What's up at SDS Knifeworks

Been getting a few things done. Trying to get some big orders knocked out while still catching up individual orders. I think I'm going to have to hold off on taking more orders until I can get caught up or at least get close to caught up.

I'm really hoping to get my current backlog caught up by Christmas. That may be a chore though with hunting season here. It's a goal to shoot for though.

A shot of some recent work. These have had the handles drilled and all holes countersunk (540 drill press operations) since this picture was taken. I've also taken the grind to a higher grit. All I have left to do is contour the rear of the handle and file in the thumb grooves and these will be ready for heat treat.

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Thanks for the inquiry. I tend to forget to update this thread much.
SDS
 
Good to see you are still doing well! Thanks for the update and the pic. I'm really interested to see some final pics of those - make sure you share with us :thumbup:
 
Thanks again for inquiring. I'm still doing well, just trying to get caught up. I really don't like being this far behind on orders and this has been a good learning lesson for me. I think I'm not going to accept any orders for a little bit. Until I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I realize this is a good position to be in from a business standpoint, it's just that I don't do this to be in business. I like making knives.

I'll post more pictures as I get them.

Thanks,
SDS
 
Well I finally remembered to carry the camera out to the shop tonight. It's been a rough few weeks around here. I was the last one in the family to catch the flu but now we have all had it and I'm starting to recover. That stuff sucks.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of works I have in progress. Obviously there are several at several different stages. Most of the knives pictured here are for orders but I think there are two or three that were done as duplicates of orders.

Thanks for looking and I'm wide open to comments.

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This is a group of knives for a tactical unit. This is less than 1/3 of their order but I'm only doing them in batches of 10 for now.

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This is another tactical knife (my M.U.K. model) that was modified at a customers request. The top knife is my second fully forged knife. Neither of them are completed yet.

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These will be drop point hunters.

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Some misc. blades and a dagger I hope to get some time to play with soon.

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This one will be headed to the UK.

SDS
 
Here is one that holds a bit of a special spot for me. I worked on the blade and a very good friend of mine fitted up the guard and cleaned up some parts on the knife. He did this for me many years ago and he passed away last year. I just finished up the knife and I'll be taking it to Colorado next month to hunt elk.

I have a lot of knives made by him but this is one of the only ones that we both had a part in.

The knifemaker was George Englebretson. He was a fantastic artist and is sorely missed by many in the knifemaking community around here.

Thanks again for looking,

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SDS
 
Hey - that batch for the Tac unit is looking great. I guess you opted out of that sharpened part on the spine for a double edge?

They are looking good :thumbup:
 
Mike, I so wish I could have been there but my wife and son are in DC this weekend and I'm home with my daughter. I'm trying to get over the flu and I'm working this weekend too. There just wasn't any way I could make it work. I was seriously bummed about not getting to make it.

Myright, the tact-team decided they wanted a sharpened swedge instead of the chisel ground section on that first prototype. I kept the angle pretty steep so they will still be able to do some pretty good chopping with this and since the edge is farther out on the blade it will give better leverage.

Thanks for checking out the thread.
SDS
 
What's up brotha - I just got my SDS camp knife back from Richard J with a wicked new convex edge on it. Such a great knife!

Hope you are getting out from under your orders and are doing well.
 
Myright, I'm glad the knife is doing well for you. I have heard good things about Richard's sharpening. If you get any pictures of your knife in use I'd love to see them. As always I love hearing good feedback but if you have any suggestions for improvement I would very much appreciate that as well.

I am starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel but I am not out of it quite yet. I have a lot of knives that are 70-80 percent finished.

I will be out of town for almost two weeks starting on Saturday. I'm heading up to Colorado for an elk hunt. I was really hoping to have some of my own knives to take with me but I'm only going to have my normal hunting knives. I may take one that I forged with me just to see how it performs. I didn't even have time to put a handle on that one. I may just wrap it with leather to try it out.

I will be sure to take a lot of pictures and hopefully I can post some of them here when I get back. If things go really well I'll get to show some "elk down" pictures.

Thanks for posting,
SDS
 
I'm shooting the first legal elk I get a shot at. I've never figured out how to cook those antlers so they taste good anyway!

SDS
 
Hey buddy - I hope you are cleaning up on some elk.

Just wanted to drop you and let you know I put your orange handled camp knife you sold me to some good use. I got a couple of good lengths of straight saplings to make some walking staffs out of and stripped all the bark using my SDS camp knife. I had Richard J put a wicket convex edge on it and that this is like a lazer now.

The handle geometry is great and I really appreciate, now, the lip at the end of the handle that wraps your pinky finger onto the handle.

Also - the jimping on the edge of the spine is far superior to any that I have felt yet. I really enjoy how fine the jimping is. While it feels a bit rougher than others, like my RC3 I really enjoy how much it allows my finger to stay in contact with the spine. This is a great design.

I'm looking forward to seeing some more work from you and also the finished product for the TAC team blade you are working on.
 
I'm glad to hear that your putting the knife to good use. I have heard really good things about Richard J's work. If you get any pictures of the yourself using it be sure to post 'em up.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to put to put my knives to use on elk. I did get to do some deer hunting with my dad once I got home and we did get to dirty some steel. He shot a really nice 6X6 and I tagged a doe the same morning. Not bad for hunting public land.

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Although I didn't get an elk I still had a tremendous amount of fun in Colorado.

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A freshly brewed cup of coffee at 9400 ft./16 degrees. What a morning.

The tactical knives are almost finished. I was blasting them when the sandblast cabinet I was using pooped out on me. Hopefully I'll be able to finish them in the next week.

SDS
 
Glad to hear that you had fun even if you didn't get any elk. Nice score on the deer for both of you :thumbup:

I'll post some pics of the blade!
 
Guess i will be the one to roll you over to the new year... Happy new year SDS!!!

whats been going on at your shop lately? any new pictures? still busy as all hell...
 
Thanks for the bump for the new year. Things are still busy, but I'm learning to deal with that a little better. In some areas I have had to just scale back so I can refocus on what is most important to me. The knives are going to get done but I have to spend more time with my kids while they are still little.

Here are some pictures of a couple of knives that I have just about finished. I still have to make sheaths for them and get them out the door but at least I'm making some headway.

The one on top was made at the request of a friend. He wanted a "tactical pig splitter". He hunts hogs pretty regularly and wanted a knife with a guthook (my first) and a handle that wouldn't let his hand slip. Here is what we came up with. It is 154CM with a heavily textured G10 handle.

The knife below that is my first forged knife. It is nearly 3/16" at the spin but has a nice thin edge. It is 1070 with hickory handles and a hemp cord wrap at the top of the handle. I am going to soak the cord with epoxy to seal it. I'm planning to make some sort of rawhide/period style sheath for this one.

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Thanks for checking the forum and thanks for looking, hope everyone gets the new year started off right.

SDS
 
Glad to hear you getting into a groove and striking the balance between work and family. I know that is VERY hard to do and family usually ends up losing so much respect to you for keeping the balance. Your kids will appreciate it. My dad worked A LOT when I was a kid and, as a result, I do not have many memories of me and my father doing much together. That is one of the main reasons I spend as much time doing things with my son as I possibly can. I don't want to watch my kid grow up and have no memories of us together. I applaud you, my friend!

Ok - now knife talk :)

I like that textured G10 a lot. You chose a great color for it and I'd be interested in seeing how it felt in hand. Your friend will be happy with it and I hope he puts it to good use.

Now on to the real beauty of that forged blade. You did a great job with it, IMO. I'm a HUGE fan of forged finished knives. I like the blade design, it kind of reminds me of a mix between a nessmuk and a sheepsfoot design. I would love to see that same knife but with some sort of hemp wrap in green, since I'm a sucker for all things green :) I can't wait to see the sheath you come up with on this one. You have a knack for creating sheaths that match perfectly for the knife, especially for period type stuff as this knife is.

Good luck getting caught up and have fun with family. I hope to order a blade from you in the near future.
 
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