- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
I've still only made about 10 knives on the new grinder, but I've been getting frustrated with flat grinding. Part of it is that the platen I have isn't totally flat, which I know how to remedy (just as matter of doing it!), and I think, ironically, that using 1/8" stock is harder than thicker stock. A couple months ago Kim Breed sent me a piece of his cable damascus, and here are some pics of the grind and finish. I clay heat treated and dunked it in ferric chloride for quite some time, but not as much contrast as I would've hoped for. Looks good, but not quite what I wanted. Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the grind, which I finally got the hang of. The steel is probably 3/16", maybe a bit less, thick, so I think with thicker steel there is a little more leeway in getting the angle of the flat established, and making corrections along the way. Anyway, it feels good to have crossed that bridge! The other nice thing about it is that I managed to not only get a good flat grind, but it has a point and edge that are centered and the flat is symmetrical on both sides and I didn't have to tune it up with the file at all. Could be beginner's luck, too! 
