. And they just EAT BRUSH!!!!! WOW!!!

Then note Jeff's Knife Handle now has a Thong/Lanyard hole .... and true to the Barnes Moto of never allowing anything to be simple .... I made a brass Tube (yes of course from solid stock) and installed it. Yes it required sanding/blending the rear of the handle and polishing. No; I don't seem to be able to keep from doing things overkill.

Then I spent a few hours carving on one of the Model 97's in build.

We also found and ordered a supply of new dental burs with which I do a lot of carving. All that stuff takes time. Do it wrong and you pay as much for shipping as you do some products. Do it wrong and your order of 6 different sizes and types of cutter will come from 6 different places and take up to a month to arrive.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Gary

Ah .... I invented a piece of PVC Conduit with Stragic cuts and slots. It hooks over the wire shelving. It projects toward the magnifying light. It's slot near the bottom end accepts a cell phone inserting the edge of the phone. The phone is thus right near my face to play music and allow me to interface and catch texts. 'Bout 20 minutes. I can sit here for accumulated days when I carve.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2016 01:37PM by barnespneumatic.

I love the lanyard hole Gary ! It does look like a lot of work .
Now for the brush hog blades , they look a lot like old band saw blades and VERY dangerous . I once caught a guy tying fence wire on the bottom of a weed wackier to go out and wack out steel yard . I can only imaging a wire coming off and bouncing off a bone in his leg .
Chaps and spats are highly recommended . Did I mention steel toe 10" leather boots too ? My neighbor lady asked me to fix her brushhog . It came with about a 10" saw blade said to cut thru a 3" tree . It was the scariest piece I ever fixed !


Be careful !

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt!

Dangerous!? You should have seen the stuff I made as a kid! Haha.

So you don't recommend flip flops? . Kurt? KURT?????

Haha. Don't worry. 10" steel toe boots and jeans were worn. CHECK! And, remember now, I just duplicated the three original swinging knives in tool steel. Those originals are plastic with steel serrated blades embedded in the plastic. As you work, they bend and parts break off (note missing end of one blade).

No - not band saw stock. (Didn't think of that - hummmm). No these are thicker fresh tool steel.

Well, I appreciate the concern. I'll follow all safety precautions. (The first was getting rid of those nasty commercial blades .... .......)

Thks Kurt,
Gary

Differential heat treatment to boot! Fantastic work Gary!

Hi Sal,

You are right Bud. I toughened it up by giving it a spring tempered back and mounting point. I actually specifically held on the under heated side of critical temperature for the quench phase too. To err on the side of toughness over possibility edge holding. I wanted them as shock proof as I could do quickly.

I'm sure not minimizing Kurt's rightful concern. Maybe I shouldn't have shown this. However; if you have a Master Bladesmith's rating and 40 years of heat treating, and you are careful, then you might be ok. .

Gary

Gary
I honestly didn't see the metal impregnated blades in the plastic ! Now I do and like for like is good improvment ! That yapon don't stand a chance !

Thanks
Kurt

You are right to share concern Kurt. It's usually a bad idea to hop up the original engineer's design specs., and make something more lethal.

To do so in this instance, probably indicates a desperate old man trying to keep from being "Absorbed" by the encroaching jungle .... Probably .... Hehe.

It's get them before they get me!

Ha.

Gary

Don't miss that "ground up" bolster. Boy - sanding all those marks out is a job!

Hey Gary,
Now that is a "BEAUTIFUL HOLE!" (Insert your own double entendre here! ) I didn't mean to cause you that kind of extra work, but it sure is a beauty. Send me a note of the final cost please. I too, share the frustration at the poor quality of the cheap yard work gear. I know I didn't buy the top of the line, but I did expect serviceability beyond one use! It looks like you have that whipped. Like Kurt said, that is one wicked looking trimmer head. Give em weeds heck! I don't know if it is true, but it sounds like you kind of had a relaxing day in the shop. Good on ya!
Later,
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I finished hand sanding, blending, and polishing. It's in the bag. Five (5) whoohoo to go out tomorrow.

I've been forcing myself to enjoy some stuff lately. I've gotten a good bit of work done. I'll keep at it.

Thanks My Friend
Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2016 01:34AM by barnespneumatic.

Hey Gary,
I can't wait to get hold of that knife! Thanks for the extra effort.
Now listening to some Pete Fountain music. So sorry that I never got to see him live or in the Mardi Gras parade. Truly one of a kind. His funereal will be on August 17th and then a second line celebration. One of the greats!
Later,
Jeff