I missed my 25th deadline this month, and totally spaced last month somehow. I’ve shot many, many videos in the mean time, as I want to keep everyone watching appraised of the progress around the shop, but for some reason, I didn’t edit or post any of them. The learning curve and ability to keep time on task with the CNC programming and machining is steep and I loose traction a lot of days, get frustrated, and also get distracted by tasks that I see as more important at particular moments.

One distraction that is actually necessary: adding an internet connection to the shop so I can run software that requires it. It will be a benefit to be able to generate shipping documents, post pictures, and do all the business administration tasks from the shop as I move forward instead of having to run between the shop and the house, take off my shoes, then go up the stairs to my apartment office. Every time I do that, I lose time, so having everything set up in the shop will be great for productivity.

Although there have been plenty of hiccups on the path toward in house CNC machining of tomahawks, I know that I am very close to cutting chips and making big steps towards measurable success at this edge tool manufacturing business I’ve been plugging away at for 10 years. I still have lots of other project ideas that I will be pursuing that will keep me busy, and that will hopefully keep you interested in watching my progress as well as partaking in some of the results.

One such project has been inspired this year as I have spent time cutting firewood to heat my parents house via the woodstove that my father constructed back in 1984 or so. It’s baffle has burned out, and though it generates a lot of heat, it burns wood fast and doesn’t seem to be as efficient as it could be. My project, to replace the old stove and hopefully make my wood cutting less demanding in future years, will entail the design and construction of a Rocket mass heater. https://richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

My design and construction will be one that is more manufacturable instead of being built entirely in place with so much mud, masonry and weird flu plumbing. It will use water as its primary mass, a couple of steel barrels, some copper pipe, a fair bit of fire brick and refractory cement, as well as an electric or hand crank blower to prevent any smoke from escaping into the house during the starting phase of a firing. I’ll document the project, and post the videos and instructions on the website without charging any fees for my trouble. This is more of a “self reliance essentials” project, and I think that it’s important to take the time to improve efficiency in daily life with these sort of projects instead of always focusing on instruments of death, destruction and bushcraft.

While ideas continue to brew in my brain daily, I am committed to staying on track for blade production. The webstore is actually functional right now thanks to a helpful customer who has bartered for his web development skills and is waiting patiently for his compensation. I need to do the final work in terms of photographing my inventory, editing and updating product listings, and making sure that everything is ready to ship. I still need to order a new pile of Black Malice clips and some other hardware in order to finish some sheaths so they are ready to go out the door.

As soon as I get the computer situation and other work areas fully rearranged and functional out in the shop, I’ll shoot a video to explain some of the process and where I’m at with progress on many fronts. This Thanksgiving holiday will be a busy one for me because we have a large family reunion and have been scrambling to get lots of chores around the house ironed out.

Thank YOU for reading this post, and continuing to be patient as I get my act together (at least with tomahawk production). I have many, many small blades that are ready for new homes, and a lot of fun projects to finish as well as to begin. I am really excited to see how things go this winter and next year.