Workshop Projects and Honest Tool Reviews
Garrett Dunn · June 30, 2026
Hanging on my shop wall is a photograph of a layout scribe I destroyed during year two—the tip snapped clean off because I’d miscalculated a line by 3mm, squinting under a single fluorescent tube mounted dead center in the ceiling. That broken tool sits there as a reminder that every mistake I made during those … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 29, 2026
My buddy walked into the garage last week and asked why I was scrapping a perfectly good steel coffee table. Clean miters, careful layout, everything checked before I started. Except one corner was sitting proud by nearly 3/16 of an inch when I assembled it flat. The culprit? A combination square I’d bought for $8 … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 28, 2026
How to Forge a Knife for Beginners: What You Need, What to Expect, and Your First Blade The angle grinder is screaming, and I’m watching sparks rain down across the workbench as I grind the profile on what’s supposed to become a blade. My first attempt at this — years back now — was rebar. … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 28, 2026
No universally optimal sharpening methodology exists. However, an optimal approach for your specific situation certainly does, contingent on your sharpening duties, frequency, and resource commitment tolerance. Should I restrict myself to one instrument? Diamond plate, without hesitation. Stays flat, covers everything, demands minimal fussing, and welcomes newcomers warmly. When I’m devoting two hours perfecting the … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 27, 2026
7 Beginner Knife Forging Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Have To) Between 1/16″ and 3/32″ — that’s the margin separating a blade that survives heat treatment from one that warps into scrap. My opening attempt taught me this through failure. The whole thing looked mangled afterward: the spine twisted during hardening, the cutting edge … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 26, 2026
Knife Forging Tools You Actually Need: The $200 Starter Kit Want to know what stops most people from forging their first blade? They’re staring at equipment lists that cost more than their car. Seven years into knife making, and I can trace everything back to a moment when I almost didn’t start. I was 22, … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 25, 2026
Heat Treating a Knife at Home: The Step Every Beginner Gets Wrong Three hours at the anvil. Your blade is shaped, tapered, and it catches the light just right. The edge will shave arm hair. You’re ready to use it. Then you plunge it into oil. And that’s the finish line, correct? Incorrect. And that’s … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 24, 2026
How to Mount a Bench Vise So It Actually Holds: Bolts, Height, and Overhang Last winter, digging through my garage to find a file I’d set down months earlier, I stumbled across an old restored vise someone had given me—jaw surfaces like glass, handle smooth as silk—that I’d bolted down with whatever fasteners were in … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 24, 2026
Best Steel for Beginner Knife Making: What to Use and Where to Find It Free Scroll through any knife-making channel and you’ll hear the same refrain: CPM-S35VN, Damascus billets, fancy stainless blends. The blades gleaming on screen make you believe that’s what separates amateurs from results. The math seems obvious: premium material equals premium outcome. … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 23, 2026
5 Old Vises Worth Buying and 3 You Should Walk Away From Manufacturer spec sheets don’t mention what happens when you’re standing at a flea market table with a crusty vise in front of you, trying to decide in sixty seconds whether it’s a restoration project or a waste of truck space. That’s the gap … Read more