Recent content by emtore

My granddaughter lived in NZ for two years. Worked in a restaurant. She got tired of eating sheep every meal of the day. Other than that she loved the place.

Angle grinders . . . have been using them at a daily basis for years. No accidents, no shattered discs. I use cutting discs with a thickness of a tiny bit more than 1/32" (1 millimeter). You'd expect them to shatter easily but they do hold up and will even take some flexing. The thicker cutting...

My kitchen knives are scalpel sharp with a shallow angle about 20-22 degrees, but a knife used outdoors I grind a 25 degree edge (scandigrind) raise a burr with whatever belt I've got and polish with a leather wheel and compound. They slice through paper sheets without tearing the paper. The...

I think cattle ranchers in the US and Sami reindeer herders in Northern Norway would get along just fine,-same problems, same solutions. Your suggestion would leave a fine wire edge, plus the tiny grinding marks left by the belt would create the fine tissue strands that prevents the animal...

Well, it depends on what I've got at the moment in the department of 2x72 belts. The local hardware store stocks 40 grit only. Across the border to Finland they used to stock large rolls of 2" wide material enabling me to make my own belts in several grit sizes. They went belly up a while ago...

I make my knives scary sharp. However, I get many questions from people that require knives with very special characteristics. Here's the background: Reindeer herders mark their calves in august by cutting off pieces of the calve's ears. Each owner has his/her own pattern. The problem is a scary...

That was a tragic story. Poor wife who had to come home and find her husband in such a state. I avoid buffing wheels as best I can. I usually polish by hand using a piece of leather and polishing compound, or clamping the blade in a vice and using a hand held drill at slow speed with a buffing...

I'm 63,-no chance of keeping up with my former self these days. Machines should be treated with respect: -Angle grinders, hydraulic presses, propane forges etc. These tools, although helpful, will bite back if abused or treated carelessly. But the tool I'm most scared of in a knifemaker's shop...

Forge welding with a hammer and anvil is doable. If the surfaces are clean they tend to stick by just touching each other in the fire. Drawing out could best be done with a power hammer. I do understand that when something says 80 tons on it, it's not a toy and will send hot metal across the...

Come to think of it, a motorized rolling mill would't be too bad a choice either, both for forge welding and drawing out.

Largest log splitter they sell here is 35 tons. Hefty price though. There are warehouses here that sell cheap tools, much like Harbour Freight in the US. They sell 8 to 10 ton splitters. I've read on a forum that in theory at least you don't need much oomph at all for forge welding since you're...

So, I'll be setting up a forge as soon as I buy a property,-likely to happen this summer. I'll be doing some forge welding (damascus and san mai) and the welding will be done using a hydraulic press. Drawing out will be done by a power hammer. Regarding the press,- it is NOT required to squish a...

Spot on . . . nothing is more rewarding.

Regarding scary sharp. I had a Fiskars axe long ago, and decided to sharpen it on a water stone. I did, and when finished I placed the axe on the table and sat down on the couch. Then nature called and I had to go to the bathroom. Then I saw a decent amount of blood on the floor and a trail of...

Overheating can be avoided by starting the grinding at the tip. If you start at the handle end and grind towards the tip the heat will be "pushed" along the blade and end up at the tip. It feels a bit akward to start the grind at the tip, and if you prefer starting at the handle end, make sure...