Cowboy 3500

[Tequila]

@bladegrinder nice shop!  Can I assume one side is for forging and the other for leather?  I live in south MS so I know the humidity you’re dealing with. My shop isn’t as big as yours but I do ammunition loading in mine and humidity is critical, so I put in a dehumidifier with a hose so it drains outside.  I guess my point is that if you find humidity is getting to be a pain maybe add a soft partition and keep the leather side dry. 

[bladegrinder]

18 hours ago, dikman said:

Congratulations! Now order the modified needle plate/feed dog from RockyAussie, it's a must have for these machines, you won't regret it.

Thanks dikman, how do I go about ordering from him?

[bladegrinder]

14 hours ago, Handstitched said:

Well done  You'll be like a kid on Christmas Day when it arrives,  and you'll be forgiven for feeling a little anxious over the next few weeks  . Its a big investment . 

I'm glad I ordered the ' biggie' , never looked back. 

Thanks Handstitched, yea I'm looking forward to it. funny thing when I first mentioned to the wife I was thinking about finally getting a machine I asked her if she thought it would fit in our spare bedroom. she asked me how big it was,

I told her I didn't have the exact dimensions but I'll find a picture, so while she was looking in that room I showed her a picture. Oh no no no she said, that's some kind of industrial machine that's not going in here. I just laughed, and said well yea of course it is, oh well. and that was a pic. of the 3500, now I have the 4500 coming. but all is well, it really needs to be in my shop to be around the rest of my going on's out there. I'm glad I got the 4500 coming or I'd be sitting here right now second guessing if I went the right way between the 3500 -4500.

[bladegrinder]

12 hours ago, Tequila said:

@bladegrinder nice shop!  Can I assume one side is for forging and the other for leather?  I live in south MS so I know the humidity you’re dealing with. My shop isn’t as big as yours but I do ammunition loading in mine and humidity is critical, so I put in a dehumidifier with a hose so it drains outside.  I guess my point is that if you find humidity is getting to be a pain maybe add a soft partition and keep the leather side dry. 

Thanks Tequila, The knife shop is probably half the building, in the back left corner of my shop I built a loft for over flow stuff from the house. today the shop was 100 degres with a feels like of 109.

So...later this fall I'm going to close that in and put a small portable air conditioner in there. that was the plan from the get go for a clean place for final finishing folder knives.

Here's a pic. of the loft, future leather working room...behind the tractor when I was moving my machines in there.....by myself...

edit: I also reload, so I have a designated are in there for that too!

Edited June 19, 2022 by bladegrinder

[Tequila]

@bladegrinder  if you can forge (or do most anything) in that heat you’re a better man than me  one of the benefits of a small shop is it’s easy to add A/C.  But I have to say I am jealous of your set up.  

[dikman]

22 hours ago, bladegrinder said:

Thanks dikman, how do I go about ordering from him?

Just send him a PM, he's shipped a few across the pond to the US so it shouldn't be a problem. I fitted the plate to mine and the only time I'll take it off is if, for some reason, I'll need the holster or stirrup plate, other than that it will be the default plate.

My little shed was originally built for my sewing machines but it didn't take long to move my reloading/casting gear in too. I doubt you will regret getting the bigger machine.

[bladegrinder]

10 hours ago, Tequila said:

@bladegrinder  if you can forge (or do most anything) in that heat you’re a better man than me  one of the benefits of a small shop is it’s easy to add A/C.  But I have to say I am jealous of your set up.  

Thanks Tequila, I've worked outdoors here in Florida all my life so I've learned to tolerate the heat pretty well. even at 100 it's not too bad with fans running, just remember to drink lots of water, now going out in the sun's another story. I was out in the woods running a chainsaw and doing tractor work today, tractor wasn't bad but the chainsaw work was friggin hot!

Yes, by this fall I'll have the bottom of that loft closed in with heat and A/C. it gets cold here too, some mornings are in the 20's but with a 40 degree swing, buy 2:00 it could be in the 60s.

That set up was a long time coming, I bought the property 18 years ago just for hunting, then decided to put a house on it 4 years ago, then put the shop on it two years ago...got it all wired up and water run to it, then moved here last year after I retired, I'm loving it!

[bladegrinder]

1 hour ago, dikman said:

Just send him a PM, he's shipped a few across the pond to the US so it shouldn't be a problem. I fitted the plate to mine and the only time I'll take it off is if, for some reason, I'll need the holster or stirrup plate, other than that it will be the default plate.

My little shed was originally built for my sewing machines but it didn't take long to move my reloading/casting gear in too. I doubt you will regret getting the bigger machine.

Thanks dikman, I'll send him a PM.