- Joined
- Jan 28, 2012
- Messages
- 230
My 3rd knife, an Enzo trapper, I just can't keep the 2 sides the same. I'm only on the first round of sanding.
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Any tips on keeping a handle symmetrical when shaping?
- Thread starter chrisa62401
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,367
I'm sure you'll get better advise but I thought I'd share what works for me. I slow the grinder down and get a rough shape I'm looking for between a contact wheel and a flat platen. Just take your time and do quick passes. Once I get it close I go to work with a file. I get all my final contours with a file and sanding stick. If I tired to do it all on a grinder it would be a mess. That's what works for me.
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2010
- Messages
- 8,721
What works for me, I start the rough shape as all flat planes and then round all the edges with either a file or a sanding stick/block. I find keeping it symmetrical easier this way. Also, more practice! Its one of those things that come with time.
-Xander
-Xander
I don't do much complex shaping on mine, so I have it a lot easier than a lot of folks. I just work slowly, check often, and switch to working my hand before I'm quite where I want to be. I can mess up more slowly by hand than the grinder. 
After that, just practice, I've gotten pretty good at rounding edges and getting some of the shaping I do use with a j-flex belt in the slack area of my grinder. The improvement over the past year is very noticeable. The end result isn't much different for this, but the amount of time spent, and the number of mistakes I had to fix made a huge improvement.
I also found that not doing too much on one side at a time helps. I do a little on one side, match it on the other, do a little more... trying to do one side most of the way and then match it seems much harder for me than doing it incrementally. I'm not sure if it's just me or what, but that's my experience, and it seems to be true whether I'm on the grinder or working by hand.
After that, just practice, I've gotten pretty good at rounding edges and getting some of the shaping I do use with a j-flex belt in the slack area of my grinder. The improvement over the past year is very noticeable. The end result isn't much different for this, but the amount of time spent, and the number of mistakes I had to fix made a huge improvement.
I also found that not doing too much on one side at a time helps. I do a little on one side, match it on the other, do a little more... trying to do one side most of the way and then match it seems much harder for me than doing it incrementally. I'm not sure if it's just me or what, but that's my experience, and it seems to be true whether I'm on the grinder or working by hand.
