Bevel pic

Even if you keep the exact same pressure, you will get an uneven bevel if you spend more time in one area.

So if you put the steel to the belt in the middle, then slide to your plunge and then back out to the tip, you're hitting the middle more than the plunge and the tip.
That's how I would get a wonky bevel.
With practice, you'll be able to just barely touch the belt and when you're ready to grind, apply even pressure as you pull the blade across the belt.
 
Josh Rider said:
Even if you keep the exact same pressure, you will get an uneven bevel if you spend more time in one area.
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Good point, thanks for bringing this up, the thread would have been incomplete without it.
~billyO
 
weo said:
Being a physical therapist by trade and that I pay close attention to my posture and body, and have a good kinesthetic sense, I check my grinds after each pass, and can correct unevenness with increasing pressure on the low points or decreasing on the high points on subsequent passes. And I can almost always tell when I screw up before I look at the grind by feeling when I lose concentration and use uneven pressure.
While there are other possible reasons, IMO the main reason is not keeping even pressure throughout the pass.
(but check the straightness of the stock first....)
~billyO
Click to expand...
Awesome. Thank you
 
Josh Rider said:
Even if you keep the exact same pressure, you will get an uneven bevel if you spend more time in one area.

So if you put the steel to the belt in the middle, then slide to your plunge and then back out to the tip, you're hitting the middle more than the plunge and the tip.
That's how I would get a wonky bevel.
With practice, you'll be able to just barely touch the belt and when you're ready to grind, apply even pressure as you pull the blade across the belt.
Click to expand...
I didnt realize that.
 
Sharpe5097 said:
I should tell you thats my practice steel. It's just mild steel. Probably not flat
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I personally think you answered your own question right there with "probably not flat". Also why are you even bothering with mild steel just to practice on? You can buy some kinds of carbon steel for the same price and not just throw your money away on mild steel.
 
JGarrison Knives said:
I personally think you answered your own question right there with "probably not flat". Also why are you even bothering with mild steel just to practice on? You can buy some kinds of carbon steel for the same price and not just throw your money away on mild steel.
Click to expand...
That really depends where you're buying it. At a hardware store, yes
From a proper steel dealer mild steel will be way cheaper, and potentially damn near free if they'll let you look through the drops.
Personally I don't see any problem with using mild steel to practice grinding. If you'll be tossing it in the scrap bin anyways, I don't see the need in killing abrasives faster and using more expensive materials
 
Geoff Flato said:
That really depends where you're buying it. At a hardware store, yes
From a proper steel dealer mild steel will be way cheaper, and potentially damn near free if they'll let you look through the drops.
Personally I don't see any problem with using mild steel to practice grinding. If you'll be tossing it in the scrap bin anyways, I don't see the need in killing abrasives faster and using more expensive materials
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Allow me to give a big "thumbs up" on that post. Heck, while the hardware store might not be flat, the high carbon steel you might might not be flat anyway. Cheapest steel found is best for practice. Heck, you can even use paint sticks for first practice grinding.

Ken H>
 
If that is hardware store "bar stock" they typically sheer from sheets so I can almost guarantee you it's cupped if it is. They should really name it strip stock because it's NOT bar stock. I use a bunch of it for odds and ends, heck half the time if I buy say 1 1/4" it's more like 1 3/8" - 1 1/2". If you don't flatten it out first you're going to have a hard time making something even for practice that's going to come out nice without a bunch of extra work. Being as it's cupped, it can be a real PITA to flatten out. Flat bar from a steel supplier is just that, Flat bar, not strips sheered from a sheet. Still needs to be flattened out, but it's going to be much much easier.
 
Yes, it might be cupped a bit due to shearing, but lots of high carbon steel purchased in thin strips will also be sheared. A knifemaker needs to learn to deal with that shear cup, and cheap metal is cheaper than buying good steel to practice. Take you magnet (you do have one?) to strip of steel, hold against platen and flatten steel as first step. I tend to do that for most any steel just to confirm it's really flat.
 
I have the same type of tool rest and I find it almost impossible to get it completely square.
 
Thanks for your post Lo Rez, I grind both free hand and with jigs and jigs do not cause these issues, in fact I like flat grinding with a jig, and have started to like it more with hollow grinding as of late... but either way you go just watch as you go is my view....
 
Lo/Rez said:
Jigs do not cause that. I grind with a jig and my grinds are not too bad.

K20HS8Hh.jpg


AunIST0h.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks pretty darn good to me how does that jig get you a blade that looks like that?
 
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