alright, profile time

M

metacarpels

Joined
Jan 16, 2001
Messages
156
Hey all, ive got my first knife blanked and its time to profile the edge. I need some help with this part because ive never done it. ive got a little 1 inch grinder and its got slack in it. I want a flat grind, 3/4 of the way up the blade. Any thoughts on how to do this effectively since i only have one shot? it seems like its gonna take multiple passes to get it that high up on the blade. i appreciate all the input from everyone.
 
Here you go..no turning back now! If your grinder doesnt have a flat platen on it., a flat grind is impossible..If it does, just set it on the rest and remove material..i hate to say this but youll just have to watch and feel for the angle. Dont grind too much from one side ..work both sides and try to blend them..Watch your position on the belt or your plunge cuts wont match(mine still dont most of the time)..other than that go back and forth cooling in water til its where you want it, dont be afraid to take that metal off. Happy Grinding! Hope this advice from a fellow beginner helps.
Luke
 
Does it have a platen? A flat surface that belt lays against. I use a rat tail file to mark where I start my grind on the edge end. Some guys grinders are set up vertically, mine isn't so if that's the way your grinder is set up I can't help you. On my KMG I use the platen on a 45 degree angle. when I grind. It's hard to explain without showing. I start at the file mark and grind horizonally left to right and turn the blade over and grind right to left. i continue until I get the grind where I want it. This probably didn't shed much light maybe someone else can explain it better.
Scott
 
well my belt grinder did have a little metal plate behind it at one point and i took it out and lost it, could easily make a new one thought. Besides, it was almost useless because it was like maybe 2 inches long. I may make another one. The one thing im wondering, is how does one get such a smooth line at the top of the profile? im thinkin thats got to be hard to achieve. i decided to get a similar piece of steel and practice a bit before goin for it, mainly because it was a pain in the posterior to blank this blade :) I appreciate any more info people want to offer... im like a sponge so, talk to me like im stupid....
 
dont forget to mark the center line with some kinda scribe (or sharp black sharpie) :D on where the sharp side will be so you can make sure both sides are equal.
 
Profiling is where you grind the outline of the knife, the outside design shape, the profile. What you're talking about is grinding the bevels.

Just so someone doesn't misunderstand you in the future.;)
 
There are sooooo many people here that are more qualified to give advise about grinding blades, however I will try to tell you things that have been a big help to me. I use vernier calipers to scrape two lines on the blade edge so that there is a gap about .030" exactly down the center of the blade all the way to the tip. This allows the blade edge to end up centered. As Scott said, mark the plunge ( where the grind starts ). I grind a 45 degree bevel almost to the line of both sides. This will prevent removing a lot of the grinding particles off you belt and making it dull quickly. Secondly, as you place the blade against the belt you can see this gap ( because of the 45 degree bevel ) and this eventually will help you judge the angle that you are grinding. Oh, I use a black marker to mark lines 1/4, 3/8 ect. on both sides to see how your grinding is progressing. Keep alternating side to side. Practice on scrap first. It takes plenty of practice.
 
I've always had a pretty good eye for getting things even. I'm the picture hanger in my house. :D Another thing I do is while I'm grinding I'll periodically hold the blade vertically with the edge facing me up to my shop light and look to see if both sides are even from the point to the heel.
Scott
 
FILES.

You can rough it out with your grinder, but you will have a MUCH better feel for what's going on after that with files.

Get a good bastard cut mill file...at least 10" a 12" or 14" will give you even more surface area to work with.

You can take off a lot of material with a file on a soft piece of steel. And you'll be very much in touch with what's going on (not to sound philosophical or anything) :)

Nick

http://www.wheelerknives.com
 
Nick thanks for bringing us back down to Earth. You are of course right on as usual. A good way to get the blade flat is draw filing, where you hold the file one end in each hand and push and pull it over the blade. The blade would be in a vise pointing toward you. You can remove a lot of steel this way without too much effort, and the results are very good.
 
Nick thanks for bringing us back down to Earth. You are of course right on as usual.


MuhuHAHAHAAH!!!

Yea right Dave!

But I do like the idea of folks getting a good feeling for hand work.

I have just about every knifemaking toy a guy could want...but I learned with all hand tools, and am glad for it. It makes me appreciate my stuff more, and have a better feel for what to do when I get to the gap between machine work and a finely finished knife. (I DO feel there's quite a gap there).

I TRY To get my grinds as perfect as possible with careful grinding, followed by a disc grinder, and/or the rotary platen... but nearly all of my stuff is trued by hand.

I don't think I ever put a clip into a blade that isn't trued and the lines sharpened up without using stones and paper wrapped around a piece of precision ground steel to "draw file" with, just like you mentioned Dave.

Plus! A $10-$15 file is a cheap way to decide if you like this stuff or not!!! :D

-Nick-

http://www.wheelerknives.com
 
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