The "Ask Nathan a question" thread

ManOfSteel89 said:
Nathan the Machinist Nathan the Machinist , now that you've started work on them, when do you think the NASKS will begin to ship? I figure that since you're into the project you'll have a better idea of where you stand.

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I have run ops 1 and 2 on all the blanks, which is milling them into accurate blocks. We're running ops 3 and 4 on them now, which are milling those blocks from both sides with a machining center dedicated to that task. They look like knives stuck in a block. It needs a little head start on the other machines. In about one week I'll start ops 5, 6 and 7, and 8 on the new Mori. That is belly trim out, bevels one and two, and final trim out, which is four fixtures and programs in that mill all tied together.

We're running EDC scales on the Kia at the moment. That will be finished in about a week and we'll start the first of the NASK scales on it. None of the fancy stuff yet, just something to get started.

So, I'm a couple weeks away from having the first few through the entire process. At that point I'll send one to a sheath maker. After that I need to get a batch together for a heat treat, and also evaluate the sheaths before placing an order with the sheath maker. There is also a lot of antique micarta that needs sawn up, blocked out and laminated.

The first cycle on scales is run on a vacuum setup that runs on the mill that is currently running ops 3 and 4 now. That has us starting real scales production at the end of the steel milling process, around the middle of august. The first batch will hopefully be back from HT around that time frame and ready for finish grinding and tumble.

So, I'll have my NASK in a couple weeks. But production won't start to ship until late August. Not for lack of trying though, we'll have it running on three of our four machining centers (the Romi mini mill is too small to help) so we're basically maxed out on it. There is an old saying: nine men and nine women can not make one baby in one month. ...sigh...
 
Nathan, would you mind posting some pictures of the milling in process?
 
It will certainly make for interesting conversation and defeat the rules against double negatives when I tell my friends "It's really not a 'Not a Survival Knife' ". But I like it too, Jo.
 
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Hey Nathan, I may be wrong, but I think I had the first post here in your forum saying it would be called, "NASK" -#517 in "Survival knife ?". If that does become the name, can I have an automatic spot on the (hopefully) pre-order list so I don't have to attempt Friday keyboard-fu? :D:D Can you blame a guy for asking? :D
 
Problem is that the knife is not called the NASK. The upcoming offering is officially known as the Fluffer. Or Fluffy. Or was it Fluffsters o_O ?
 
I've had NASK in my head for a while, and I'm good with that.. calling it Fluffy is hilarious. I would enjoy explaining my Carothers collection even more..

"This EDC was my first Carothers.. Yes, thank you.. I know I have fantastic taste. This one to the right is my first Fluffy... What's that??.. Yeah it's called a Fluffy.. You got a problem?!
 
Nathan, was wondering after the 30 June Sale for the EDC's what might be on the Horizon?o_O;)
 
Please let it be a surprise run of flatware. I have been obsessing about kitchen knives and flatware recently as I am two weeks away from finishing up my new home. I figure that now is as good as a time as any to upgrade some kitchen tools.
 
TommyGun56 said:
Nathan, was wondering after the 30 June Sale for the EDC's what might be on the Horizon?o_O;)
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That is a good question. We don't have a lot of "stuff" about ready to go here. There is a batch of Light Choppers with an experimental HT that might yield a few. There is a batch of 4V Light Choppers that haven't been heat treated yet but the HT protocol is probably ready, just needs a little more verification. There are the Behemoth Choppers in process but they still need final trim out and grinding before HT. So there are a number of knives in the works right now (including a bunch of mostly pre-ordered NASK) but I'm not currently sure what will be in our sale after next week. Perhaps the last few EDCs?


Part of the problem has been repairing all of the machine tools who's homeostasis was upset during the move has left Mark and Jo doing all the shop work while I fix stuff.

A contactor inside the Z axis servo drive in the Mori didn't like the move and caused a weird alarm that was very difficult to track down. I eventually had Mori come out and try and they ended up sending Fanuc to diagnose the problem. A new drive was going to be close to 5 grand so I had to repair the drive. As soon as we got that going something in the Pig was drawing a power supply down and causing a fuse alarm (despite the fuse being fine) so I had to tear that open to correct the short. The next day someone turned off the main power while I was running the Mori, exploding a varistor in the spindle drive that I had to repair (pulled parts of the old servo drive). Later that day a hall effect sensor in the Kia for the Y axis limit switch stopped working and at the same time the coolant filtration on the machine malfunctioned and had to be disassembled with drama in both the sump, plumbing, pumps, coolant lines, nozzle check valves and a freaking flow valve came apart while being adjusted. Then the next day the Romi started throwing a breaker on its coolant system and the motor locked up because (and I don't know what causes this) the rotor shaft in the coolant pump motor bent a little and needed to be turned down. It took two attempts to get this right which required tearing open the pump, pulling impellers, disassembling the motor, pulling bearings etc. because it's all one shaft. Twice. That was a time suck. Installed a new air compressor and assembled a refrigerated air dryer. And tomorrow I'm going to drag everything to the curb and set it all on fire. We're scrambling on the NASK, I have the last few LC preorder to grind, and an old good customer of the shop has a job he needs done that only I can do. We have a lot in process, but I'm getting a little concerned I might not have enough in the immediate pipe line and it might be lean for a month while we get things through heat treat.

...I've got too many irons in the fire... What a month...
 
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