Don’t know if you find this interesting or boring as heck. But THIS is what making a fine knife like this exists of. Marking off nearly countless cards like this. I suspect some are amazed there are this many steps in an entire knife. When there are hundreds upon hundreds of steps. Each related to other steps.

This may be the LAST card. The knife looks done now, and I still have all of this to complete. And, they don’t go faster or take less care. Unless you want to nullify the previous forty cards.

Gary

Do you create a card at the start with all the steps? Or just 1 card full and when done create the next card (s)? Most people never realize the amount of different steps that go into your product.

Off on a tangent Especially people that watch Forged in FIre. From junk (steel) to functional (although many times not good looking ) in 4.5 to 6 hours. True most are fixed blade so no mechanism but still gives a false impression. (they also have the blades fail a lot but thats due to starting materials and unknown heat treatments) Forge heating and oil quenching without good temperature read is hard to do. Years ago in my metallurgy class we did many series of treats on carbon steels and then did Charpy tests, Rc, and tests at cold (-20C and below) etc. We polished and etched to look at grain structure and grain boundaries. Heat treat with phase diagrams available, temperature controlled furnaces, and known steels is fairly easy. With Unknown "high Carbon steel " ( C= 0.6 to 0.95+) and unknown alloying metals in a furnace by eyeball for temperature is difficult. We also got to try several "high alloy (4140 cones to ming and several stainless but memory is dim on these)

Very little of your current work is with "Steel" (I know you do want to set up your forge and do damascus again). Your work is more artistic and fine detail (engraving, inlays in handle, shape of knife and blade, etc. Not making a big chopper knife.

Any idea on the amount of time (or ratio) of blade making and finishing blade vs time on the whole Verne project? or one of the Southwest ones?

I bet most viewer (readers of this blog) have no idea on the amount of hidden work on one of your fine knifes. I am just starting to see the large amount of hours that have gone int the Verne (or the Balisong with its inlays).

Thanks for all the insights and keep posting when you can. It is always interesting to see progress on andy of your projects.

Gary L

Thanks for taking the time Gary (L) ... for readers ..., this Gary commissioned the knife ... I’m the “other Gary” that made it.

I also hear that most of the world with electricity is using it to watch the show you mention.

Now ... with that covered, let me answer your other questions. I will work thru the basic couple of hundred steps from memory, Gary. I “may” have a few steel patterns or I may
have just developed a one off design and made temporary patterns from card stock and tape. With a mechanical knife, I’ll use trial blocks or fit the parts on the frame itself.

Here’s part of the stress of making knives and Airguns in 2018. Nobody I run into is going to use them. Ok, a few. And of those few, a few of those will send me a closed PM and exclaim their virtues. 99.9% of my work over the last 44 years has not been discussed openly with those who just might have an interest in also purchasing. Think about a silly example that’s not too far off. Think about .... everyone who ordered a new Corvette .... had a Car Transport Trailer show up at the factory. They pull inside a receiving bay and shut the huge doors. The new car is loaded. Trailer closed. Truck rolls out of Factory ... to the garage of the new owner. He/She has prepared a notch in their interior Collection’s Show room. The car is hand rolled into position, in line ... because if they ever mention that they have it, they will be especially proud that “It’s never been Started”. And, there it stays. No Route 66. No Car Shows. It’s too treasured to disturb. So; how does anyone else know they want one? Well, that would be General Motor’s responsibly to make Webammercials, Music Videos, and haunt Social Media and such. Yeah, it’s silly, but not far off my over four decades of experience. If I make a simple knife or gun it won’t find the field use group. It’s kinda like I marked myself by being able to make exquisite stuff. People who buy users buy from people who choose to make users. I’m sure they could make exquisite pieces if they wanted to. I am jealous because to gain an interactive audience, a person must make the huge rough choppers, and fighting axes that all of us actually “use” in our daily lives. I occasionally look at a few sites with enormous rugged things that are imagined to have been lugged around by Daniel Boone and the Vikings. They are evidently quite popular and you can buy something that you can barely drag away for about $35 from the Mid-Eastern Bladesmiths now. Well now ... that is where Damascus is, isn’t it? It is indeed, and much of the work looks fine.

I wandered off .... sorry. I draw up a card for intricate segments of the build. Occasionally I do so when I feel it would aid concentration.

Gee, I hope my answering questions honestly doesn’t kill the buzz. Blades are like Stocks Gary. They are where soooooooo much of the fascination comes in. I’ve said for years, that on one of my rifles, a regular stock is about 5% if the work. That’s always disappointing people. So; let’s amend that to 78%. Sounds far more in keeping with desired expectations. Wink? (Can’t risk emoji and dump everything). The mechanics of special designed high pressure valves, threading, Engraving, carving, etching ... those are the Master Quality operations of the type of work I’ve spent a lifetime doing. Well WHY does the public have SUCH a different opinion? Because there are and have always been so few who do what I do. That’s (1)..... Because commercial TV etc., tells people what they want to hear. That’s (2). ... Because so few value an attention span long enough to learn, follow, appreciate, or even tolerate hearing about fine work. I suspect I’ve caused enormous stress by explaining your knife as I have Gary. Hah. As you have pointed out, people think 4 hours ought to about do it. I spent 4 hours going thru the last pass of your engravings after 99% would have said ... “it’s done!!!” “Move Along!!!” Ha again. Have to put the Haha’s in so people know I don’t think I’m super special for doing it this way. It is just what I have always done and why min. wage looks pretty good from here. Haha?

Last summary thought. Folks WANT everything to be reversed and it annoys some that I insist it isn’t that way. My famous 44 years so far mean nothing. They WANT all the work to be in the regular blades and stocks. And they DON’T want there to be value in all that “frilly stuff.” They don’t want to learn it. They don’t want to learn to play a violin ... so they insist that beating on a cow bell is just the same. Now, if I make blades that will cut slivers from cold rolled steel rod and be unharmed ... my voice SHOULD carry weight. But, it won’t. Mostly there’s something in there I’m hiding ... they just can’t put their finger on it.

Oh ... BTW .... your Verne has been about two and a half to three times the work of the Southwest. I really should get into estimating contracts for the Gov. Ya think??? Wink.

Ok. Gotta get back.

What do you think?
Gary B



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2018 10:58PM by barnespneumatic.