Blade Grinding Technique & video

69_knives

69_knives

Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
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Seen a few posts in here regarding grinding technique and thought I'd make and post a video.

I learned this technique 20 years ago and it's pretty simple. A lot of people would instinctively use their arm movements to try to grind a blade or anything else for that matter. This is an OK method but takes a lot more disciplined control than my method.

Instead of moving your arms, lock your arms and/or elbows in position and move your body. You can press your forearm or elbow into your side and use a number of different movements to effect your desired pass along the belt. For side to side movement, swaying at the hips works well; for front to back or up/down, a lunging movement works well.

The idea is that a larger MASS is harder to throw off course. If your whole body is causing the movement, it is much easier to do a consistent grind than trying to use your arms to perform in unison from opposite sides of your body.

The Video

This Weekends Forgings...



 
I don't remember if that's a 5 or 7.5 horse machine but there's 5 more like it in that room. That particular machine has 132x3 belts on both sides and the rest are setup for polish and buff wheels.
 
I would love to watch your technique, but unfortunately when the sparks start flying, the picture goes dark and it's hard to see what you're doing with your hips, etc. I've read tons about grinding, but never seen anyone actually do it.

On a side note, are your hands made of asbestos?
 
NickWheeler said:
That looks like quite the shop, and that's one hellacious grinder!
Click to expand...





hellacious?....more like the grinder from hell....forget about losing the tip of a finger...that thing could rip a torso off!.....ryan:D


thanks for sharing the video!!
 
P J 234 said:
I would love to watch your technique, but unfortunately when the sparks start flying, the picture goes dark and it's hard to see what you're doing with your hips, etc. I've read tons about grinding, but never seen anyone actually do it.

On a side note, are your hands made of asbestos?
Click to expand...


Sorry about the light/dark thing, I took that video with my new still camera and I'm not sure if I can change the aperture settings yet, plus the batteries died during the shoot and I was pretty well done grinding when I noticed.

Haha, naw, my hands arent asbestos. I was wearing cotton gloves and the contact wheel creates so much wind that it cools the steel, esp. thin metal, that blade is about .150" and it was cool in the shop.

I'm not really that 'thick' either, it is several layers as I was forging outside.
 
Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try. And yes, that belt grinder eats my little 1 x 42 for snacks.
 
Yeah, biomechanically speaking, anytime you can lock your arms to your core and move your core you are using bigger muscles that tire much slower, and you are stronger, and you are more stable. Same principles as shooting a rifle, for example.
 
If you ever get tired of making knives you could always use that grinder for shaping armour plate on battle tanks!:D that is cool as heck:thumbup:
 
69_knives said:
Haha, naw, my hands arent asbestos. I was wearing cotton gloves and the contact wheel creates so much wind that it cools the steel...
Click to expand...

I kept looking for a bucket of water. I never saw one so I waited to see the smoke and hear the cursing. :eek:

That's quite a grinder. Heck, I'd be afraid to get my hands that close to it.
 
i find that i lock my arms and use my torso/legs more on the bigger blades. i do it on little blades also, but its much more of an instinct on larger blades. i find that i kindof just do a sway type of motion, sometimes i realize what i must look like and feel a bit silly, but it seems to work well.

thanks for sharing the video!
 
That is the standard advice given to new makers, lock your arms in to your waste for stability. Nice way to grind 69, great knives too.
 
yea, i agree with the locked arms but sometimes i use my hands like a welder for a smooth stroke
 
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