I didn't torch myself but look anyway!

So it seems I have to set myself on fire to get some comments on my blog. A handy trick I will keep in mind should it be needed in the future. However I have made some knives that I am pretty proud of and I thought I'd let you all take a look.

This knife is made of a ferrier file and pieces of Oak venear that I dyed diffrent colors and then glued together. I gave it to Pat for his B-day. I made one other knife like this too but it was thinner and shaped a bit diffrent. It turned out pretty good too but I didn't get any pictures before I gave it away.

This pair of knives are made out of the same ferrier rasp and one has elkhorn and one buck horn. I gave one to one of my buddies who is on the Sniper team with me and one to a nice dispatcher. Almost a shame to break them up.

This little guy is almost an after thought to a larger knife I am making. He is just the last couple of inches from the rasp after the larger rough was cut. It has a Birds eye Maple burl handle and I only hope the bigger knife turns out as well.

Aint she cute?

I might have gone too far.

My new hobby which is tons of fun for me has been quite the hassle for Silvia. I thought that the cost was going to kill her and therefore it. I mean when I started I was buying fifteen dollar files every knife + abrasives + wood +Stain+ miscellaneous expenses+ more miscellaneous expenses.

Since those first couple knives though, I have kept the over head down by trading finished knives for raw materials. (I still pay a lot) but its not ridiculous like before.


I next thought that the time I spent on it would get her goat and kill my hobby. I was kidding myself of course. I think she is glad to get me out of her house making a mess and into the garage making a mess.



I might have finally gone to far though....... I set myself on fire. Don't be to surprised I foresaw the possibility in one of my earlier posts I think. Setting yourself on fire is about as scary as I thought it might be. (you don't even think of stop, drop and roll) Let me walk you through the thought process.........



"Wow my side sure is hot? Wait a second that is WAY to hot! WHOA my shirt is on fire! I need to beat out the flames! OUCH!! beating out the flames pushes the fire onto my side. I need to grab my shirt and pull it away from my body! OWWWW that hurts my hands!! I need to take my shirt OFF! No! bad idea dragging my burning shirt across my face and hair. Maybe I should yell for Silvia! No she'll make fun of me (funny the things you think of) oh good its starting to go out, oh good its out........Silvia is going to be mad.



Now this all took about three seconds to happen and five minutes to type which shows how fast your brain can go. Let me show you a pic montage of the actual events!!







Look at all that safety equipment! How could this have happened??



Now this isn't the first time that I have been hurt. I'm kindof a klutz and knives are sharp. Here is my first picture worthy ouch. I was sharpening a knife and whacked the back of my knuckle. It wasn't very deep but it bled like a son of a gun. Anyway no big deal.

Here is my next ouch. This one was bad and I didn't have time to grab a camera until after the Doc cleaned it up. I was drilling a hole through a knife handle and the drill caught and spun the knife like a razor sharp helicopter blade right through my thumb!! Gross huh? The Doc said that it missed the tendon and something called a joint capsule. The Doc said either one of those things would have been bad news.

Oh well I guess you got to go some kind of way, better a red hot shard of metal to the base of the skull then dying of old age, right?

Just kidding, I'm actually getting a lot better and safer at this. Unfortunately the learning curve is kind of dangerous. I now have a drill press so I don't have to hand drill any more plus I clamp stuff down, I no longer sharpen knives while sleep deprived, and I guess I'll probably be a little more cognisant of flying sparks from now on. Well I have had my blog break and now it is back to the grind, which isn't just a figure of speech.