Recommendation? Hitting a rut

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Feb 18, 2016
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Ever happen to anyone where you mess up/ ruin blade after blade after blade? I've messed up the last 4 knives possibly 5 if this one doesn't work out. Its little things like huge divit in blade that i cant grind smooth and a tapered tang that won't get flat.
Anyways, what do yall do when you seem to hit a rut and things just dont seem to go right?
 
do something else
Sometimes you get in such a mode and the harder you try the worst it goes, the more it frustrates you.
Just take a rest, and let it be for a while. And a while can be days, weeks, whatever it takes.
With a fresh mind you'll see things you didn't see before, think of things you didn't think of before and you'll enjoy it again.
 
Slow down and walk up to your grinder with confidence. If you start grinding thinking that you're going to make a mistake you will.
Try to figure out why you're gouging your blades. To much pressure on the plunge, or center of the blade. Are you flat when the blade contacts the belt? Or are you contacting the belt with the tip or plunge first. Grinding for me is hard. It's an art of constant correction, not getting a perfect grind.
This is just a suggestion, but stop doing tapered tangs until you learn how to grind the bevels.
 
You are wanting to go faster than your skills are capable of at this stage if you are ruining blade after blade. Perfect one skill set like perfect bevels on every knife. Step away and figure what you are doing wrong and what you need to do to correct it. Get in a habit of doing things the same way don't jump from this to that or the other. My routine is enter the shop check the lights put away any tools I may have left out the day before. I clean my Benches and inspect my grinders and grease bearing if needed inspect any tooling I will be using and gather all the bits I will use for drilling....I get everything ready in close reach for all my tasks before I start. Now I'm ready everything I need is ready and I haven't ruined any steel but my mind is clear on what my plan is for the blades I will be working on.
 
I agree with Busto. When I started I was seeing what I could do. I would try this method, then this one and so on. I would be happy with whatever new tricky thing I was trying but when it came to the handle and blade finishes, fit and finish, basic grinding, I just didn't have the foundation for them. Just recently I have realized I need to make simpler knives and bring each of the little things to perfection.

This is why you may have seen all my questions about the bowie I am working on. I am going along slow and trying to perfect every little detail. Speaking of which I randomly got big scratches in it from polishing?? So yes I do hit ruts... :D
 
i think you should save the tapered tangs until you have confidence and consistency in your bevel grinds. to me, a tapered tang is just like a long thin flat grind. if you cannot repeatedly do a good flat grind on a bevel, chances are the taper will not come out well. concentrate on getting the simple things to your satisfaction, then try more challenging stuff.
 
Throw them in a box. As your skills improve, you'll be able to fix them later.

Switch tasks. Profile a bunch, or heat treat, or sweep, or something other than grinding.
Switch types. Grind some small EDC's and leave the bigger stuff for later.
Go fishing.
Draw knife designs on paper.
 
Nail one thing down every knife you make. While I do screw up on every knife, or feel like I do, it's rarely the same thing over and over. More often it's trying new things, or new order of operations.

I don't dick bevels up anymore, not to the point that I can't fix them. So get that nailed down. Early in tradeschool I was squaring up a block in a bridgeport and screwed it up, making a parallelogram instead of a cube. I was going to chuck it and start over, but my instructor stopped me and said "Anyone can do this from scratch. It takes more skill to fix it" and left me to figure out how to straighten it out. That's stuck with me my whole career, sometimes maybe to a detriment as there is such a thing as throwing good money after bad, but when you're learning, I think it's important to fix your mistakes rather than starting over. For two reasons, one, to learn how to fix simple mistakes or how to alter the project to eliminate the mistake, and two, as a punitive exercise in why you should slow down and do things right the first time. Especially when you're the engineer, designer, machinist, grinder and salesman all in one. The knife isn't ruined until you say it's ruined, even if it doesn't turn out as you initially planned because it's shorter, thinner, and has a different profile. So what.

You don't learn anything from chucking something into the scrap bin.
 
Ever happen to anyone where you mess up/ ruin blade after blade after blade? I've messed up the last 4 knives possibly 5 if this one doesn't work out. Its little things like huge divit in blade that i cant grind smooth and a tapered tang that won't get flat.
Anyways, what do yall do when you seem to hit a rut and things just dont seem to go right?

I saw a doctor that specialized in adhd and got on the right meds. Made a world of difference!
 
Thanks for the advice gentleman. This one knife im on is the first ive ever head an issue with divits. But i think i got it down. And i think yall are right im getting too ahead of myself. I figured out the tapered tang. But now im trying slotted guard full tang. And things that are just out of my expertise. So im going to take everyones advise and slow down. And back up. Kuraki i love that advise. Makes alot of sense.
 
Simplify your blades. When I teach (welding that is) I recommend that students master each step . By controlling the variables it's easier to work out what needs to be adjusted. Once those variables are recognized move to the next step. You may encounter the same problems in the future but you can identify what caused them. If plunges are giving you problems try making a plungless knife like a kitchen knife. I think kukry once said he did better when working on a larger blade, I know i did. Maybe not all the time but it's nice to have enough steel that you can see a problem happen, fix it, have it happen again and so on, and still have a pairing knife left over.
Take some pressure off yourself. Call things test blades. Try something new and feel like you learned something when it goes wrong.
Walk away from a blade that you can't figure out. Set it aside, it might be just the thing you are looking for in a couple of weeks. Most of my junked blades have been used.
Everyone learns a bit differently. Take all the advise with a grain of salt and find a way that works for you. For example I suck at drawing, but when I can pick the piece up and look at it and feel it I can see what needs to happen.
 
Thanks for the advice gentleman. This one knife im on is the first ive ever head an issue with divits. But i think i got it down. And i think yall are right im getting too ahead of myself. I figured out the tapered tang. But now im trying slotted guard full tang. And things that are just out of my expertise. So im going to take everyones advise and slow down. And back up. Kuraki i love that advise. Makes alot of sense.
Ok...you found the problem and found the fix...So how many tapered tang knives did you complete before you felt you had mastered the process before taking on the slotted guard. I know you were working on a hidden tang as well...just saying that you are trying a lot of different tasks but saying you are making to many mistakes goes back to make a few of the same design without any mistakes.

Like Kuraki I can pick out flaws on every blade I make you might not even notice but I know they happen but I know what is necessary to fix them. I actually thought I made a Perfect knife once....:D:rolleyes:
 
The hidden tang knife was a wash. I have a problem with trying to get things just right then next thing i know theres not alot of handle material left lol.
Ive done quite a few tapered tangs just havent quite "mastered" it switched to thicker stock and adjusted my process and bingo. Well first slotted guard i couldn't get the transition to the choil area round then next thing i know im left with half an inch of handle width.
Wo98fE5.jpg

I have yet to find a good tutorial on slotted guard for full tangs. And how to shape them and your scales
 
The hidden tang knife was a wash. I have a problem with trying to get things just right then next thing i know theres not alot of handle material left lol.
Ive done quite a few tapered tangs just havent quite "mastered" it switched to thicker stock and adjusted my process and bingo. Well first slotted guard i couldn't get the transition to the choil area round then next thing i know im left with half an inch of handle width.
Wo98fE5.jpg

I have yet to find a good tutorial on slotted guard for full tangs. And how to shape them and your scales


This might help:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/introduction-and-a-wip.1082411/
 
Make a distally-tapered sword blade. Some type of sword you liked when you were a kid. :D
 
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