Dagger Bevel Technique

T

TRI Steel

Joined
Apr 18, 2025
Messages
3
Hey Everyone,
I am pretty new to blade making and need help with doing dagger bevels. Hopefully my question makes sense.

As I slide the blade across the platen, should I move it in a straight line or pull it towards me as I near the tip?

Another stumbling block - If the dagger blade has a significant tapper, do I still pull it straight across the platen or do something different?
Thanks for any help,
Kevin
 
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Welcome to BF. I'll report your post so a mod can move it to Shoptalk.

Daggers are tricky and how one grinds the bevels depends on your choice of strategy. Assuming flat grinds (since you said platen rather than wheel), then if you did straight passes like your hands were a jig, then the edge would get thicker where the profile narrows. For this reason, some people including me, grind a distal taper before starting the bevels. Either way the region towards the tip can take some finesse. If you rotate a little to keep the edge perpendicular to the belt, it can be easier to keep the edge thickness consistent, but then you need to watch that your center line doesn't wander. Holding the blade as a whole perpendicular will help keep the center line straight, but might make the edge thicker near the tip, which you might prefer anyway. Or you might slowly twist the blade to gradually change the bevel angle. Generally it takes practice and if you find yourself in tune with the blade and removing material where you want, then keep going while you have it. After heat treatment you might need to focus to get back in tune.
 
Richard338 said:
Welcome to BF. I'll report your post so a mod can move it to Shoptalk.

Daggers are tricky and how one grinds the bevels depends on your choice of strategy. Assuming flat grinds (since you said platen rather than wheel), then if you did straight passes like your hands were a jig, then the edge would get thicker where the profile narrows. For this reason, some people including me, grind a distal taper before starting the bevels. Either way the region towards the tip can take some finesse. If you rotate a little to keep the edge perpendicular to the belt, it can be easier to keep the edge thickness consistent, but then you need to watch that your center line doesn't wander. Holding the blade as a whole perpendicular will help keep the center line straight, but might make the edge thicker near the tip, which you might prefer anyway. Or you might slowly twist the blade to gradually change the bevel angle. Generally it takes practice and if you find yourself in tune with the blade and removing material where you want, then keep going while you have it. After heat treatment you might need to focus to get back in tune.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info and moving it to Shoptalk.
Kevin
 
Welcome to Shop talk TRI Steel. Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.

Daggers are one of the most difficult knives to grind. They involve tapers on four planes, all of which must meet flawlessly down the center and at the tip.
What I do is grind the distal taper first, then the side tapers to the tip ... leaving a little extra at te tip ... and then rough grind the four bevels. I leave te tang unshaped to provide a flat surface. Once it is close to the final shape, I switch to grinding vertical on the platen. I use a grinding magnet to hold the blade by the unfinished tang. Obviously, you need a flat platen. I use a 10" carbide platen now, buy used a pyroceramic glass platen for many years.

In the beginning, plan on the dagger to end up a bit smaller than you planned. You might even want to start out about 10% oversize.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Welcome to Shop talk TRI Steel. Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.

Daggers are one of the most difficult knives to grind. They involve tapers on four planes, all of which must meet flawlessly down the center and at the tip.
What I do is grind the distal taper first, then the side tapers to the tip ... leaving a little extra at te tip ... and then rough grind the four bevels. I leave te tang unshaped to provide a flat surface. Once it is close to the final shape, I switch to grinding vertical on the platen. I use a grinding magnet to hold the blade by the unfinished tang. Obviously, you need a flat platen. I use a 10" carbide platen now, buy used a pyroceramic glass platen for many years.

In the beginning, plan on the dagger to end up a bit smaller than you planned. You might even want to start out about 10% oversize.
Click to expand...
Thank you Stacy for the tips. What method do you use to do the distal taper? Unfortunately, I only have 2x42 and 1x30 grinders.
 
If I only had your grinder options, I would rough it out on a 80 grit belt and finish the bevels by hand with files and then abrasive papers on a hard backing block. That is how I finish all my daggers anyway.

I grind the distal taper after doing the side tapers, then start the bevels. I only distal taper a dagger about half what it will need. The side tapers also leave about 1/4" of flat tip metal, too. The excess will come off naturally as you do the quad bevels. Trust me, extra at the tip to start with prevents a 6" dagger from becoming a 5" dagger by the time you are done.
 
TRI Steel said:
Hey Everyone,
I am pretty new to blade making and need help with doing dagger bevels. Hopefully my question makes sense.

As I slide the blade across the platen, should I move it in a straight line or pull it towards me as I near the tip?

Another stumbling block - If the dagger blade has a significant tapper, do I still pull it straight across the platen or do something different?
Thanks for any help,
Kevin
Click to expand...
Great question — I’m still learning too, especially with flat and convex bevels, but with daggers I think pulling slightly towards you near the tip helps keep symmetry. If there’s a strong taper, you might need to adjust your angle slightly. Good luck!
 
Welcome Nastassiia. Fill out your profile so we know where you are and a bit about you. (I'm guessing Greece?)
 
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