windancer

I have made several changes recently. A cover is one of them.
I am also going back to just sharp punchouts for media along with an old rag with a little engine oil. I check about once an hour and dump the old nasty rag and add a clean one.
Been running options thru my head about just a tarp cover over a small frame to use it year round outside [i would still store it inside].
As staed earlier in this thread the mess in my new woodshop war horrible. I ran it for a short while in my mower shed and it made a mess in there, too. So outside from now on. I end up spending time I could be using to make stuff doing nasty cleanup.

When I get my treated and tempered blades out of the tunbler I want to go straight to handles. I like the look of the rough tubled / stone washed finish and it eliminates 99% of the handwork. I can't compete with makers who turn out near-perfect knives every time. So all I can hope to do is pay the bills with the less expensive knives and do a few of the higher end knives now and then.

I have modified my HF cement mixer half a dozen times over the last year; bigger motor, tight cover, made a mixing paddle from angle iron, cut up the motor cover and remade it so it is easier to get out of the way to adjust/replace the belt. I also made a few more supports that I welded in place or bolted on all the flexing made me a little nervous about wear and tear.

Dodge, I carried crap around for about a day and tehn discovered that a standard 5 gallon bucket lid fits snug over the tumbler. I added 4 carriage bolts about half way down the mixer. Now I can just slap the cover into place and criss-cross from the bolts with a bungee cord and it hold the cover exactly in place. The first time I opened the cover after an hour it looked like there was smoke billowing out- had forgotten to add the oily rag, and it tokk a couple full minutes for the dust to blow away :)

When I get the next catch out of the tumbler I will make a YouTube video of the way my tumbler ended up after all the changes, the tumbler actually running with knives inside and then the way the knives look when they are done to my satisfaction.

You guys will learn not to ask me questions! I hate short answers to detailed questions and Glenn has made this site and this info exchange possible- so I try to give as much info as I would like :)

Dave

Nothing makes other folks more human than learning interests other than the one or two that got you in contact.

I love this thread! Thanks to all for sharing.

My other interests include computers, smoking beef and pork, fly fishing, reading about stuff, wood working, chili styles and making ice cream.
Dave

I actually used some and did a couple handles. That will be dry and ready to work tomorrow or the next day. I will get some finished pics up when they are available. I think I am happy with it but will follow through.
Dave

Very very nice! I like these a lot:)
Dave

I like your snail!
For my first year of blacksmithing I gave almost everything away, and gave them a price if anyone else wanted one.
Most of us are a little strange in ome way, and I found some folks got really upset at a fair price- like you just made this yourself why is the price so high? Like your time wasn't worth anything. That stopped when I began giving the item to them for free with the price for the next item like that.
Dave

dbl pst sorry

SO----- did she like it?
Dave

$10?????
Want to double your money? I'll even throw in a bottle of Jack Black....
GREAT find!
Dave

I like it! Someone will be happy to take it home. Just in case they don't have them send it to me :)
Railroad spikes for the head?
Dave

Nice job!
There was a little friendly competition in the Seattle area a while back for spike knives.
Dave Lisch won it- he forge a railroad spike from Damascus and then forged THAT into a knife :)
Dave

Link belts reduce the jump and run much smoother and when they break you replace just the broken link and go back to work
Dave

I much enjoyed seeing your technique and the video editing is much appreciated. Thank you for doing this and posting it.
Dave

I am now using the same steel punch-outs with a coffee can full of Black Beauty sand blast abrasive and 1/4 cup of Linseed Oil.
That mix cuts WAY down on dust and the knives come out clean.
I am happy with the results and will continue to use that.
Thanks for all the help, guys!
Dave

Here is the link to see pics of the tumbler, the media used and the batch of knives that were just tumbled.

http://www.windancerknives.com/Tumbler.html

Dave

John, you have outdone yourself with this Damascus and this knife! That pattern is a killer! Did you accordion the billet or just smush it? Very, very beautiful.

Dave

I will get some pics tomorrow and post a link to them here, along with the blades that were just done.

Dave

I added a coffee can full of Black Beauty sandblast abrasive this morning and ran it for another hour. The air and flat surfaces were dusty, but not wet or oily. The blades were WAY cleaner. This afternoon I added about a quarter cup of linseed and tumbled for another hour. No dust or oily gunk in the air or on the blades. Running for a couple more hours more- will report back tomorrow. This seems to be working :)

Thanks

Dave

I will give the Linex folks a call tomorrow and see how bad they want to hurt me.

Glen, how much linseed?

Thanks again-

Dave

Nothing inside but the paint- now long gone. I will throw in some black beauty tomorrow and see if that makes a difference. 

The drum isn't water tight so liquid is out. I wouldn't want the gunk in the yard and we live above a lake, so it would be even worse.

Maybe the BB will absorb the gunk, will give it a try.

Thanks for the ideas!

Dave

I have been using a tumbler modified from a HF concrete mixer for a few years now and I LOVE IT!! [i covered most of the outside with thick felt to cut down the noise [not quiet, but much better].

My favorite medial is punch-out drops of all sizes and shapes, mostly 1.5 inches and under.. Have tried many, many others and much prefer the steel drops. If I list all the things I have tried this post will be so long nobody will read it :)

When removing forge scale it generates a lot of nasty, semi-oily dust that gets all over the shop and all over the work being tumbled.

Years ago I tried adding a cup of Tide powdered laundry detergent [dry, I don't use liquids of any kind in the tumbler] and that produced tumbled parts that had nasty, semi-oily black Tide FIRMLY coated and stuck to everything. It was nearly impossible to get off and the only result was hours and hours of extra work to get off.

Does anyone have something dry they actually use themselves to capture the black forge junk?

I just took blades from the tumbler and they are coated with the forging residue. Many tools in the shop have a light coating of this gunk that I will have to wash off in several steps.

What do you use?

Thanks,

Dave

Guess that would depend on who is swinging it!

Dave

Another great knife, John, and I will remember seeing this non-kitchen cutter :)

Dave

I found that I was using the belts too long. Not because they were worn but because the longer you stay on a grit the more scratches you are making. I try to do the absolute minimum with each grit. Get to the next higher grit as quickly as you possibly can to reduce the depth and number of scratches you are making and then having to sand back off.

I had a man who ended up being a good friend forge a knife in my shop. After watching him for 10 minutes I said to him "I have bigger hammers". He said "I know". 15 or so minutes later I asked  why he was not using a heavier hammer. He didn't miss a blow- and all he said was "Bigger hammer, bigger mistakes". I won't grind a blade with anything coarser than 50 grit. And I only use it to mark out my base grind. And I don't lean om my grinder at all. All I want to do, gently, is remove metal with the least damage as possible. Bigger grit, bigger scratches.

Most makers I have seen use pressure when they grind and it works well for them. Find what works for you.

Dave

Like all your knives, John, I like it! You have a great design eye to go with your smithing skills. The 'junk' bar in the center fits nicely. Great job!

Dave

Thanks for sharing that with us!

Nice old Chevy truck- mine is a '68 :)

Dave