Filing vs. Grinding

BChou-E29 said:
Newbie question here... But is there any difference between a knife whose bevels have been filed in and a knife that has been ground with a belt grinder?
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I am going to assume you are talking about the finished product and whether you can tell the difference, if you don’t know which techniques was used to achieve that finished product. Done properly using a filing technique and a grinder technique the short answer is no!

Now the long answer is a lot of the information from above. For example on a grinder or wheel you can do a hollow grind. It is nearly impossible to duplicate that with a file. I won't say it would be impossible but, the amount of work is going to more than most would care to attempt. :jerkit:

I did my first few with nothing but files and sandpaper. So I have a great appreciation for those who do it totally by hand. Basically by starting out filing you will learn more of the basics that can be easily overlooked when jumping straight into grinding.

Now having said that I am in the process of building a 2x72 grinder. :eek: Why? I like to use this analogy. I am a carpenter by trade, I can build a house with a a handsaw, a level and a hammer. Does, that mean I am going to do that, ah, NO! Why? because over the years I have learned buying quality tools and letting them do the work is much easier and faster! Does that make me wrong for doing it that way, NO! Does that mean I don't appreciate the method of all by hand, No!

Finally it's like someone told me when I asked this question. "You will appreciate those first knives much more when you finally learn to do the work on a grinder! :)
 
I started with a really lousy belt sander and was forced to learn the art of draw filing. I still use those filing techniques for many aspects of metalwork. Draw filing is really the same motion as scraping and I have found that there are things a scraper can do that a belt sander can't.

Don Fogg just blasts the scale off of his forgings with a sander and does nearly all shaping with scrapers and files.

-Nick
 
NStricker said:
Most people work harder at filing than they need to. Files cut on the forward stroke. You need just enough downward pressure to make sure that the teeth grab the steel and not just skate across the surface. Pushing down as hard as you can while filing doesn't make the cutting go any faster--the teeth on a file will only cut so deep. I've seen a lot of guys put a lot of muscle into the filing, and they just didn't need to.

And if you are just starting out and using files to grind your knife bevels--do yourself a favor and use thinner stock. Steel that is 1/8 or 3/32 inch thick is fine for a small 3-4 inch blade. If you are thinking that the first knife you are going to make is a 1/4 inch thick, 12 inch bowie, you are going to be working at it for a while and will likely become discouraged before it gets finished.
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Man that's me all over! LOL!
My first dlade is pretty ambitious, for sure. Hopefully it will turn out nice enough to show you guys. :D
 
Files are good for shapping but I will never again sharpen with just a stone or sandpaper after heat treating... even a 1x32 or 42 does a good job at this.
 
NStricker said:
My first few knives were made with files.

Most people work harder at filing than they need to. Files cut on the forward stroke. You need just enough downward pressure to make sure that the teeth grab the steel and not just skate across the surface. Pushing down as hard as you can while filing doesn't make the cutting go any faster--the teeth on a file will only cut so deep. I've seen a lot of guys put a lot of muscle into the filing, and they just didn't need to.

And if you are just starting out and using files to grind your knife bevels--do yourself a favor and use thinner stock. Steel that is 1/8 or 3/32 inch thick is fine for a small 3-4 inch blade. If you are thinking that the first knife you are going to make is a 1/4 inch thick, 12 inch bowie, you are going to be working at it for a while and will likely become discouraged before it gets finished.
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That sounds like me :grumpy:
Too much pressure gave me some pits in the grind since the edges, rather than the flats of the files were doing the cutting (thanks Will). Oh well... I think I can still pull it around. It's not gonna be perfect but this is a learning process I guess :D
 
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