First Bowie/camp I ever ground out (wip)

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psycho78

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Jun 17, 2006
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I had a big chunk of ATS-34 layin around and decided to see if I could make myself a camp knife. I'm used to grinding really small blades and thought this would surely end up in the junk pile. I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly this went. I seemed to have better control with the big blade.

Sorry for the terrible picture. as always, any comments and criticisms always welcome.

I'll come back when i get it drilled, heat treated and handled. Thanks guys!

dundeebowie.jpg
 
Looks great! I had the same experience with the first larger knife I ever made. Lots of flat to help you feel where you are grinding so once the bevel is established, it tends to go pretty smoothly. I just had to watch out for 2" lines mainly.

Can't wait to see it finished up!

--nathan
 
Thanks Nathan!

Its the first time I ever used a push stick too, and I think that's how I got the bevel so clean. I learn new stuff all the time. I always use the tool rest with my Coote, and it helped keep things straight with this big boy. I wrapped the push stick with some cloth, pushed the blade hard into the belt with it and pulled it across. It kept really even pressure, and the cloth helped the blade slide across easily.

I'm going to use this with all of my blades from now on.

Thanks again for your comments. Any suggestion on handle materials?
 
Btw, the false edge was not planned at all. I was messing around and decided to try one out. I scribed the parallel lines on the clip, and with the tool rest it just kinda came out. First false edge :p
 
Very nice. Are you maintaining the full thickness down the blade or going for a bit of distal taper?

How are you going to cut the saw teeth into the spine for that 'real woodsman' look? :D
 
Thanks Vaughn, It's a big thick beast of a knife. Full thickness down until the start of the false edge. Was going for something like a Becker.

Thanks four corners. The handle shape came from a giant screwup. More experienced makers than myself have always said that you can take metal off, but cant put it back on. That's what happened with me. The handle is drastically different than my original template. It feels good in the hand without any scales attached, so I'm sure it will turn out just fine.

I figured out some hot spots just by handling it. Sometimes great looking designs on paper suck in the hand. You have to adjust those hot spots and move finger grooves up or back etc, so they wont be sticking you during use.
 
psycho78 said:
Its the first time I ever used a push stick too, and I think that's how I got the bevel so clean. I learn new stuff all the time. I always use the tool rest with my Coote, and it helped keep things straight with this big boy. I wrapped the push stick with some cloth, pushed the blade hard into the belt with it and pulled it across. It kept really even pressure, and the cloth helped the blade slide across easily.
Click to expand...
Can you please explain? What is a push stick? What cloth?
Thanks a lot!
 
Steinmann, a push stick is just a piece of scrap that you can use in place of your finger to control the placement of pressure on a blade during a grind. Typically the knife is held via the handle with one hand while the other supports the blade/presses the blade into the belt. This get hot really quickly with any pressure, and it's also easy to jab a thumb into the belt if the blade slips. Some people use a push stick held in their hand that they use to press the blade into the belt while controlling/pulling the knife with the other hand. The cloth referred to was simply to allow the blade to slip past the push stick.

So in this case, it sounds as though the blade was being supported on a work rest, the control hand was gripping the handle and pulling the blade from plunge to tip over the belt while the push stick was applying pressure to push the blade into the belt. I've experimented with this method a few times, and while I could make it work, I'm just so use to my own method of free-hand grinding that I never switched over.

I use a piece of micarta scrap that I've sanded to a smooth rounded end as a push stick when I need it. Something else that works really well is UHMW plastic (stands for "ultra high molecular weight"). This is a really dense plastic which is very slippery. It slides along the blade really well without having to use a cloth or something like that (I've never used a cloth covering on a push stick).

--nathan
 
haha thanks Nathan, you're way better at explaining things than I am :p

The push stick was something I just cobbled together yesterday because halfway through the grind, the blade would get insanely hot. That's a lot of blade to pull across. More than I'm used to. Got hot on the old thumb real quick. You can pull a smaller blade across rather quickly and the heat will not interrupt your hands.

My push stick is just an old piece off of a rough 2x4 with a finger from an old work glove slid onto it. Very improvisational. The rough wood wasn't letting the blade slip across so easy, even when I dressed it up a bit. The cloth from that glove helped make things smoother.

I'm liking the polished micarta idea. I have some scrap layin around and will try that next.
 
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Nice looking grind so far, Psycho!:thumbup: I have been doing mostly smaller knives because that is what I use and carry most, but I just got an order for a larger blade so I'll be right behind ya:D

Keep the pics coming, it's looking good!
 
Johnny, I've been following your progress, and you are rocking the hell out of this knifemaking thing my friend. I have liked every one of your designs, grinds, and handles so far.

Trust me, don't be intimidated by a big blade. Like I said a few posts ago, this one was actually one of the easiest blades I've ground. I was sure this one would end up in the junk heap. Both sides are identical, and I'm starting to think I should slap a handle on it and call it good.
 
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