February 9, 2016

The last couple of weeks have gone by too quickly.  I thought I would have all the metalwork done on a batch of knives, and have tomahawks straightened and prepped for the CNC shop, but there is still much to do.  Working steadily when you have an insurmountable to-do list often seems like an exercise in futility.  In truth, I’m actually making a dent in the work, and feel good about things in general.

Yesterday (I’m up late, so I’m calling that Sunday) I worked most of the day on getting a new counter built in the grinding room.  Today, I spent a lot of time with wiring in the new Wilmont belt grinder that has been sitting unused for too long.  I’ve had to do some thinking about how to mitigate sparks and dust, and consider the need to use water cooling inside both the platen of the grinder, and on the belt itself so that grinding already hardened steel can be done faster without as much worry of overheating and loss of temper.

The home page of Self Reliance Essentials has had some new pictures over the last week because my dad and cousin suggested that I change out the Donkey, flowers and Sword.  I decided to do a quick doodle and invent a new comic strip about the critters we name our blades after.  If anyone is a better artist (not a difficult accomplishment) and wants to submit their work, I’d be happy to put new comics up on a weekly basis.  I can’t spend more than about a coffee break doodling, since I don’t have enough time, but it would be nice to have some decent artwork to look at instead of my silliness.  Maybe pictures of knives and swords would be more appropriate; that’s what most people say.

3V steel blanks should be ready this week from the waterjet service, and since it’s supposed to be sunny later this week, I may have an opportunity to shoot opossum track logos on the nearly finished blades I have lying around.

I may try to do another video and blog post with pictures at the end of the week, since it seems I’ve been slacking.   I thought I had written a post on the 25th, but it must have gotten lost somehow.

Until next time.  Here’s a link to the latest video status report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCgFzwQI4h4

Jared