New Milling Machine

I made myself an investment. I'm used to having access to a milling machine, though I have two at work, that's not the 24 hour access that I like. Having left my shop and moved everything home...I was in need of a new solution.

In comes Precision Matthews. I've hemmed and hawed over the purchase of a bench top mill for quite a while. It's not a small amount of money involved, so I took my time.The Little Machine Shop has some good options. There is also Grizzly. What made Precision Matthews the one for me is the size. It is one of the largest so-called "benchtop" mills. Grizzly has an option of similar size though I didn't care for the way the bed and tower mounted together.

This is just a brief preview. As I use it more and more, I'll be able to offer a little more insight.

First part I'm making...a new iron for my Norris smoother (more on that soon).

Warped Knife Blade

Tool steel isn't cheap. Each knife blank I've worked on costs me about $7. As mistakes add up, so does the expense. Luckily, I haven't been too horrible with my grinding. I think I have two blanks that can't be recovered. The others are either awaiting final grinding or are already finished.

One blade, however, decided to warp during heat treatment. As long as it isn't badly warped, it can be brought back into trim.

The patient. It is warped right near the center of its length.

A Couple of New Knives

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. I've been semi-sorta-kinda busy working on some projects. I finally got a pair of paring knives finished. Both are going out as gifts, one to my cousin, the other to my friend who got me into the knifey stuff.

Brazillian Cherry handles, A2 blades. All finished up and ready to go.

I think it's important to mark the things you make. The other side of each blade has my initials. These are by no means perfect knives. They are (I believe) pretty damned good early efforts.