Christmas presents done, and a couple questions.

T

tr3yanderson

Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
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I finally was able to get another knife made, Actually 4 knives. These I made for my 3 nephews and uncle. I just found out that he is out of a job right now and my sister's job is their only income. So there won't be much as far as presents go this year for Christmas. I had this idea to make them each a knife. The only problem was I learned this news last Tuesday. So I spent many very late nights the past few days so I could get these in the mail today. I wish I had more time to spend on them; they are sill pretty rough from my perspective but overall I'm still very satisfied. These make knives number 3-6 for me.

I'm definitely getting better at plunge lines but man I still struggle getting even blade thickness. blade at the tip and at the plunge line are always thicker. I always grind plunge to tip and I feel like a spend more time at the tip but it is still always the thickest. Is it better to grind plunge to tip or tip to plunge?

And I don't know what it is, but it seems every time after I finish sharpening I always seem to get several scratches on my blade, which really irritates me. I use the lansky sharpening system. I'm thinking that maybe some of the grit comes off while sharpening and then when I wipe the blade that might be how the scratches get there. How do you all ensure a scratch-less blade after while sharpening?

Not the best photos but here they are:

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Simple fix:
Put blue painters tape on the blade going down to almost the edge. If worried, put on a couple layers.
Sharpen blade.
Remove tape and wipe off with alcohol.
Done.
 
Nice looking knives!

Perhaps the tip issues have to do with the angle you are grinding at by the time you get to the tip. You may be more perpendicular to the floor than you think.
 
Ha yes, painters tape. that is quite simple. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks Stacey.

Also one more questions. Most of what I know so far on knife making has come from this forum. I've read several times to use slow curing epoxy and not the 5 minute epoxy, because the slow curing epoxies are stronger. so I've been using JB weld original lately, as that is what's at Lowe's. But as I was getting some more this weekend, I noticed that JB weld also made a 5 minute epoxy that advertised a 4400 psi strength whereas the JB weld original, which is a 24 hour cure, only shows 3960 psi strength. So now i'm a bit confused. Is there a reason why the slow cure would still be better even though its rated lower? are there other characteristics other than psi that matter?

Thanks.
 
Minnesota Man said:
Great gifts! I especially love those smaller EDC blades! What are the handle and blade lengths?
Click to expand...
Thanks. Well the EDC ones are 5 3/4 inches long with the blade, plunge to tip, 2 1/8 inches. They were supposed to be 6 inches long with a 2.25 inch blade from plunge to tip. but apparently my printer shrunk the everything slightly when printing my template. I didn't notice until after I had cut out the steel, haha.
 
There are several reasons for the slow cure.
One is the polymer chains formed are stronger. The PIS ratings are mostly sales hype. Remember the guy with his hat glued to the crane ball for the first super glue ads?

Secondly, the film formed between the surfaces is likely to be more even with the slow cure. This will help eliminate gaps and "bubbles".

The biggest advantage is you have the time to adjust and get things right. With 60 seconds working time you have to rush ... and rushing almost always causes mistakes. With the 24 hour epoxies you have one to three hours to make adjustments and wipe of drips, etc.

Most people clamp the scales down much too hard. This can make the scales lift on the ends and can cause the epoxy to squeeze out and create a glue starved joint. The faster you are trying to apply clamps, the more likely that you will over-tighten them. I suggest the weakest clamps you can find at HF.
One reason I like Corby bolts is you don't have to clamp the scales.
 
tr3yanderson said:
So now i'm a bit confused. Is there a reason why the slow cure would still be better even though its rated lower? are there other characteristics other than psi that matter?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Time :) You need time to get job right , + 5min. epoxy in summer is maybe only two minutes and you will end up with nice gel:D
 
On the tip remaining too thick. On long thin knives (kitchen knives and fillet knives mostly) I grind the tip to final dimensions FIRST. then blend in the rest. This solves two problems: burning the tip, and the blade flexing as it gets thinner, resulting in less pressure applied to the tip during the pass. This last issue can result in a thicker tip, and an uneven grind . Hope this helps.
 
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