On The Road Again...

....just can't wait to get on the road again...

my whole life is making music with my friends...

Ah, good ole Willie Nelson.

Anywho. I'm making an effort to keep up on this blogging stuff. However, sometimes work pulls me away and sends me off to my "other" home in Ohio. I like my road work, and I like the change of scenery. However, that means that I'm not at home making stuff. I'm hoping that when I get home in a couple of days that I can resume some projects and make progress on my self imposed to-do list.

Which is a long winded way of explaining a lack of posts.

I hope the few of you that read here don't mind the absences and keep checking back for new content.

Sharpness Check

Since I was asked about testing my blades...

From left to right: A fruit knife I finished a short while ago, another fruit knife I finished tonight, and the santoku I finished a few days ago. All three are quite sharp, and definitely serviceable. Though I think they could all be honed just a little more...  I have a third fruit knife that is now in regular service and it is one of the most pleasant knives I've ever used. Not tooting my own horn...but THAT is the reason I set out on this project.

My First Santoku Knife

Pretty happy with this knife. It's about 12" long. Handle is Bocote. I left the coloring from the heat treating on this blade, simply because I liked the way it looked.

A "Duh" Moment

I've been making my knife handles by ripping a piece and then matching them back together. Until tonight, I've cut the rough handles, marked the holes in one side...drilled them...then matched the holes to the other half. You can see all the opportunity for error.

I was making a new handle tonight and felt a little silly when I realized I should drill the holes before separating the handle halves.

While ripping between the halves, I decided to change tack and mark out the handle holes.

With the holes drilled I can now cut the handles the rest of the way.

It's all a learning experience, right? It's one of those things that you think would be obvious. I was probably doing it this way because my first few handles weren't matched, and were cut separately. The handles are cut out and are drying on the new knife...hope to finish it up tomorrow.