Finish grinding a forged, flat ground Bowie blade w/ Nick Wheeler

You know, there is a BitCoin donation thingy out there we could use instead of PayPal... I'd donate 1/10,000 of a BitCoin for this for sure :-)
 
I watched these back when you first posted them. I stalk... er subscribe to your youtube channel.
It's been really cool watching these JP Bowie videos... It's like an awesome video WIP.
Gonna watch the sharpening one during lunch today.
 
This is how I sharpen the blades. I didn't talk about the clip, because it's already sharp off the grinder (just has a burr on it).

The video ended up a lot longer than I wanted it, but that's pretty much always the case. Nobody will force you to watch it! ;)


[video=youtube;z7zg1tLHHlw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7zg1tLHHlw&lc=z13vhrrhawukgz3jo04cchlbmtbqwd3zsrs0k[/video]
 
Sweet Videos Nick!......you didn't sharpen it right though!:eek:;):D
Are there other parts to look forward to?
Thanks for all this
 
NickWheeler said:
Thanks guys!

Now if only this were a thread in a knife making forum with something really interesting and helpful, like one that caused people to question what country I'm from and where I get my materials, it could have 3 pages of replies too!!! :rolleyes: ;)
Click to expand...

Now that is funny! Once again, great vids NW...many thanks.
 
Nick I am curious as to why you sharpen before hand finishing. Is that your normal process, or was it just for the videos and demonstration?
 
Chris- why wouldn't you??? ;)


Actually, that is my normal practice.

Somewhere around 10 or 12 years ago I was talking to Dan Farr about sharpening, and Dad told me, "Well, my sharpening actually begins with my hand finishing because that's when I refine the edge geometry."

That really struck me because I had always followed the, "sharpening is always the last thing you do" mindset. A lot of the folks that follow that, have a fairly wide secondary bevel on their blades (NOT ALL, but many).

I want the finished knife to have a refined geometry that glides through whatever it will be cutting. A really wide secondary bevel indicates the main bevel was still thick before it was sharpened. If I take the edge down to where it's sharp, then I eliminate the chances of a honky secondary bevel.

At that point, I can do some cutting tests with the blade prior to spending any time hand sanding. Plus, I can tweak anything, if I need to, with the hand sanding.


I dull the edge just a little with some 500X paper wrapped around a block before the hand work. But it's still sharp enough to cut a guy pretty damn bad, so it's important to have a sanding set-up that allows you to clamp the blade down safe and secure. :)
 
Nick,
Thanks for the reply. I totally understand and makes perfect sense.
Being sharp while finishing is also a way to keep you on your toes and not daze off.
 
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