Hubbell

Testing home-made micarta material by submersing it in water for 13 hours. Micarta is actually a brand name sometimes used to refer to a material made by soaking and pressing cloth, paper, or other material in fiberglass resin. That end product is often used by knifemakers for their knife handles.

Another video of one of my 'favorite' grandkids getting creative in the shop. (They're all my favorite grandkids!)

Describing the making of a hardy-Hole Swage from a 2" diameter steel pin. - and thanking the person who 'donated it to my cause'.

Winston Churchill: I believe it was..."Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it".

No great revelation here, but this is my t2-step approach to center punching.

Short impromptu video of a knife made a few weeks ago: During a 2 day/2night 'sleepover', an eleven year old grandson (and I) managed to turn out this 'bowie-type' knife. During that time, with my help where needed here and there, he put it on paper, hammered away to broaden it some, ground the profile, ground the bevel with a grinding jig on the 2x72, and learned how long it takes to get that hole in the guard filed just right to fit the tang. I watched his skills improve noticeably along the way and we had a great time. He very much likes large knives, so we went to about the max you can with a ferrier rasp. There was a 'first' involved for me too. It wouldn't fit in my oven for tempering, so I did my first temper with a torch. Don't know why I haven't tried that before, but plan to do it more often. I always enjoy time spent with the grandkids, whether out in the shop, eating popcorn in front of a movie, bike rides, or whatever they like (each one is my favorite!).

My old 73 Chevy Flatbed is in dire need of a makeover. The cab I'm going to rebuild for it came today. Like my son said, "a good winter project".....Just what I need - another project!

Repairing a damaged door ala Bondo. A trip down memory lane to my old 'body and paint' days. Not quite the same tho.

Short Clip of potential future smiths (grandkids) -at the anvil.

Having fun with my grand daughters and their horseshoe creations. When the grandkids spend the night, they usually get around to asking at some point if they can make something in the shop. Good times!

Built a Kydex on the cheap and it actually works pretty well. I eventually bought better foam rubber from USA Knifemaker and then shortened the bolts a little. Clamping down goes a lot quicker than how it looked in the video.

Just showing the repairs and re-lining of my propane forge awhile back.

The start of a new project- Bringing an old coal forge back to life. Not a purist approach, but hoping to make it useable again. If it pans out, I'll hafta name it Lazarus. Does anyone else name their shop equipment?

Mounting them BIG FAT tires with ether! Son had an auto show the next day, but no one in town would mount tires that big (without guaranteeing no scratches).

Trying out a new (to me) method of installing snaps in leather projects. - Using a drill press instead of pounding with a mallot.

Looking inside two Glock magazines- a '10 round' one and a '17 round' one- to see how they choke down the magazine capacity.

Just a follow-up on the dinky drill press clean-up and repairs.

Made an old Harbor Freight drill press usable again. One problem was a broken spindle lift spring. Not rocket science, but fixing things (even low value things) is kind of 'my thing'.

Random Projects in Hubbell's Shop 1-8-21

Dealing with the warped knife blank- a common occurrence when heat treating. As soon as the knife is quenched, you want to check to see if it has warped at all. If it has you can sometimes straighten immediately after the quench (before tempering). Another way I like- is to clamp the knife to a pre-heated piece of thick steel before putting it in the oven for tempering.

Just a short video of bending spikes for hooks on a coat rack.

Started forging George's fixed blade full tang knife from a piece of coil spring out of his and Chris's racecar.