bladegrinder

Well, I got starlink. took about a week from ordering it to delivery. setup was fast and pretty uncomplicated, once the dish is in place, cable run and router plugged in you just set up your account in their app. at this point they can tell the equipment is on and they know who you are. the app walks you thru adjusting the dish in real time, that was pretty cool, as you turn the dish is shows it on your phone, once you get it into an outlined rectangle it tells you your set. then it's just going to your phones, computers and TVs and setting them to the starlink wifi. it comes preset at 5 ghs or you can change it to a split signal 5 ghs - 2.4 ghs. I added some cameras that only ran on 2.4 so I'm running a split signal. some older things only run on 2,4 so it's good it comes with this option. The signal is good even during storms and bad weather although it did drop once last night during a really bad thunder storm. I live in the Florida panhandle by the Georgia border and we've been having some really bad storms and tornadoes, watching the weather radar it showed a tornado passing thru my area when starlink went out for about 10 min. we got 5" of rain from that storm last night. I've been running a Verizon hotspot with my phone plan for three years, I did a couple speed test before and after on two different days so far...... Download speed Upload speed Verison hotspot......... 1.34 1.97 Verison hotspot......... 3.13 1.67 Starlink....................... 140.3 12.8 Starlink....................... 224.9 23.6 The starlink does fluctuate, my highest reading was over 300 download and over 30 upload. the readings posted above were in the first 12 hours of set up. So......I got to say this to me is kind of unbelievable being in the deep woods and getting signals like this. I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and went with starlink.

Sorry to hear of this, it’s always sad when we lose a fellow artisan. RIP MtlBiker.

Thanks Jarrod!

Here's a picture of some stainless steel Damascus on a folder I finished a couple weeks ago. the bolsters are from the same piece of steel, with ivory scales.

I do all my heat treating in my shop, I have a fully equipped knife making shop, I’ve been making knives for 33 years. I cut my profiles out with a bandsaw. I usually use high alloy stainless steels but I also use high carbon and stainless Damascus from various makers.

I buy large billets of it straight from Brad Vice, the owner of Alabama Damascus. Then I rough cut a profile from it, surface grind it, then finish profiling. Then I hollow grind it, heat treat and temper it, then etch it in acid to bring out the pattern. Then I do the handles, I don’t sharpen until the sheath is completed.

Thanks, the pictures don’t do it justice once there down sized to add here. When you zoom in for detail they get fuzzy.

Thanks folks!

Here's a sheath I just finished for a camp knife, Alabama Damascus blade, Desert Ironwood scales, nickel silver pins and lanyard hole. Sheath is 9 oz. Herman oak, English bridle pro dye, carved feather, dragon scale stamp, light brown antique, two light coats of Resolene. Thanks for looking!

The buffer pictured in this thread is in my shop, and while having used it for over 30 years I’ve never had it throw a blade. I have had small parts get caught and never to be found again. This thing turns at 3600 rpm at the shaft and I know of two knifemakers that were killed by having blade slung into them by either the same buffer or one similar. These large buffers are designed to be used more in a machine shop rather than in hobby endeavors. I think any buffer of any size is dangerous but so is running with scissors. When someone asks me what’s the most dangerous machine in your shop I tell them which ever one is currently running. The difference here really is that a bandsaw, drill press, milling machine or surface grinder will usually just mangle- cut off some fingers or blind you, a buffer can sling and object into your body or right thru your eye into your head and kill you. If your in your shop alone you could bleed out fast. I keep 3 tourniquets hung around my shop. Where I live, if you hear an ambulance…they’re probably too late for anyone out here. But back to your tools, somehow “removing paint” morphed into all kinds of things here. Heck, their hand tools just clean them up as best you can and use them. You can throw a dollar at a dime but your still going to have a dime in the end

Wow, those look great!

Nice looking work Chuck!

I use to carry my credit cards in a RFID protected wallet but recently read where the newer cards can't be read by someone passing near by, a reader would need to be within inches. true? i don't know but the person that wrote it works for a major credit card company.

It’s funny, after he brought that over and I handled it with the lazer I liked it so much I ordered one for my Sig. The one on the Sig is made by them and really fit nice, looking like an integral part of the gun, and has a lifetime warranty. It’s also a green lazer I like green better, his is red.

I never touched a sewing machine in my life till I got my Cowboy 4500. man, did I stitch up a pile of scrap practicing. Under and around my machine looked like a barbers chair at the end of a busy day, except it was cut up pieces of thread

I can’t help you with your project but I hope you find someone that can. I lived around you about 40 years ago in Ridley Park. Good luck!

For avoiding skipped stitches, when your needle is coming up you’ll see the thread above the needle go taut- your hooks got it then and you won’t loose the next stitch.

That looks great, the minor stitching hiccup going around the end is a learning experience. Your dog will never notice!

I wrap some of my stamps with blue painters tape, a lot to build it up. What resist were you using? I use tan kote, but even with that I don’t let any antique sit for long. I usually wipe it off right away.

Thanks Chuck!

Thanks folks!

A sawsall blade with the top of the blade ground down to fit in the hole will work as a broach.

Believe it or not, they both have Fiebings British Tan. the top pictures were taken in a light box, so the lighting was diffused, the bottom one was taken outdoors. they both actually look more like the top one in person.

If you use that Coco Bolo be careful, some folks are allergic to it. I won't go into what it did to me a couple times but I stopped using it around twenty years ago.

My neighbor asked me to make him a holster for his Ruger LCP with a Crimson Trace lazer so I made this for him...the two top photos. then I made another one for my Sig 365X after I put a Sig Lima lazer on it to fit for the added lazer. I've been wearing this one the last few days before photos so it shows a little wear. bottom photos.