Thanks buddy, I really appreciate it! It's fun to walk out into the shop now and see so many finished parts, feels like I'm actually getting somewhere!
That's a great tip, I like it! I've used it before for other things but it didn't even occur to me for this one. I should be able to save my damascus clips with it and make the pins function properly on them. Thanks!
Yup I do corner round the spine of the blades, that turned out to be a great idea. If I did put a corner round on the inside of the handles I'd want it to be a tiny one, like 1/32" or smaller. It certainly would be nice.
Right you are! I ran the numbers in Gwiz and 1. Adaptive clearing wouldn't do any good with so little extra on each side. 2. Adaptive clearing in that application would be 1/2 as fast, even though you are able to do it in one depth pass instead of two. Not surprised that you have it optimized :-)
It all depends on how you want to do it. If by hand, the easiest way is to print off a pattern and glue it to the surface, then manually follow that pattern and "draw within the lines".
The timascus will be honeycomb, heat anodized with the flats sanded to silver. That's what the customer wanted and I think it'll look perfect. The lockside and clip will be smooth, so the full pattern will show there no problem. Lakeshore doesn't sell reamers, super unfortunately. Get them from KBCTools. We're making 65 ish.
Hi, And agree absolutely with what you say. I own a couple of cheap knives nothing like the quality John and Erik make, and can go only on the knives I have seen on YT, though I have seen many I do not recall seeing any with the inside edge rounded slightly, so, nice one. It is something that goes towards the final knife looking if it is possible, 'more finished' and somehow subliminally more comfortable and 'welcoming and needed' to be held, if that makes sense.
This is my only job, hence why I'm working so hard to do it RIGHT. You can definitely make good money with a home CNC setup, IF you can find the business, which can be very difficult. And IF you can make good parts without ridiculously long setup times like I do haha. Kickstarter has enabled a lot of people to realize their dreams lately.
Sony HDR CX190. Works alright for what it is, a bit of sharpening during editing and it's good to go. I've also got a large LED panel light to light up my pretty face.
I've asked myself why you're redoing the Norseman as I thought it was just awesome and perfect already, but as soon as I've seen the plain one and its tolerances, I've fallen in love:D The only thing that might look even better (at least in my eyes), would be the same thing, but concave. Gonna get one of those knives as soon as I can afford it - awesome work:)
The inside edges are all scotchbrited so they're not sharp, but they're still pretty square, just blunt. Erik was just suggesting that we chamfer the inside edges, might try it on the next batch. Just a teensy chamfer.
John, if you have a RadioShack in your area, they have a 3 lens loupe that has 5x magnification per loupe. The lens is about the 1 inch in diameter. You can stack the lenses together for more magnification.
That will be a wonderful time, can't wait! At that point I'll be HAPPY to buy a drill press. Hell at that point I might have to get another CNC mill :-).
fantastic idea on the scotchbrite in the mill! I'm going to have to try that. I was surprised at the finish. I bet some under sized wood scales on the plain handles would look pretty cool, and a little more organic, as opposed to industrial/machine.
A little tip when you drill and ream a hole that ends up being a hair too big. Take a small individual ball bearing and set it on the hole. Take a small hammer and give it a decent hit. It will push the top of the hole in enough to give you the fit you want or you can come back and re-ream the hole if you hit too hard. For larger holes you can use the rounded end of a ball peen hammer.
Wow thats a lot of knives! And Thanks for the Reamer tip. And That makes sense with the Timascus I didnt think it was going to be full Timascus for some reason lol, but dam I cant wait for that!
Yea thats what I was thinking. The way the light would go on the pattern would make the Timascus just look crazy silly, well thats what I think at least.
John I really like the corner rounders for this application Also doing the blades(almost positive you already do that) oh and kudos on the pins and clip BRILLIANT
I'll be doing exactly that for my new personal knife, wood inlays on both sides. The question becomes, leave the titanium silver or anodize it a cool color? Choices choices!
Definitely possible, not that difficult either. The only downside is that the clip material will have to be thicker to begin with. This way, I can make my clips and handles both from 1/8" titanium, even on the same sheet, so logistically it makes sense for me to do it this way. However, having a boss on the clip is a sweet way to do it, I've seen other guys do it and it works great.
No, it just looks like water. It's a synthetic coolant that Tormach sells, I like it. Plain water would rust the entire mill on the first day. I know because I tried to rinse the machine down with my garden hose..... Bad idea.
I had almost forgotten about that timascus, good point! I don't think I've ever seen it machined in a pattern like this, I suppose that could go either way... The back of the damascus clips on the last episode was a bit chaotic though, so the timascus will likely come out similar if patterned.
Yeah circles would work too but they wouldn't really be any faster, assuming they were the same size. Unless you just plunged it with a bigger endmill, which might or might not look good.
29:30 you could use the extra "scrap" ti for like gun racks or something. Even sell them in the store as like a cool grimsmo memento. Anywhoo. Love the videos as always. It's been a while since i was on youtube... so it was sweet when i saw that my "tv/pc" time for the week had just been made full up.
Those "flat" style handles are just crying out for some inlays or small diamond pattern, like knurling, to add grip to the smoothness, front and back, just to make the coding harder. :) I know only a little about the subject but could the damage on the end mill further up than you cut, be due to cavitation. It can seriously damage ship's propellers and with the tool turning in a jet of fluid with air readily available. Seriously great to see your videos, very enjoyable seeing craftsmen at work.
Adaptive clearing that slot would take forever, I can slot it at 5ipm. The slot is 0.068" so I can do a finish pass and climb mill both walls otherwise one wall looks like crap.
Hi John, I would love to see a video where the handle scales or backs or both are finally split apart by the profile tool, from that sheet which has all the detailed pivot and other plus threaded holes.
John, I know the quality of your work, I've watched every single video you have. Have a pair of your handles that were rejects.. I've yet to find a blemish even on those btw :) But I'm sitting here watching, when the video hit 23:30 and I see the handles on the pallet. They look AMAZING MAN!!! Keep it up man!
I am digging the plain blade. I am thinking the plain handles with the EPIC makers mark in silver and the rest of the handle in black. That would pop. I am still saving up for the Norseman and waiting for an integral. :) Awesome video!!
Not sure if they make roll pins that small, probably. The clip needs to be easily removable, so it's better to have precision pins as opposed to spring fit pins.
Is your lock bar slot the same diameter of the endmill you're cutting it with? Obviously your tool life is fine, but I'm getting fantastic tool life in 6AL-4V when using a smaller than the slot endmill coupled with adaptive clearing and using an 8% engagement (slice width based on the tool diameter) in slots like that.
I actually don't like them all that much. This one is about as deep as a conventional clip gets, only the lanyard hole sticks up above the pocketline. I guess deep carry works well on some knives, I've never owned one though.
Hi aksting, I forgot to mention this ability. I have a very similar 3 loupes, with lenses at 3-5-15-20-30≈ and it is possible to do as you say loading even different loupes and you will get a combination of those optics. The focal length at anything more than 30 X becomes so tiny it is very difficult, for me anyway, to keep it in focus for more than a fraction of a second, great fun to try though! ;-) In theory I should be able to match the 20 x and 30 x and get what is it, 600 x! There is no
Hows your grinder going? Also I think you should make short videos about what you use each individual tool for, one video for each. It would help me to think about what tools I will need when I get a mill.
It would be great to see one of the 'Plain Knives' in Damascus. And I do not know if you have done it and I have missed it, but have an option of a Damascus Pocket Clip on a 'Plain Knife' or one of the diamond or hole patterned folders.
Meh, why do I need a drill press when I have this fancy machine? I just finished drilling and reaming all those pin holes on the CNC mill, worked perfectly.
I bought a cheapo loupe from amazon, and talked about it a bit in one of my older videos at:v=8rPfluj4YJw the worst part is the super short focal length, but i like it otherwise.
An other round of inspiration! And as mentioned before, I'm no knifes man. But...how much for a plain one? Guess I can find out at your homepage. As a small detail I like mine in "metric", as I'm a "norseman". ;)
Its tuesday, why is there a KMT already?? :) Oversized endmill plunges is spindle runout, or collet runout, or possibly too high of feedrate. I like to use a wire brush where you're using the scotchbrite. Both produce similar results, but the scotchbrite can really put alot of strain on the spindle when rigidly held. The flat handles look real good. Why is that bullnose endmill so long? :) I agree with the chamfer for the inside, small corner rounders can be a b**** to keep from gouging.
Do you have any plans to make a more contoured rounded shaped pair of scales, similar to the fix knife Thor? And please forgive me for any errors in the name I am typing and remembering at the same time, always a dangerous thing to do with me!
And John are you going to do the Timascus handle plain? I think that would look better then honeycomb or diamond, IMO tho. And Dose LakeShoreCarbide Sell Reamers? I cant find them on the site and Im trying to get some in .25 and .125. And Also How many will you guys be making this run?
I've been watching these things like crazy all weekend. I saw your channel years ago when you were first starting out (about anodizing) and kinda forgot about it. Just rediscovered it in looking into buying a Tormach myself. I love this channel! Just curious if you've considered putting an air solenoid on your air line that would allow you to shut off the air with a line of G code at the end of your program? maybe you've already done that, and I haven't gotten that far yet, but I wanted to throw the idea out there while it's in my mind.
I know you two have been busy and I imagine you especially John, with your newborn son, a (very) late congratulations btw. But was there any progress on the grinder as well? I'm very interested in how that's going to turn out too.
Great to hear, I'm SUPER stoked with how these are turning out.
Thanks buddy, I really appreciate it! It's fun to walk out into the shop now and see so many finished parts, feels like I'm actually getting somewhere!
That's a great tip, I like it! I've used it before for other things but it didn't even occur to me for this one. I should be able to save my damascus clips with it and make the pins function properly on them. Thanks!
Absolutely love the CNC Scotch-briting. Seems like there is a real opportunity to design that into future products to do some innovative stuff.
Yup I do corner round the spine of the blades, that turned out to be a great idea. If I did put a corner round on the inside of the handles I'd want it to be a tiny one, like 1/32" or smaller. It certainly would be nice.
the whole point to the patterns are aesthetic and the honeycomb looks great
Right you are! I ran the numbers in Gwiz and 1. Adaptive clearing wouldn't do any good with so little extra on each side. 2. Adaptive clearing in that application would be 1/2 as fast, even though you are able to do it in one depth pass instead of two. Not surprised that you have it optimized :-)
Good luck on the grinder. I just got a small wheel attachment for my grinder and it is GREAT! It is so much better than using a sanding drum.
Super troooooopersss! Such a classic! Awesome work on the knives John!!
You are rocking out some great work John! Love the vids. Love the Norseman!!!
It all depends on how you want to do it. If by hand, the easiest way is to print off a pattern and glue it to the surface, then manually follow that pattern and "draw within the lines".
The timascus will be honeycomb, heat anodized with the flats sanded to silver. That's what the customer wanted and I think it'll look perfect. The lockside and clip will be smooth, so the full pattern will show there no problem. Lakeshore doesn't sell reamers, super unfortunately. Get them from KBCTools. We're making 65 ish.
Hi,
And agree absolutely with what you say.
I own a couple of cheap knives nothing like the quality John and Erik make, and can go only on the knives I have seen on YT, though I have seen many I do not recall seeing any with the inside edge rounded slightly, so, nice one.
It is something that goes towards the final knife looking if it is possible, 'more finished' and somehow subliminally more comfortable and 'welcoming and needed' to be held, if that makes sense.
It is anodized! The knurl part is gold and the outer surfaces are blurple.
I'm getting very excited ! Can't wait ! Turning out insanely good!
Nothing yet, but I've been thinking about it. Looking forward to having it operational and using it, there's quite a few jobs I could do on it.
That plain Norseman is BEAUTIFUL!
Nice to see all of the machining info, great
This is my only job, hence why I'm working so hard to do it RIGHT. You can definitely make good money with a home CNC setup, IF you can find the business, which can be very difficult. And IF you can make good parts without ridiculously long setup times like I do haha. Kickstarter has enabled a lot of people to realize their dreams lately.
Just watched your entire series, inspirational keep up the good work.
No progress on the grinder yet, but soon. Shorter vids on each tool is a good idea, I'll have to think about that.
Sony HDR CX190. Works alright for what it is, a bit of sharpening during editing and it's good to go. I've also got a large LED panel light to light up my pretty face.
I've asked myself why you're redoing the Norseman as I thought it was just awesome and perfect already, but as soon as I've seen the plain one and its tolerances, I've fallen in love:D The only thing that might look even better (at least in my eyes), would be the same thing, but concave. Gonna get one of those knives as soon as I can afford it - awesome work:)
Good to know! Thanks for the tip.
The inside edges are all scotchbrited so they're not sharp, but they're still pretty square, just blunt. Erik was just suggesting that we chamfer the inside edges, might try it on the next batch. Just a teensy chamfer.
those new style clips are super clean and the logo is sick!
John, if you have a RadioShack in your area, they have a 3 lens loupe that has 5x magnification per loupe. The lens is about the 1 inch in diameter. You can stack the lenses together for more magnification.
That will be a wonderful time, can't wait! At that point I'll be HAPPY to buy a drill press. Hell at that point I might have to get another CNC mill :-).
fantastic idea on the scotchbrite in the mill! I'm going to have to try that. I was surprised at the finish. I bet some under sized wood scales on the plain handles would look pretty cool, and a little more organic, as opposed to industrial/machine.
A little tip when you drill and ream a hole that ends up being a hair too big. Take a small individual ball bearing and set it on the hole. Take a small hammer and give it a decent hit. It will push the top of the hole in enough to give you the fit you want or you can come back and re-ream the hole if you hit too hard. For larger holes you can use the rounded end of a ball peen hammer.
Man I really like that diamond pattern it looks awesome great work.
the plain Norseman is awersome
Fair enough, it's definitely a versatile machine aye and of course a bit more capable than the 1x30 you have now too.
Good luck with it.
Wow thats a lot of knives! And Thanks for the Reamer tip. And That makes sense with the Timascus I didnt think it was going to be full Timascus for some reason lol, but dam I cant wait for that!
Yea thats what I was thinking. The way the light would go on the pattern would make the Timascus just look crazy silly, well thats what I think at least.
John I really like the corner rounders for this application Also doing the blades(almost positive you already do that) oh and kudos on the pins and clip BRILLIANT
Really like that smooth concealed carry finish on the ti.
WooHoo John and Erik are on a roll now. :)
I'll be doing exactly that for my new personal knife, wood inlays on both sides. The question becomes, leave the titanium silver or anodize it a cool color? Choices choices!
Definitely possible, not that difficult either. The only downside is that the clip material will have to be thicker to begin with. This way, I can make my clips and handles both from 1/8" titanium, even on the same sheet, so logistically it makes sense for me to do it this way. However, having a boss on the clip is a sweet way to do it, I've seen other guys do it and it works great.
No, it just looks like water. It's a synthetic coolant that Tormach sells, I like it. Plain water would rust the entire mill on the first day. I know because I tried to rinse the machine down with my garden hose..... Bad idea.
Maaaaaaaybe one day, but currently I have no plans to. For a flipper I find that they drag a lot more than framelocks, making them slower.
I had almost forgotten about that timascus, good point! I don't think I've ever seen it machined in a pattern like this, I suppose that could go either way...
The back of the damascus clips on the last episode was a bit chaotic though, so the timascus will likely come out similar if patterned.
Man.. i wish i could buy a lefty one if i wasn't always broke. Love your work, been watching from about week 25 or so.
Some really great progress on the knives though, the new features and tiny details like the clip locator pins are looking fantastic. :)
Yeah circles would work too but they wouldn't really be any faster, assuming they were the same size. Unless you just plunged it with a bigger endmill, which might or might not look good.
29:30 you could use the extra "scrap" ti for like gun racks or something. Even sell them in the store as like a cool grimsmo memento. Anywhoo. Love the videos as always. It's been a while since i was on youtube... so it was sweet when i saw that my "tv/pc" time for the week had just been made full up.
Those "flat" style handles are just crying out for some inlays or small diamond pattern, like knurling, to add grip to the smoothness, front and back, just to make the coding harder. :)
I know only a little about the subject but could the damage on the end mill further up than you cut, be due to cavitation. It can seriously damage ship's propellers and with the tool turning in a jet of fluid with air readily available.
Seriously great to see your videos, very enjoyable seeing craftsmen at work.
Wowwowowo 2 videos in 3 days.... THIS IS EPIC!
Adaptive clearing that slot would take forever, I can slot it at 5ipm. The slot is 0.068" so I can do a finish pass and climb mill both walls otherwise one wall looks like crap.
Hi John,
I would love to see a video where the handle scales or backs or both are finally split apart by the profile tool, from that sheet which has all the detailed pivot and other plus threaded holes.
i really dig those sterile handles. awesome video man!
I don't think the Norseman will ever get thicker contoured scales, I like it thin. Some guys have asked for it, but I'm not too interested.
John,
I know the quality of your work, I've watched every single video you have. Have a pair of your handles that were rejects.. I've yet to find a blemish even on those btw :) But I'm sitting here watching, when the video hit 23:30 and I see the handles on the pallet. They look AMAZING MAN!!! Keep it up man!
I would love to see a video of you coding one of your cad drawings.
Sold the X2 for a good amount, happy to see it gone.
I am digging the plain blade. I am thinking the plain handles with the EPIC makers mark in silver and the rest of the handle in black. That would pop. I am still saving up for the Norseman and waiting for an integral. :) Awesome video!!
Not sure if they make roll pins that small, probably. The clip needs to be easily removable, so it's better to have precision pins as opposed to spring fit pins.
Is your lock bar slot the same diameter of the endmill you're cutting it with? Obviously your tool life is fine, but I'm getting fantastic tool life in 6AL-4V when using a smaller than the slot endmill coupled with adaptive clearing and using an 8% engagement (slice width based on the tool diameter) in slots like that.
This vid makes me proud to be an owner of a Norseman
They don't make a stub 1/8" bullnose, so that's why it's so long. Doesn't seem to affect anything, I'm only going down 0.015".
Eventually, but this project is more important.
No progress :-(. It sure would be nice for a few operations. Gotta finish it up sometime soon.
I meant the plain handles. The blades are timeless. :)
I forgot to ask about the grinder aswell. UPDATE!! lol
Thanks!!!!
I actually don't like them all that much. This one is about as deep as a conventional clip gets, only the lanyard hole sticks up above the pocketline. I guess deep carry works well on some knives, I've never owned one though.
Hi aksting,
I forgot to mention this ability. I have a very similar 3 loupes, with lenses at 3-5-15-20-30≈ and it is possible to do as you say loading even different loupes and you will get a combination of those optics. The focal length at anything more than 30 X becomes so tiny it is very difficult, for me anyway, to keep it in focus for more than a fraction of a second, great fun to try though! ;-) In theory I should be able to match the 20 x and 30 x and get what is it, 600 x! There is no
you should put the Norseman on the outside of the plain handled knives and anodize it like the pocket clip from the last video
Hows your grinder going? Also I think you should make short videos about what you use each individual tool for, one video for each. It would help me to think about what tools I will need when I get a mill.
would it be feasible to actually machine protrusions on the clips and matching slots on the handles? just an idea :)
How about using roll pins for your clips, giving you a "spring fit" and allowing a bit of a tolerance range in those holes?
Definitely a nice surprise aye! :)
It would be great to see one of the 'Plain Knives' in Damascus. And I do not know if you have done it and I have missed it, but have an option of a Damascus Pocket Clip on a 'Plain Knife' or one of the diamond or hole patterned folders.
I really want one of the plain ones someday soon. Lol
Meh, why do I need a drill press when I have this fancy machine? I just finished drilling and reaming all those pin holes on the CNC mill, worked perfectly.
Super Troopers i wouldn't worry about
John, I am interested in producing drill patterns in wood like you do for your handle grips. Is there a good web resource to get me started?
Ding ding! Nice.
can you round the inside of the handles ... that is a petpeeve of mine
Awww shucks, thanks!
you need to color anodize that sweet little flashlight
A gold anodize with a brown wood would be good, like cocobolo or walnut, or leave it silver with a lighter wood like curly maple.
Tried that once, it was a pain but looked awesome. Go to BladeHQ and search for Grimsmo.
Yup.
"He's already pulled over, he can't pull over any further!"
"You boys ever been to MEXICO?"
"The snoz berries taste like snoz berries"
I bought a cheapo loupe from amazon, and talked about it a bit in one of my older videos at:v=8rPfluj4YJw
the worst part is the super short focal length, but i like it otherwise.
An other round of inspiration! And as mentioned before, I'm no knifes man. But...how much for a plain one? Guess I can find out at your homepage. As a small detail I like mine in "metric", as I'm a "norseman". ;)
Its tuesday, why is there a KMT already?? :)
Oversized endmill plunges is spindle runout, or collet runout, or possibly too high of feedrate.
I like to use a wire brush where you're using the scotchbrite. Both produce similar results, but the scotchbrite can really put alot of strain on the spindle when rigidly held.
The flat handles look real good.
Why is that bullnose endmill so long? :)
I agree with the chamfer for the inside, small corner rounders can be a b**** to keep from gouging.
User up a security system with your phone! Check occasionally on your phone. Or arduino that will detect sound if broken mill and stop
Super troopers!!!!!
Not to say you need one now, but eventually the mill's spindle time should become too valuable to be used as a drill press :)
Cool!
Do you have any plans to make a more contoured rounded shaped pair of scales, similar to the fix knife Thor? And please forgive me for any errors in the name I am typing and remembering at the same time, always a dangerous thing to do with me!
And John are you going to do the Timascus handle plain? I think that would look better then honeycomb or diamond, IMO tho. And Dose LakeShoreCarbide Sell Reamers? I cant find them on the site and Im trying to get some in .25 and .125. And Also How many will you guys be making this run?
I've been watching these things like crazy all weekend. I saw your channel years ago when you were first starting out (about anodizing) and kinda forgot about it. Just rediscovered it in looking into buying a Tormach myself.
I love this channel!
Just curious if you've considered putting an air solenoid on your air line that would allow you to shut off the air with a line of G code at the end of your program?
maybe you've already done that, and I haven't gotten that far yet, but I wanted to throw the idea out there while it's in my mind.
Do you just use plainwater for coolant?
Aye, I'm expecting some cool innovations on that and maybe pick up a trick or two to use on mine haha. :)
PLEASE MAKE A BUTTON LOCK gahh that would be magical
I know you two have been busy and I imagine you especially John, with your newborn son, a (very) late congratulations btw. But was there any progress on the grinder as well? I'm very interested in how that's going to turn out too.