4 ms·

For the pocket knife aficionados out there, if your ever in Portland higly reccomend taking a tour of Benchmade's factory. They've got a ton of history about th

For the pocket knife aficionados out there, if your ever in Portland higly reccomend taking a tour of Benchmade's factory. They've got a ton of history about the company and you get a chance to view the factory floor(industrial laser cutters!) where all their knives are made.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
My day job is driving a 4kW fibre laser for cutting steel. AMA ;) Recently a couple of people have had me cut knives from old circular saw blades from timber mills. It's a fairly hard wearing steel, and they got the old blades for free. Just hobby knives, I think they do it mostly for the enjoyment of making their own knives, well fitting and shaping the handle, sharpening it. You'd still be able to say "I made that" to a much greater extend than a store bought one.
- vvanders 8y ago
  That's pretty cool, I'm assuming it runs from 240 or is it something beefier? Their factory is pretty neat, it's much smaller than I would have expected given their volume. Happy to support a company that does all it's work in the US even if the prices are higher. One of the thing that was interesting from the factory tour was that they were really just a high precision (at the time in the 80s) machine shop. Most of their work is pairing with an existing designer(Osbourne, Pardue, Williams, etc). It's an interesting business model compared to some of the other manufacturers out there.
  - volkl48 8y ago
    Not the OP, but the "standard" electrical connection in a metal shop is usually 480v 3-phase, most tools are going to use that.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
      Yep, this is correct, 3 phase.
- stephengillie 8y ago
  Ever use a Lockformer Vulcan? It makes great air ducts, and probably good knives too.
stephengillie 8y ago
Portland, Oregon - not the Maine-stay" of the majority of Ame"ricans.

4 ms·

For the pocket knife aficionados out there, if your ever in Portland higly reccomend taking a tour of Benchmade's factory. They've got a ton of history about th

by vvanders 8y ago

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
My day job is driving a 4kW fibre laser for cutting steel. AMA ;) Recently a couple of people have had me cut knives from old circular saw blades from timber mills. It's a fairly hard wearing steel, and they got the old blades for free. Just hobby knives, I think they do it mostly for the enjoyment of making their own knives, well fitting and shaping the handle, sharpening it. You'd still be able to say "I made that" to a much greater extend than a store bought one.
- vvanders 8y ago
  That's pretty cool, I'm assuming it runs from 240 or is it something beefier? Their factory is pretty neat, it's much smaller than I would have expected given their volume. Happy to support a company that does all it's work in the US even if the prices are higher. One of the thing that was interesting from the factory tour was that they were really just a high precision (at the time in the 80s) machine shop. Most of their work is pairing with an existing designer(Osbourne, Pardue, Williams, etc). It's an interesting business model compared to some of the other manufacturers out there.
  - volkl48 8y ago
    Not the OP, but the "standard" electrical connection in a metal shop is usually 480v 3-phase, most tools are going to use that.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
      Yep, this is correct, 3 phase.
- stephengillie 8y ago
  Ever use a Lockformer Vulcan? It makes great air ducts, and probably good knives too.
stephengillie 8y ago
Portland, Oregon - not the Maine-stay" of the majority of Ame"ricans.