Packing Up

[grant]

Getting all my stuff together to head up to Ed's place tomorrow morning for 5 days of class. Can't wait.

Camera, notebook and safety equipment all set.

[cdent]

Ooops, don't forget your fishing pole.

Have a great week, Craig

[Ed Caffrey]

Hey Grant!

Got the shop all cleaned up for ya! (you can actually find your way through it now)

The shop fridge is full of Diet Dew and water....and I'll have you plenty of muffins to munch on in the mornings! Drop me a note or call when you get into town tonight!

Looks like we're gona have some nice warm weather to work in....so that water and Dew will come in handy!

[grant]

Despite having a somewhat easy day, my brain is all wrung out.

Before lunch we ground edge bevels, hardened the blades (I burned one of them a bit) and then started them tempering. Then I asked a bunch of questions, we went on a field trip to a spring shop and sorted some grinder parts.

Oh and Ed treated me to lunch at the Double Barrel. That's a great greasy spoon. Haven't had a burger like that in ages. What passes for a burger most places is pathetic.

Now I'm sitting in the motel room, sketching up ideas for building some little tools I want (like the magnet block to grind the distal taper) and half-watching TV. I'm trying to relax and not wind myself up about how much work we have to do tomorrow.

I'm having a blast and learning an incredible amount of stuff. This is definitely one of the best, most worthwhile educational experiences I've ever had.

[jim poling]

Grant be sure to take lots of notes because when Ed is done with you you will be completely saturated and dripping information. The time I was over to Ed's place I think I spent a couple of hours each evening compiling and clarifying the information into comprehensive notes so that I could refer back to them and understand what I had wrote. Most of all have fun; Ed will see to that he is a good host.

Jim

[grant]

I do have copious notes that I'm continually going back over and embellishing as I understand something more.

The thing I have trouble with writing down is the feeling of establishing and finding the flats when grinding the distal taper/edge bevels.

I think I need to find a video about the grinding process.

[cdent]

Hey Grant, It's not a big mountain any more. Now you know where to start, and there are tons of examples of how you might want it to finish up. You can practice the in between part. Edge bevel instruction is pretty easy to find out there, but those distal taper lessons will really help make sense out of a rough forging and help give things the right feel that's missing in so many cases.

Enjoy the visit, Craig

[hsjrev]

Harvey Dean has a good grinding video out there. He intentionally makes some mistakes and shows how to fix them and has some good tips to make it easier. http://www.usaknifemaker.com/dvd-fla...dean-p-69.html

[grant]

Thanks hsjrev.

We got the guard and handle block accraglassed on. I was having a terrible time getting the guard filed out to fit. I think I was forgetting to feel the flat before I started the file stroke. Can't wait to try it again on my own.