A Fresh Start

After all the bugs have left my system and I don’t feel sick any more, it was high time to get my butt out to the shop.  The first thing I did was lay out almost 20 blades on flat stock and cut a bunch of these out after a day long Entrepenurial class sponsored by the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, of which I am a new member. 

When I was getting ready for bed Friday night, I happened to notice that it seemed kinda bright out at 11:30p.m.  Looking out the window there was some white stuff all over.  

This is what I woke up to early Saturday morning.  It looked so pure and clean.  The snow was on every thing…I mean every fence line, branch and surface it could reach.  Lucky for us it only lasted till 10:30a.m.  We've had a pretty warm winter and this was not expected.

This is what I ended up with after cutting, profiling and forging the blades to shape.  Saturday was a very productive day but there is still a lot to do with these.

On Sunday, I ground all of the blades that had been forged.  Once the initial grinding was completed, I decided it was as good a time as any to heat treat and temper this set of blades.

I hope to grind and heat treat the other blades as soon as I can.

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Here’s a few that I just finished.  The top two are hunters.  One has a carved brown  micarta handles while the other has curly maple handles.  The bottom pic shows a Guthook with carved brown micarta handles ready to ship out.

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This year we are trimming down our show schedule.  So far we are pretty sure of the shows that we want to do and will be at for 2015.  These are:

Elk Valley Crafters Assoc.                    March 14

Blooming Arts Festival                         March 20-21

Ames Plantation                                      October 10

Elk Valley Crafters Assoc.                    November 7 or 14?

The Farm School                                      December 5?

Not sure of some of the dates listed.  There may be a show or two stuck in there somewhere but they have to be tried and true.  Those HOT weather shows have not worked for us in the past. 

Thanks to all of you for actually reading this blog of mine.  You are the reason I do this.

The End of 2014 or “WHEW! It’s Finally Over”

2014 finally ended!  It didn’t come fast enough for me.  It was a rough year for me and the critters.  My sweet but stupid cat got into something the weekend before Christmas and needed surgery to stitch up from the corner of her left eye up onto her head.  That makes 3 animal hospital visits for the year.

Leslie found a large cyst on Charlie’s neck and had to take him in the last week of the year.  Not sure what it is yet but it looks hopeful.  He is a good hound dog.

All this isn’t so bad when you look at the BIG picture.  Life has its ups and downs.  If you don’t have any downs you ain’t living right.

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Santa had to work especially hard to get all these knives finished and in the mail to be delivered before Christmas.  From the left we have 2 custom Bird & Trout knives. In the middle is a slim hunter in Desert Ironwood for my son-in-law.  Next is a forged Raindrop Damascus Hunter with Burl handle and last is one of my Altoid Tin knives with a necker sheath dressed up with Curly Maple handles.

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The Bird & Trouts were made for a super guy from Memphis and his son.  He wanted their initials carved into the sheaths, which was a good idea since they were identical knives.  This fellow already had four of my knives, so with these two, makes him own as many of my knives as I do.  He is already anticipating what I’ll have for him at the next Ames Plantation Heritage Festival in October.

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This slimline trapper was made from a Rough Rider Trapper kit that I got for myself a few years ago.  I always felt a little intimidated by folding knives but this was easier to put together than I thought.  Instead of slipping into my front pocket, it was given to my buddy as a Christmas gift.  He does so much to help me that I figured he should have it in his pocket.  It has some pretty Black Ash burl handles with brass liners and bolsters.  I think I’ll have to come up with my own design and make a folder to sell some time in the future.

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My intention each and every year is to upgrade equipment and take things to the next level.  So for 2014, I’ve wanted to have a propane tank installed to run my forge.  It took all year long to make it happen because “Life Happens”.  It is almost ready to crank up the heat.  Not sure what's in store for 2015 yet.

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Our electric co-op, TVEC came around to trim and cut trees along their easements.  It’s on a 10 year cycle so there was plenty for them to cut.  The big cedar and half of my favorite Loblolly Pine fell to their saws along with quite a few smaller trees on our driveway.  It saved me a bunch of work, so I’m letting them dump a few loads of chips across from the shop.  Win – Win.

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When a friend gave me a jar of candied ginger, the first thing I thought of was making a Ginger Mead.  I chopped some of the ginger up, mixed it with some lemon juice, honey and a tea bag.  This mixture was steeped with hot water and left to meld into the base of the mead.  It turned into a 2 ½ gallon batch that looks very refreshing.  Hope some of y’all get to taste this later in the year.

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Someone got a brand spanking new work truck the last week of the year.  It’s a Ford F150 4x4 Extended Cab.  Sorry to see the 2002 Ranger go.  It has taken me to and from work so many times.  I certainly appreciate this perk, and take care of my work trucks.  This pic is before she gets gussied up with running boards, city emblems and other stuff.

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Last thing I want to talk about is a call I received after the Validity magazine article came out.  It was from a gentleman about 15 miles east of Waynesboro.  Tommy was his name and he thinks that we might be kin.  We met for lunch the week before Christmas and had a very interesting conversation.  It seems possible that our great great grandfathers may have been brothers that came to the U.S. in the early 1800’s.  I don’t have much information on the Burns family prior to my great grandfather.  You just never know why things happen.  This will be interesting to find out more info on my family history.

Let’s hope that 2015 is a Fruitful and Prosperous year, with many great days ahead of us all.