Convexed Waki

Horn Dog said:
People have differing techniques. One way to avoid making the blade narrow is to do most or all of the heavy grinding edge up, keeping the very edge itself off the belt. Some do not like this technique, but it works for me.
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I don't have a lot of experience with a belt grinder, but I have always been told that doing it this way can be a bit dangerous if you are not very careful. Folks have said one could loose control of the blade and suddenly have the blade bite you. Any truth to this in your experience?
 
on_the_edge said:
I don't have a lot of experience with a belt grinder, but I have always been told that doing it this way can be a bit dangerous if you are not very careful. Folks have said one could loose control of the blade and suddenly have the blade bite you. Any truth to this in your experience?
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No more so than grinding edge down. You must pay attention. No texting or talking on the cell phone while grinding. I have received some nasty cuts when my finger hit the edge of the belt, though.
 
IIRC Mike Stewart is an advocate of doing it this way and seems to think it's safer.
 
resinguy said:
:confused: Mine didn't seem convex at all. Pretty much flat grind to a thick V secondary edge and V primary edge. Profle much like my AK47.
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Strange. Did you try putting a straight edge to the side? I had a hard time seeing it until I tried that.
 
I think it is a slightly curved or convex grind. I still want to see the fully convexed blade. :D
 
…and now, the rest of the story.

As I said, after stripping, it’s dull grey.

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These big, deep zig-zag marks are not uncommon on coated Busse knives. Don’t know exactly where they come from. Marks from the steel mill?

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After a few passes on the disc sander.

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After a LOT of work with the 80 grit belt.

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Back to test cutting. I think it cuts cleaner. Could be wishful thinking.

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The previous plan view pictures don’t convey how funky the grind looks. Looking down the blade with the right light, it’s ugly. In hindsight, the disc grinder was a mistake. The disc was too coarse, and even if it had not been, I think it would be hard to control the depth of the cut.

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Since I am a lazy, impatient hack, I decided it would take too long to get rid of all the grind marks. Got out the hard rubber sanding block and 150 grit paper. Sprayed the paper and the blade with WD40 (tip from the Makers forum). Long strokes along the full length of the blade get rid of most of the transverse grind lines.

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So, there it is. The Ghetto Satin is complete. It helps if you have low standards.

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I need to go back and work on the convex edge some more with a succession of finer grit belts. It is possible to do a job like this without the belt sander, as my Ruck was done by hand. Takes longer, but if you don’t change the edge geometry much, you probably can preserve your warranty. So you too can be the first on your block with a Satin Waki.

And, before you ask… NO I will not do your Waki.. I don’t mind hacking up my Waki, and voiding my warranty, but I won’t do it to yours.
 
Wow, rezinguy. It is coming along nicely. I knew it would be a huge job for a 1" belt sander. It took me forever to do my NMSFNO and FFBM. I was hoping for a smoother surface under the paint. Keep at it with some new belts and you will get there. If you grind edge up, keeping the very edge off the belt, you will get a nice smooth convex profile. Then go to finer grits to sand out the grind marks. Don't take it down to the final edge until the blade is pretty smooth. Once you get a burr or wire edge, go to 40 micron, then 15 micron for a finished, polished edge. It will be beautiful and worth all the effort. You're half way there already. :thumbup:
Of course, you could leave it ghetto satin, too. It looks just fine now for a user. Thanks for showing us what's under the paint. I think I'll leave mine coated for now. Maybe when the weather cools some, I'll take the plunge.
 
Thanks for all the pics and info, Guy. It may be a ghetto satin finish, but anybody who has ever attempted anything like this knows you have already put in a ton of work. Great job!! :thumbup:
 
It looks great to me, I remember the Ruck you did a couple of years ago, & I remeber something about a tree in Georgia ??? ;)

Looks good my friend :thumbup:
 
Horn Dog said:
Wow, rezinguy. It is coming along nicely. I knew it would be a huge job for a 1" belt sander. It took me forever to do my NMSFNO and FFBM. I was hoping for a smoother surface under the paint. Keep at it with some new belts and you will get there. If you grind edge up, keeping the very edge off the belt, you will get a nice smooth convex profile. Then go to finer grits to sand out the grind marks. Don't take it down to the final edge until the blade is pretty smooth. Once you get a burr or wire edge, go to 40 micron, then 15 micron for a finished, polished edge. It will be beautiful and worth all the effort. You're half way there already. :thumbup:
Of course, you could leave it ghetto satin, too. It looks just fine now for a user. Thanks for showing us what's under the paint. I think I'll leave mine coated for now. Maybe when the weather cools some, I'll take the plunge.
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Yes, I did it edge up and edge down. Since I'm an impatient hack, I'll settle for the ghetto satin, user grade finish. :rolleyes::D Just have to finish the edge before our Tree Chopping and Pork Fest this Sunday.

on_the_edge said:
Thanks for all the pics and info, Guy. It may be a ghetto satin finish, but anybody who has ever attempted anything like this knows you have already put in a ton of work. Great job!! :thumbup:
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Thanks. It took less than 8 hours spread over two afternoons.

David Brown said:
It looks great to me, I remember the Ruck you did a couple of years ago, & I remeber something about a tree in Georgia ??? ;)

Looks good my friend :thumbup:
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Never could hit the damn thing, could we? :p
 
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