Getting closer to Lean Manufacturing

[@NickShabazz]

Thanks for these frequent videos, it's really excellent to see your process, and adds to the weird, completely irrational pride I feel in owning some of your work.

[@Slime_Greaseman]

I wouldn't call it irrational. Love your videos btw.

[@NickShabazz]

+landlubber12 Thanks for the kind words. And I don't know, it feels weird being proud of an object I bought. John and Erik have done this absolutely incredible thing, designing and manufacturing these damned-near-perfect knives, and working up from a little budget-mill in a garage, and all I had to do was hand somebody money. I've got plenty to be proud of, and if nothing else, my love of my Norseman is evidence of my stellar taste (perhaps in this alone). But all the real credit goes to the Grimsmos.

[@drewjohnson7602]

I dont think im the only one saying this, but I love these vlogs so much! Please keep doing more.

[@superiorshooter]

+drew johnson Indeed, all this content coming at once has been awesome. I can't tell if we're being spoiled or there's a new precedent being set.

[@pbcrisp4373]

This is almost overwhelming!. We are beyond KMT, and now watching Knife Making Week of Awesomeness!!Mr. Grimsmo, your content is top notch.

[@conticarbon]

John and Eric, Doing these videos is great for those of us working on starting any business. I've been enjoying your videos since day one. It's very scary to take the first step in beginning a new business. Thank you for sharing your progress/process. Keep up the great work! P.S. Your knives are great looking. I carry an old benchmade rukus 610. Some day I'll retire it and save for a Norseman.

[@chrislesutis95]

More, more and more please! i appreciate the effort you guys are putting in! Cant be easy to fit in but it does make my day, inspired and learning on my daily commute. Thanks again!

[@brukernavnfettsjit]

Love the new video style, and the pace you are publishing them in. Great to see more of everyday life a little more often :)

[@MountainStorm]

I'm studying lean, 6 Sigma all that happy happy stuff and I have to say your set up is way more fun than anything lean I can imagine.

[@countrystyle4life]

You guys are killing it! Keep it up! loving the frequent videos. You all have made huge improvements just since the update video. Also veggies, protein and Sriracha sauce is the meal of champions! I have some variation of it every meal, so good. Actually have a bottle of Sriracha sitting on my desk right now lol.

[@francescomidknight8621]

Thanks for sharing guys, this vlogs are very nice. It fells real time, and it's interesting to see day by day what you're up to. And thanks for the organizational/flow advices; I'm setting up my knives shop too, so I'm definetly going to look into it.

[@onthefritz81]

First off, big fan of your work! One thing to consider with the foaming is the coolant pressure. Potentially dropping the pressure through adding a valve or changing the tubing or changing the nozzle geometry could help the foaming problem. It looks like it's coming out at a pretty high pressure. A lower pressure could also allow for more of a flood cooling effect on the endmills.

[@RyanWeishalla]

Interesting the things you do not thing of until it is mentioned some where. It looks like Gold Bond has both Menthol and zinc oxide in it, which I guess could explain some of your issues during heat treat. I've been enjoying the vids. I didn't start watching until around the time you did your first Q&A. It is nice to see the fun time you have there at the shop, especially with family.

[@shawncnelson]

John! Regarding the engraving on the mill, and accuracy in general. Take the leap and start making your jaws out of 1144 or 1018. NO MORE ALUMINUM! It's such a soft material that whatever material you clamp is deforming the clamping surface and your parts are shifting just slightly each cycle. Also, the deformation happens more at the top of the pocket wall than at the bottom and can eventually lead to parts pulling out if tool loads are higher. Congrats on the move towards one piece flow, it is the way forward. Cheers!

[@GregsGarage]

I'm enjoying the dailies John... Would like to hear more about how lean has effected your day-to-day operation.

[@GaryMeolaJr]

Love the daily video !!! Great job guys.

[@Squat5000]

I love using adobe Premier. It costs about $25/mo, but it opens up SO many features! Editing time for me is about 1 minute for every 5 minutes of video... An I have no training or what not. It is just an intuitive program. Great work and congrats on these projects, the move, and the progress. What we see now is already impressive. Keep rocking.

[@loopyblacksmith]

I love the shop life slices. looks like another lathe may be in your future.

[@braxtonec]

Thanks for the string of videos! They're well edited and flow nicely. Something to learn in every vid. Or we can just watch the mori cut like butter if you're short on time for editing..

[@chrisc4527]

Enjoying all your videos. Noticed that when you include your name in the title KZbin suggests some of your other vids, or other CNC vids, when you don't, like this one and the Q&A, it suggests other kinda random vids of other Q&As or Lean webcasts.

[@GeofDumas]

John, with a different goal of what we talked about yesterday, I recommend buying some burnishing media. Non-cutting. porcelain spheres or rods. You may be able to forgo the ultra careful heat treating by tumbling the blades in the porcelain overnight. It will lightly refinish the surfaces and polish the edges. If you want to send me a broken/burned/unsalvageable blade, I can test it out for you if you're interested

[@jeffkeen6943]

Enjoying the more casual videos. Really feels like we are in the shop during production - kinda like the 3rd Grimsmo, you know - Zeppo Grimsmo the brother you never talk about... :-) Keep it coming...

[@Iccccie]

Great new series! Love the daily videos! I dont mind the background noise, i think it adds "life" to the videos, it's made in a shop so makes sense. The aux mike didn't really help so don't think it's worth the hassle. Keep going!

[@SelfMadeProject]

Just a thought on heat treating. I don't like laying the pouch down flat on the bottom of the oven. I've always been concerned that there would be a temp difference, might not matter, but I don't take chances. Evenheat has some great little ceramic heat treating racks that will let you stand up your pouches on edge. If you've got plenty of quench plates and work efficiently, you can heat treat 3 or 4 pouches at time with the rack.

[@josephmcgillen388]

Keep the daily vlogs coming love them.

[@stevewelborn8744]

I really enjoy these videos.

[@shadymattuk]

I quite like the background noise. Adds to the fact that it's a working environment.

[@EZ_shop]

Loving the Vlog format.

[@pronkstuk_]

The video output is amazing! I love it, and i'm sure i am not the only one ;)

[@nicky123431]

love these little updates

[@jardyordoyne6660]

John, thank you for all of the great content you have been putting out for years. I am a big fan of yourself and Saunder's and recently purchase a PCNC 1100. For the price tag of the Mori do you feel that the added precision and speed is a better investment over 7 PCNC 1100'S?

[@Crazymittens1]

As someone going through "Lean IT" (book about applying Lean to information technology), it's really cool to see Lean being applied in a non-IT setting. (yes, I know Lean originates in manufacturing...) Keep up the good work, but don't forget about the work/life balance! Maybe a weekly video is more sustainable?

[@shawncnelson]

Machines will often develop foam on their initial charge. Do you have a refractometer? It's a good investment and will help keep foam under control by keeping your mix percent correct. Also, are you using a mixer or just putting the concentrate into water and mixing by hand? I've conquered the foaming in my five machines by maintaining proper mix % and buying an actual mixer.

[@StefsEngineering]

Better than watching TV! Fun to see you guys try Lean manufacturing. It comes with quite some challenges. It's good to have the Muda's as a list on the machine to remind you of them. In a way the home-made screws is not really lean. It falls under number 5 "overprocessing". (does not change the fact that it is really awesome!) What documentation do you guys use as source of information about Lean?

[@mikeatkurzzobelinc.7033]

Try starting your cutoff going as deep as you can without the part actually falling off. Then bringing your parts catcher up to the part dwelling for just a second and then finishing the cutoff procedure. I noticed the same thing and found that doing this reduces chips getting into your parts catcher and having parts missing the catcher.

[@StefsEngineering]

About the heat treating. Did you consider making an envelope that is open on the side, putting in the blade and then sliding the filled envelope in another open on the top envelope? It might be just as "airtight" but re-useable

[@TheNuubi]

Do you know or can you estimate how much of your produced parts come out unusable? Would be interesting. Good job with the video flow.

[@pirke86]

does more one piece flow also count for thumbstuds and pivots? because they don't take too much space in inventory and transporting them is easy. wouldn't setting up the lathe each time for one piece flow make it prone to defects? also wouldn't one piece flow add extra waiting in this case? keep up the lean journey!

[@lancer2204]

Batch work becomes less of an issue if you programme your batches. For an example, you may wish to organise it in terms of parts for 50 knives and they are run when your stock in hand reaches enough parts for 6 knives. This would allow you to better predict when you need to order more raw materials taking into account delivery lead times and production times. As a further example you may find that the delivery lead time on the Ti rod for the screws is the same as the production time for 8 knives there fore when you have 14 knives remaining from a run of 50 you need to order more Ti rod (if required) etc...

[@Max_Marz]

Question, When you walked down the stairs with the food you prepared, how many times did you have to walk up and down to get those shots.

[@ForgottenMan1]

Erik, just happened to hear 'somewhere online" that a good source for plain non-fragrance(d?) talc for heat treating knifemakers is from pool hall suppliers; I don't play pool, so I don't quite know what they use talc for. Buena suerte.

[@sharpstuffaudwayne5086]

awesome video mate. I really like the idea of the shop life videos it's a nice grimsmo KZbin fix😆😆🍻🍻

[@lunaticcycle1300]

Those batteries also remember your tool offsets, they also must be swapped while the controller is powered up ( so ac power keeps the memory while you pull the batteries) I Swapped them yearly at Husky in Bolton ...oops I've said too much!

[@eddie2799]

Hey John. Instead of using the mighty bite fixture to machine 6 screws at a time, why couldn't you screw them straight into a pallet with the heads exposed and go to town with it. The first cut will pocket the center and tighten them in tight with the right rotation. Another option is to use a drill chuck to tighten them in by hand from the circumference . Just curious if that's an option.

[@ErikGrimsmo]

+eddie2799 That's basically how we've been doing the Overtravel stop, but with these new screws we didn't want to mess up the beautifully lathed surfaces with the drill chuck and we wanted them extremely secure to make sure the torx gets machine perfectly. John may have other reasons too... but that's my 2 cents

[@frollard]

There must be some clever balance right in the middle of mass production and efficient spreading of setup time. ((((x time per part) * parts per stock run) + y time per run stock change) * z number of runs) + tooling change for different part * number of different parts you make. All comes down to how much work it is to do that tooling change. It might make sense (if you're 100% sure of your performance and tolerances) to run off a bajillion of each part to minimize changes. You can't assemble until you have a full inventory but once you do, assembly is all caught up and lead time can be reduced to near zero. If the changes are easy then it's a wash and you only need to run off parts as they are needed. Supply chain management systems have fought with this algorithm for a century. How much capital to tie up in inventory, how many of a part is reasonable buffer.

[@DoingMoreKustoms]

I suggest you Buy the REMOVU M1+A1 Wireless GoPro Microphone. You WILL love it Brother.

[@underourrock]

Get a directional (aka: shotgun) microphone. They have a differential circuit in them that filters out noise that comes from behind the camera and focuses on only the sound coming from in front of the microphone. Edit: Alternative: Remote / wireless microphone, so you have a mic pinned to you, but you aren't tethered down. MonoPrice 600120 works pretty well and is cheap.

[@sjpaulson]

Everything of value comes after much hard work. Beautiful platitude. What is the hard work ? Programming or the machine doing the work ? I applaud the hard work of programming. If that is the hard work, sell me your program. If the hard work is crafting and building a true custom knife, sell me the knife.

[@aserta]

Why not make an skeleton enclosure for the go pro and the zoom mic? You could even add a lever button action to synchronize the two buttons at start. Push once for both. Also, i saw that some people use alu enclosure when doing heat treat. Why not make one of those too? You could vacuum one of those and have foot pegs for the blades to float in the 'air'.

[@NekitaNet]

A hard setup for a perfect part might be the one you let run a little longer. Looking great! :-)

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

The fuzz ball is for the wind. They call it a "dead cat"

[@diecaster1018]

For the ones that don't come out perfect, you should sell those as "Factory Seconds".... that way I mite be able to afford one of your knives lol.

[@tomdchi12]

Seeing the morning start-up of powering on the tools, compressor, opening the valve, etc. leads me to ask, do you have a written "checklist" for morning startup and evening shut down? It's useful both to reduce missing anything but also to reduce decision fatigue - along the lines of "you only have an allowance of 100 decisions per day." On one hand, audio is 50% of filmmaking, on the other hand, your audio has pretty much always been "good enough." I could imagine people with hearing difficulty or non-native English speakers having problems with the ambient noises obscuring the speech, but it usually isn't bad. Audio is a deep rabbit hole to go down - KZbinr Curtis Judd has a ton of great, practical info on getting to pro audio. Also the current versions of Adobe Premiere CC have an auto tool to sync separately recorded audio to the audio recorded on the camera - no need for claps or fiddling to align the audio track. Again it's not much of a problem, so you probably don't need to devote much time to "fixing" it. Your videos are marketing for your business, not a hobby. They seem to be valuable to your business, so they may deserve time during your work day both for shooting, but potentially also for editing. (Though, of course, you *can* edit at home, while time in the shop is when you have access to the tools.)

[@BennHerr]

First thing to remember when going lean is that batch is not evil. You just need to figure out the right size batch. After all, doing just one item at a time is a batch of one! The size batch you need will be defined by the other parts of your processes. Example: It looks like Eric does heat treat in batches of four. Making four sets of pivots would probably be the right size batch. It all depends on the other parts of you process.

[@richardhaisley1]

I've been getting pop up ad's from a company called banggood com. they have a bunch of junk, but they also have 2 sizes of titanium rod. 3x25 mm and 10 mm by 50 mm.the first one is $1.38 and the second one is $10.25. I don't know if you can use either one of them and I don't have any idea what their quality is but that seems awful cheap. btw where you used button head screws in the previous video they also make a low head socket screw. I used to work on Cincinnati centerless grinders and they used them to hold bronze bearing shoes in. first time I ever heard of them.

[@eformance]

LOL, you just made the argument for a second lathe "I have this one setup to make part X, but I'm out of part Y!"

[@issues1975]

Love these videos!

[@jdiggy7118]

you should get a wireless lapel microphone or a shotgun mic. a shotgun mic is a very directional microphone that will cancel most background noise and only pick up sound from the direction it is pointing

[@solarcheese]

Shotgun with a supercardioid pickup pattern is the best bet here I think

[@bhilton5898]

Love your videos! Keep then up.

[@senocon]

Ever consider a vacuum heat treat furnace? $$$ but worth it in the long run....

[@ExMachinaEngineering]

As far as the water you use for the coolant is concerned, if you check out the Haas tips on their KZbin channel, they suggest regular tap water when you first fill the tank and then topping up with distilled (deionized) water. Pretty interesting video actually... Worth a look... Again, great work on the video. I guess I wouldn't be too upset with a Grimsmo vlog (wink, wink)!!! So... Make it happen.

[@jobyEN]

I'm sorry if this was asked before, but do you test your blades for hardness?

[@darinhumble4656]

I actually don't mind the background machine noises. I could be a bit bothered when its really loud, but I kinda like a little background machine noises and stuff. Plus, could you do a somewhat in depth video on your heat treating process? I quench my knives in oil/water, and don't quite understand everything Erik is doing.

[@RenThraysk]

Billiard talc for unscented. Silver Cup is one brand.

[@jarisipilainen3875]

3:12 what is that VNMG tool holder on lower. did you made that? cool looks like it cut front and back side

[@gbowne1]

water quality has a lot to do with it good quality coolant. Proper coolant maintenance, skimming, filtering, etc.

[@underourrock]

That Starburst is the bees knees!

[@poisoncobra7]

the "fuzz ball" is actually called a "Dead Cat" if you didn't know it ;D

[@kirbykiller9116]

please keep on doing videos like this.

[@jimsvideos7201]

I enjoy your videos thoroughly, and rather than get burned out on the idea why not try an every other day or twice a week pace?

[@Dingle1911]

Thanks for another video!

[@supermanhills]

Keep doing them :P We love them!!

[@eformance]

"Baby powder" generally does not contain talc because of potential health risks. It's mostly just corn starch, which is much cheaper in bulk (still use the baby powder bottle for application).

[@JohnGrimsmo]

+eformance They make baby powder with either talc or corn starch, this one for sure is made with talc, says so on the label (right under "keep away from baby's face"). I'm assuming corn starch won't last past 500*, being that it's food, not a mineral.

[@eformance]

+JohnGrimsmo Yeah, it's just not as common. Good on ya (Erik) for finding the talc!

[@brandonloukota4760]

Don't blacksmiths use soap to prevent oxidation when forging? could you use something like that to help with heat treating so you don't have to wrap as many times? just a thought idk how all this stuff works

[@RaininPayne2]

They use flux usually, such as borax. not soap

[@brandonloukota4760]

Is borax not a soap?

[@Arnthorg]

0:19 American megatrends, maan does that bring me back :)

[@ExtantFrodo2]

The trouble you are having with the tips can not be allayed by covering the blade uniformly. You absolutely need a greater mass roughly equal to the average mass of the blade clamped firmly to the tip and (this is very important) conforming to the shape of the tip as much as possible. I would go so far as to machine a negative space of the tip shape for each kind of blade you make. I would use the range of bluing along the previous heat treated blades to guide you in how far up the blade your compensator should be. Good luck and fare well.

[@coryyork8088]

Coolant pressure will also make it foam.

[@diepzeekomkommer]

background noise is fine😊👍 btw you should try wondershare filmora for editing your video's works great 😀

[@JohnGrimsmo]

+Actionhank Thanks for the tip! I'm pretty happy with Sony Vegas right now because that's what I'm used to, but I checked that one out and it looks pretty schweet.

[@madinatore]

something on the 50 euro product ideas thing dice for dnd 4,6,10,12 and 20 sided dice. could be a market for intricate titanium maybe

[@aarondcmedia9585]

+madinatore His wife did some Ti dice, so all the CAD should still be there.

[@jean-louisboudreau3643]

love the vlogs. I'd like it if you could share your 2 sec improvement in them. : )

[@BernieFromTheInternet]

50$ part idea, ok maybe parts. alot of people know you for the knife making tips and therefore make knives themselves. I think you should produce some knife making parts like screws, spacers and maybe clips. the whole idea is that the parts would be made with the insane precision you're known for. just an idea

[@peterjansen4894]

No pitting from the asbestos then?

[@JP-kk5vw]

Order up those D batteries! Very Special!

[@richardhaisley1]

long winded it cut me off. Cincinnati used low head socket screws to hold bronze bearing shoes in. it gave them a lot more wear.

[@stevebantersb]

looking for the deburing wheel you use. used one a long time ago and need one now. any part number would be helpfull!

[@ErikGrimsmo]

+Steve Banter 6 inch Scotch Brite Wheel. Medium. Jantz supply sells them. Its a must have in. I kind of want the Fine wheel as well

[@stevebantersb]

Thanks! Use them to put an unusual edge on my knives and i love it. Come on pay day!

[@stevebantersb]

Fine? Interested!

[@Max_Marz]

noooooo don't use additives in the coolant, get your water on lock that's the biggest factor. We chose our coolant purely based on the fact that it goes really well with our tap water.

[@BDBK666]

Hey I'm sure you've seen this video, but in it they specifically say to use tap water for the initial coolant mix. Something about the minerals giving something for the additives to stick to. Loving all these videos guys, try not to get burnt out on it though!! diy.haascnc.com/videos/machine-tool-coolant-making-new-batch-video

[@shammient]

And the whole Mori runs on a 1.6ghz atom.

[@CrashedDreams534]

since he went to the store couldnt he grab some batteries??

[@ErikGrimsmo]

+Leonidas Limnios That probably would have been an excellent use of my trip to the store! It didn't even cross our minds.

[@CrashedDreams534]

+Erik Grimsmo Well next time you know better

[@bertr5650]

+Erik Grimsmo Yep I was thinking why is he in the bathroom section looking for batteries ;-))

[@wildironmedia]

Some coolant manufactures recommend using tap for the "start up" or when you make your initial batch. And then use deionized for replacement from evaporation and carry out loss. Apparently the minerals help emulsification. Check out this from HAAS. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6W0gIOVf8-coq8

[@bertr5650]

Great Videos! 80/20 rule though, don't spend all your time on them. Design the awesome light or something for 1 of the editing hours ;-)

[@JohnGrimsmo]

+Bert R Good perspective, thanks for the 80/20 reminder. Editing is eating up All my free time haha.

[@russeljacobson2307]

The goal is deliver the completed end product which equals $$$$.

[@simezra]

pual will be proud :]

[@brianu2871]

Is the baby powder talc or corn starch ?

[@JohnGrimsmo]

+Brian U Talc for sure.

[@littlestworkshop]

+Brian U You put cornstarch on babies?

[@brianu2871]

That's what it says on the bottle :)

[@littlestworkshop]

+Brian U You learn something new everyday!

[@mrmaigo]

I thought they had quietly pulled all the talc because cancer

[@rpicinic]

Great videos John. We feel spoiled. Hope they continue, even if not as frequent. Foaming of your coolant can be various issues. Mechanical issues or chemical issues. Check this site for more info....www.acculube.com/lubricant-diagnosing-fixing.html

[@jonmcdaniel]

Ahh! My Blade! You don't have to start over do you?

[@JohnGrimsmo]

+Jonathan McDaniel No worries mate! It's perfectly perfect as is, we're just nit picking and trying to improve. Ooh Maybe Erik will do some etching tomorrow, yeah that'll be good filming content.

[@jonmcdaniel]

+JohnGrimsmo I know, I was just playing. So when you get oxidation like that, does it buff out easily? What is the cure?

[@skydoosher]

Can I work for you guys? I have zero experience with anything you do. I currently work in corporate finance and want to bask my face against a wall nearly everyday. K thanks

[@dougp3841]

KANBAN!!!

[@Xraller]

Just do the videos once or twice a week.

[@gangpw924]

a lots know-how, I learned quit a bit from watching you guys

[@brukernavnfettsjit]

Get 1 machine for every part, then BATCH. hehehehe

[@matthewsmith8168]

Instead of discarding your less-than-perfect parts, why not collect them and sell a scratch and dent series for a little less? People will love them just as much and you'll have less waste with more profit.