Never realised that there was so much "hand finishing" to Grimsmo blades...! I thought they were machined to almost perfection,, and didn't know how much cleaning, sanding, and scotchbriting, needed to be done, !! It's kinda like what "normal" knife makers do, who don't do the initial work on multi thousand dollar cnc machines.... !! (big respect Eric).. !!
Great video! I normally watch for the machining content, but Erik, your craftsmanship on the finishing work is so obviously a key to the total product. As an engineer, I'm looking at a couple parts of your process and it looks like you've made huge steps to make your process so much easier for yourself and to make the product better. A few things that popped to mind though that might be of help to you: consider organizing the wheels on each of the Arbe's in descending order of finish grade, away from the starting point of the process. This way you start at one spot and work your way through the line (though this might be what you usually do and through editing and other complications of video making isn't necessarily the most obvious). Another thought is to put in big "Start/Stop" buttons in the middle above the Arbe's, instead of on the side, to improve ergonomics and safety (wheels do tend to grab and or fling things). I've also seen shops use foot pedal switches for their wheels, so you can turn it on and off without using your hands, both for safety and so that you don't have to put the work pieces down. You definitely need the flex shaft attachment for the Dremel that the other commenter mentioned. Also, your comment about the filter changes, if you use the things every day, you obviously know how often the filters need changing, so just put a piece of tape on the wall above each unit with the "filter change due date" on it, like they do for your car oil filter. That way you'll change it for fear the internet will nag you and you'll live longer to be the Grizzled Grimso Grinding Guru (you need that on a shirt BTW).
Erik should consider the use of a PAPR system like the Versaflo, i have it at the shop and this thing is a life saver for grinding, and i also have it for welding.
A lot of handwork to finish those blades. I would suggest if you had a fixture to turn the blades vertical you could get a custom profiled end mill ground that could do those bevels on each side of the blade to a smooth finish in a lot less time than that contoured path and with a better finish. The cost of the custom cutter would be cheap in the time saved.
You guys should experiment with grinding some of these operations on the mill if that's possible! Batch them up and save only the really difficult finishing grinding of the edge for Eric.
These mills aren't meant for grinding, and the knife isn't in a position on the fixture to grind them anyways. In order to CNC grind them, it will take a major overall setup on custom machines with robot loaders. Which would be an insane process to sort out, if possible (quite a lot of hand made detail, you will lose some of that with automation) Like to see it though one day. :)
If you listen to the podcast John did try that and I think it was more trouble than it was worth. And for sure grindings in the coolant aren't desirable either.
Poor use of machine time. That mill costs many dollars an hour to operate.(assuming the mill costs 6 dollars an hour and that part takes 10 minutes to grind all the surfaces, that's a buck a part) Compare that with a cheap lower tolerance option like a tormach and it's more like 10 cents a blade. (and more important for this guy, who only makes a few knives a day, it doesn't tie up the main production.
Erik I do alot of this same activities all day. Hand sanding, scotch Brite wheel and polishing. Have you got any wrist pain yet? Doing this for about 7 years now has started killing my wrists. I need to have the carpal tunnel surgery in my right wrist this year. If you start feeling any pain or numbness start wearing a brace. I wish I would have when I first had pain it might not have got as bad. Love those enlcosures for the grinders I must have one. The rouge makes a huge mess.
I did have wrist pains for a little while, but I make sure to stretch and strengthen my arms as much as possible, as well as limit the things that irritate by improving the process. We need to keep ourselves healthy for the long term, not the short term.
Hey Erik, what’s up brother!! I’ve got to look into that flap wheel. Hey what bit you using on the dremel for the jimping? Never seen that before. Thanks and I should see you guys at Blade Show this year.
Dremels aren't used for professional grade work, you'd burn through one a month... but a foredom is amazing for things like detail work... though I'm pretty sure all that is done on the CNC...
Dave Erving Evader Knives Lol he’s using one in the video hints why I said it yea there not for professional use but he is using one to polish the blade and it would be easier to hold the flex shaft vs the whole dremel like he is
@@ElevatedEdge A foredom has been on the list for a while, but the dremel works great for what I need it for. The foredom/pen design will help considerably on comfort though. My hand does cramp a little after doing too many blades in a row.
I've used scotch brite 2x72, but never tried the buffer wheel size... I tried looking for 8s & 6s, but all I could find were different degrees of "fine"... You wouldn't happen to know the equivalent would you??? Great tips, been watching since you guys were in the garage with the mini mill... Have a great day, take it easy...
I've tried the 2x72's but really only use the wheels. Tru Grit has a good variety. But yeah, deciphering the grits is the challenge. 11s is super hard, 2s is super soft and porous. http (Delete) ://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/629883O/3m-scotch-brite-surface-conditioning-wheels. (DELETE) pdf
