I’m a couple of days early with this entry, simply because I am seizing the same moment that I thought about doing this task.

Technology is can be a great thing, but it almost always stacks up on top of itself, so without a footing, foundation and strong floor joists spaced properly, the rest of your house of tools, knowledge and sanity has nothing to stand on. I am finding this out the hard way as I try to learn the in’s and out’s of the CAM functionality that comes with my standard seat of Solidworks design software. I am fairly certain that I will need to choose a more powerful and easier to use CAM software in the future, but I am also bull headedly trying to program the necessary toolpaths for making this first batch of Anubis 20-20 tomahawks with what I have. My shortcomings with this skillset would have been perfectly eliminated had I continued my education back in the early 2000’s with an intensive CNC machining vocational school and apprenticeship instead of bullshiting my way in an entry level engineering job. My opinion is that if a designer doesn’t know how to make a part, then they have no business designing them.

Struggling over this hurdle to bump up the potential of Omnivore Bladeworks has really been frustrating and I have had few places to look for assistance. My only consolation is that I only have a hand full of customers patiently waiting (with deposits in), so I’m not feeling the stress that would come along with feeling even more obligation to get this task conquered. I still feel obligation, but without a negative quantity of stress, which I think is important for overall health reasons.

The other day I had an epiphany about the direction I want to take in future knife design and production. Practicality, Lethality, Congeniality: I want to make blades that will actually get used on a regular basis, or blades that beg to have their pointy ends put in the bad guy, or blades that are so nice, sweet and cute and full of charisma that you just can’t help but take them with you wherever you go, to introduce them to your friends and will undoubtedly become the center of attention at any party.

Edged tools can only do a few tasks in our modern world, but there was a time not long ago when every kid over the age of 6 carried a little fixed blade or cheap as dirt pocket knife to do whatever chore a knife was needed for. I would love to bring back those days, and encourage every person I meet to teach young people not to be so squeamish about being self sufficient. Going back to technology stacking on itself; we, as a society are getting weaker because of our reliance on pocket computers for all forms of information instead of using our brains to retain important information. Most folks memorize song lyrics, pop culture trivia or other useless crap they learned in college instead of the streets in their cities.

Now that it’s closing in on 8am in the morning, I’m going to end this rant and try to get some real work done. There’s a million things to do in the shop, and more on this very website in addition to the CNC programming project. At least I’m never bored around here.

I’m looking forward to a more refreshing update next month, with a glowing progress report and pictures.