What's on my Bench Today?

Damn!!!! That ain't a gyuto, that's a sword.

 

Right??

How about this one, lol?

 

That's a dagger.

 

It's not the size that counts.

 

Haha 2

 

So, I kept this knife for a week to cut with it...and the fact is, I really don't want to mail it out tomorrow, lol!

 

This one's coming together veeeeeeerrrrrryyyyy nicely I think!!

 

I'd love to have a big spacious kitchen so I'd be able to complain about not being able to afford such a nice big knife.

 

Lol, I wish I could afford one myself! I honestly couldn't believe how useful it felt, despite being 30mm longer than any gyuto I'd used previously.

 

165mm ko-gyuto...



....or, 'Adventures in Polishing' lol.

 

Just signed up for the full Monty on one of Marko's new grinders . And while I can't post pictures of my unit yet...I figured I'd go ahead and share some of Marko's images, as it will definitely be on my bench!

I'm definitely looking forward to the surface grinder attachment. You have NO idea just how much time and effort that will save me, not to mention improvements in overall quality. This grinder is nowhere near cheap, but it should handle pretty much anything thrown at it for the rest of my career.

 

I'm alive!!



As some of you know, I was approved to move into the new house very unexpectedly on March 13th. This necessitated a flurry of activity over the last few weeks moving the house...and even more so in moving the shop. By myself lol. For the house stuff I had my 5'2" 98lb daughter though, who was a huge help. The shop stuff though was me, myself, and I. In addition...moving was only half the battle with the shop. The new shop is an 18' x 19' or so two car garage. I needed to run a full set of electrical circuits (both 240v and 120v), and decided that my old benches weren't worth moving and built five new ones instead. So, in two weeks, I both moved my home and shop, but also pretty much built everything but the walls in the new shop.

Yep. I'm a bit tired lol.

But! It's 95% done. I moved the last of the large items today, and only have a half dozen boxes of smaller stuff left to pack and move now. It should all be completely switched over by tomorrow.

Thank God.

Anyhow, here's a few pictures and videos I took during the process, for those of you interested .


This was the final layout I decided on after a bit of thinking. Grinding station top left, forge middle left, heat treat station bottom left, misc tooling and compressor top, finishing stations to the right. Now that it's actually built, I think it will work out pretty reasonably.


Materials! I ended up needing more of some things (conduit!), and less of others lol. But basically what you're looking at is five benches of various sizes, two 120v circuits with multiple outlets, and two 240v circuits with multiple outlets. Four of the five benches have dedicated power mounted to them.


125 amp distribution panel for the interior.


I decided to run a 100 amp breaker in the exterior main panel, feeding the distribution panel via about 6' of 2ga copper cable. The two boxes are nearly back to back.


Interior panel wired with the feed lines.


Lets make some benches shall we? If you look to the right you can see taped layout lines of where the benches will be on that side of the room. The idea was to have a shot at realizing what the work area would actually be like. I mean, a 2' walk way may look wonderful on scale plans...but dragging yourself and ANYTHING else you're carrying through it with you might not be so realistic. It turned out to be a great idea and actually helped me make a few necessary modifications before beginning to build.


This is how it all went together lol. Me, the lumber, a saw, and a screw gun. I can tell you that doing it completely alone necessitated some creative maneuvering to build the things.


I now live in a full on neighborhood, with a Homeowner's Association lol. Needless to say my corner lot was a popular sight seeing attraction over the last two weeks.


Two of the benches done, and a view into the garage from the PoV of one of my curious neighbors .

Right about here is where I finalized the current light layout, and ordered a cool piece of equipment to keep my lazy self from having to pull 5 chains to turn the new LED shop lights on and off lol.




From there (as more benches came together), I began running some of the circuits. All in all it wasn't too difficult. Just remember NOT to tape 8ga wire up when running it through 1/2" condiut. It causes it to bind up, and you NEVER get it through. Just let it pull loose, and orient the feed side of the cable every few feet to keep everything lined up and it goes through like a dream. Well, maybe not a dream, but easier than when it was binding up...which made it pretty much impossible lol.

About this point I made another update video lol:




Heeey! I have (almost) finished benches!! Still needed to make the shelves for the lower levels of the longer benches, but this is what the working shop will look like.


I put down some anti-fatigue mats. The idea here is actually to protect the floor in a few key areas. Particularly under the 2x72 grinder(s). Wet grinding over concrete will discolor it within an hour. The mats will help contain the mess and keep it off the concrete floor...which will make sure I get my rental deposit back, lol.


First piece of equipment in the new shop .


Yes. I put that all in the truck by myself. In addition...for those of you that don't know...I'm only a bit taller than the bed of my truck at 5'7 lol. I won't tell you exactly how I got the 397,000lb drill press up in there, but it WAS lifted without aid, and it DID involve a serious amount of swearing. The all metal bandsaw and table was actually easier, lol.


Looks roomy eh? Just wait lol.


I had to do some relining of the forge after I moved it. What you see here is a curing heat.


I won't even show you guys the carnage at the old shop lol. It's HORRIBLE. If you can imagine the messiest you all saw it in the past, minus all of the actual equipment that made it a productive mess, you've got the idea. Instead, here's a picture of my cabinet, and then my cabinet all nicely mounted lol.
And this is where we sit right now lol. I put the bottom shelves on my two long benches this afternoon (had to wait until I got my sawzall here so I could cut the corners for the legs cleanly). As I said above, all that's left is some smaller stuff in boxes, and I'll be 100% here. From there it's just a matter of unpacking, organizing, then actually LEARNING to work in the new workspace...which is actually going to be the most difficult part. Hopefully the greater space and potential for improved organization will make it a quick learning curve .

Anyhow, here's a final video showing where we sit:



By the way, if you all are curious what it's like from a non-knifemaker's perspective...you can ask @apathetic lol. He's coming into Phoenix from London (I believe) this weekend, and will be swinging by to spend some time hanging out awhile . I'm definitely looking forward to meeting what HAS to be my most patient customer ever, lol!!

 

Hmmm...who are you again?

 

That looks like an impossible feat for any other man. Congrats on the house and getting the shop all set up!

 

Who's asking?

Lol, it was definitely a challenge, and thanks!

 

The shop is looking good, Cris! Congrats on the move as well:cool1

 

Thanks Warren! I brought the last load in today. Unpacking is as big a challenge as building everything was, lol.

 

Holy sheep poo!

 

Lol, right Marc? I just started on two stones yesterday afternoon, and I'm starting a leather saya today. I'm also epoxying in a handle today also. So while things aren't completely unpacked, I'm to the point where it will have to sort itself out as I work...which is probably more efficient anyhow.

 

Good luck getting back up to speed!