files vs. grinder

[jdaniels]

how much faster are grinders vs files. I am working on my second knife which is ready for HT. It only has about a 2" blade and about 4.5 overall length. I ground down the blade in only a few hours and had all of the sides smoothed down from my bench grinder. I thought this was pretty quick and my file was old but it still cut.

also i have a double cut and a singe cut bastard file and the double cut seems to leave a smoother finish than the singel and it takes off more metal. Is this true. I have the blade sanded down first with 100 then 240 sand paper.

What would be a good wood to use for the handle. I am going to research making pins for the handle and attaching them. This site is awesome and there is tons of stuff to read I will stay up until 2am just reading. You guys were right this is addicting.

 

[Mike Hull]

The last time I ground blades of that aproximate length, it took me about 20-25 minutes to do 5 of them. It took so long because I was out of practice.

 

[Matt Shade]

SHOW OFF!

Its possible to rough blades out that fast if you have a really good grinder, and ALOT of practice.

A good grinder is much faster than a file. Benchgrinders especially, with the right wheels. They do have drawbacks though.
They can leave more work finishing, as you've seen different types of files leave different levels of finish. Its the same with grinding wheels/belt grinders. If your using a bench grinder, you will probably have some deep scratches that are hard to get out by hand.
Its also alot easier to make a mistake when your removing material that fast.
The last 2" blade I ground was for a folder, and using an 8" benchgrinder it took roughly 45 minutes. It was very narrow though, so there was a lot less material to remove. Grinding speed is pretty subjective really.


For the handle, the sky is the limit almost. I like to use woods that are naturally hard, and then finish them with Watco's danish oil. It gives a nice shine like the stock of a fancy rifle, its not a plastic shiney but brings out the figure in the wood. I've been very happy with the results I've gotten using Cocobolo (very nasty stuff to work with, it has an oil in it that is an allergen to almost everyone, severe to some) Rosewood (not as nasty to work with, still have same precautions, wear a dust mask and avoid prolonged exposure) and good old fashioned walnut. If you have a woodworking store nearby (woodcraft is great) they might have a selection of hardwoods to choose from.

You can attach the scales with pins and epoxy. For the pinstock, just go to the local hardware store and get some brass brazing rod, its cheap. Less than $2 for a 3ft long peice of 1/8" stock last time I bought it.

Now get some sleep, its not good to work when your tired

 

[etp777]

For wood just about any hardwood can be used with jsut an oil finish, and with stabilizing technology where it is now, you can get all those beaitufl softer woods presoaked with resin so they're hard enough to make great handles too.

I just pick up hardwoods at local wood crafting store (Paxton Wood). I will probably go pick up some more tomorrow actually. Have bocote and rosewood now, thinking of adding some more

 

[J.Ziegler]

Hi.... a couple of years back I was over a Joe Arnolds in London Ont. where he was teaching me the fine art of hollow grinding using the R.W. Wilson method. You stand at the 72" grinder with an 8"wheel and assume the position knife blank edge up and elbows braced at your sides. Joe stands behind you with a sharpened piece of rod 1/4" from your back. If you move out of the "zone" you get stuck ! Being a slow learner i was begining to get quite testy and suggested I had another use for that rod. Joe decided it was time for a demonstration of what the end result of this type of training could produce. It was kind of like the karate kid, you know..."Wax on Wax off".
Well he pulled out a pile of blanks in about 4-5 different styles and put a new 60 grit belt on each of two model 50 grinders that are side by side in his shop and placed the quenching bucket on a stool between them.
He then told me to keep quenching them and hand him a fresh blank as he handed them off to me.
He then ground one side of the first blade and gave it to me to quench as I handed a fresh one to him. We continued this back and forth until all the blades were hollow ground.
RESULT... 17 blades of various styles and lengths hollow ground in 21 minutes, "freehand". It became a standing joke with us any time I would question why he wanted me to do somthing a certain way. He would smile and say "Wax on,Wax off".
I hope to have him repeat this sometime and get it on video as when I told some makers at the CKG show about it there were quite a few who didn't believe me and I don't blame them cause If I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't believe it either.

Sorry for the epic but I just love telling this story.

Jim Ziegler