Cheapskate is the mother of invention part deux

[Dr Heelhook]

I am making my second blade and since it’s my first double grind, I was looking for a cost effective way to scratch the markings for the edge bevels as accurately as possible. I figured I could take a chisel and clamp it to the steel table of our work band saw. Now I just needed a spacer that’s exactly 1.2 mm in thickness. I found an old cake server that fit the bill perfectly, so I attached the whole contraption to the table and tried it out.

The result: two crisp and clear lines exactly 1.2 mm from each side.

Anyone else ever handled this in a similar way?

 

[Kevin McGovern]

Most people just use a drill bit that is a size or two smaller than the width of the stock. Lay them both on a flat surface and scribe the edge on both sides.

 

[Dr Heelhook]

Most people just use a drill bit that is a size or two smaller than the width of the stock. Lay them both on a flat surface and scribe the edge on both sides.

Ah, I remember hearing that some time long ago, now that you mention it.
I’ll probably do that next time, thanks!

 

[Rhinoknives1]

What Kevin said^^^ I use an older Carbide drill bit. Blacken with a marker firstif you like.

 

[coldsteelburns]

In a pinch you can use a cut off from the steel you used to make the blade. Just take one of the cut offs an and grind bevels on a 1/4" (or so) long section t create an edge in the center of it and then just use it the same way as you did with your chisel. It's really easy to judge the center on a section that small. Since it's exact thickness of the blade stock you can re-use it whenever you use that thickness bar stock. You can make one for each thickness in steel you use and even give them each a quick quench using a plumbers torch to harden them. Plus it'll save the tips on your bits and the edges on your chisel (and your calipers).

Or you can do what I did and just get an inexpensive but effective height gauge with a carbide edge from Grizzly

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)

 

[Aidenag]

Definitely creative way to do it with what was on hand. for very little money though you can get a cheapo height guage and granite plate from grizzly, add in some dykem and your scribing in the thousandth range. I think im about $50 invested in the 3 things. Actually heading to grizzly next week again to finally upgrade to a 18x24 granite plate as im tired of using my 12x on chef knives that are longer than it. Thank god i live near the warehouse, can't imagine how bad shipping would be on it.

 

[Dr Heelhook]

Definitely creative way to do it with what was on hand. for very little money though you can get a cheapo height guage and granite plate from grizzly, add in some dykem and your scribing in the thousandth range. I think im about $50 invested in the 3 things. Actually heading to grizzly next week again to finally upgrade to a 18x24 granite plate as im tired of using my 12x on chef knives that are longer than it. Thank god i live near the warehouse, can't imagine how bad shipping would be on it.

Thank you! If I'm ever getting into making chef's knives, that sounds like the way to go. Really need to have the angles on your side, when you're going that thin.