New website and shop tour - you're invited to visit!

[Tait]

Hi all,

For those interested, a buddy of mine and I finally put up a website.

Because we make a lot of odd stuff, we are calling it Esoteric Garage.

We are particularly interested in making artifacts that could be from fictional worlds, such as a Copper Knife from Kvothe's world and Dog Tags from Battlestar Galactica.

The site includes a shop tour that may be of interest to those thinking of how to build a workshop in half of a garage. Any input on setup, safety, missing gear, etc. would be welcomed!

Thanks for reading.

Tait

p.s. For those few who love bad puns, you might want to read A Gift Only a Mother Could Love.

[dian]

what kind of copper did you use for the knife? what is the benefit of forging copper? does it get stronger? what happens if you quench it, does it harden? does the kife cut?

[Mcgyver]

Tait,

that is good looking site. I like the overall look and feel of it....is that a theme or format you created or do you get these things in a design library somewhere? just curious, looks good either way

[Tait]

Mcgyver:

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback.

We are using the theme "Elegant Grunge 1.0.3" by Michael Tyson (WAAY less work this way - we're on limited time and would rather spend it in the garage). The only significant tweak was to change the template to allow the logo to appear where we wanted it to.


Dian:

I'm not sure what the exact alloy is - I just bought 1.25x1" copper rod from the supply store. I am usually a stock removal guy, but it would have cost a bunch more money to buy a rod wide enough and thick enough to do pure stock removal. So, in this case, the advantage of forging is that it allowed us to make a bigger knife without wasting too much copper.

Copper DOES work-harden cold. As you hit it with a hammer, it gets harder, and it can get hard enough to make real knives out of - apparently they made some razors out of beaten copper. But heating it up resets the structure and makes it workable again.

There ARE apparently copper alloys that are hardening (see, for example, Hardening of Copper). However, my limited experience suggests elemental copper is not hardened very much by a quench.

No, this particular knife was made as a show piece for an author. The final step was to heat color it in the kiln (an important point for the back story on the knife). So the blade is no longer work hardened. Since it wouldn't hold an edge anyway, we didn't even try.

I am sorely tempted to make one with a work-hardened edge to see how it holds up. I am having some trouble believing that those hardening alloys get up to 98HRC, but that's what it says on the internet.

[dp]

Nice looking web site. Most of my hosting customers prefer Wordpress, too, for the ease and versatility. I also like the forged Czeck and blade work. I'd like to make at least one knife before I expire, and it should be something I can use in the kitchen.


For folks thinking about starting a web page with Wordpress, here's some examples I've created and that my customers have created that show how versatile WP can be:

http://TheVirtualBarAndGrill.com/
http://MetalworkingAtHome.com/
http://circle-of-confusion.net/
http://milosmachineshed.com/
http://janealynn.com/
http://lampguild.org/wordpress/ (experimental)
http://torchsingercreations.com/wordpress/
http://lakewashingtonsingers.org/wordpress/

[Tait]

I checked out the first five of those (have to leave for work in a minute). They are all very nice.

I especially like the Metalworking at Home site - it looks like it will be useful going forward.

As to the knife - I'd love to talk about some things I do that make it easy to do one well. If you'd like to chat sometime, just PM me and we can set up a call.

[dian]

i wonder, how tools were made in "prehistoric" times out of copper. they must have worked somehow.

good link btw, ill have to digest it tomorrow, but 10 000 years ago they dind have access to it.

so, my next hard turning tool will be made out of copper. just how?