First efforts c&c before I proceed

[Rsq]

I think i'm about done on the belt grinder. I want to set the bevels with diamond plates so that I maintain control and don't make them too thin before sending them to Peters. The big one is m390, .2 inches thick and the smaller one is elmax, 1/4 inch stock. I am going for convex grinds with flat bevels. I haven't done the spine work yet on the larger tanto, but the smaller one has a rounded spine already.

S

 

[Frank Niro]

I hope you can handle what I'm going to say. Please believe me I'm not going to be mean or cruel but truthfull. What yuo have done may have been a lot of work but these will not work as cutting knives. They are far too thick to be shapened and will never cut well. Now on the other hand, if you are working on some knives you want to have around as what you concider to be art knives then the finishing is fine. Frank

 

[Rsq]

This is why I'm asking for c&c. How much thinner should I make them?

It should also be noted that the pictures were taken in low light, and I'm leaving the edges thick so they don't warp during ht.

I'm going to put a 15 degree flat bevel on each side of both of them with a dmt xxc plate, so they will certainly be thinner at the cutting edge

 

[Rsq]

I guess what I'm wondering is if there's anything else that I should do, aesthetically, functionally or to get it ready for ht before I send it out, and if 15 degrees is a good bevel angle. I've been preferring to err on the side of leaving too much stock vs removing too much

 

[orangehero]

That still seems like a pretty obtuse angle. For example, a full flat grind on a 3/16" thick blade, 1" wide, with 0.015" at the cutting edge would be a 4.9Deg bevel. On a 1.5" wide blade it's 3.3Deg. 15Deg is closer to what you want your edge bevel to be once you sharpen it.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

If you want to try a scandi grind take a few degrees off the 15, say 12 or 12.5 degrees. For a flat grind a 5 through 3.5 will work as orangehero stated.

Fred

 

[night man]

I cant remember ever seeing a convex grind with a flat edge bevel. The reason for a convex edge or a convex blade to a zero edge is for edge strength, but even on those there is considerably more metal taken off than what you have. With a flat edge and a convex grind the blade is going to cut great, up to the point it gets past that flat edge and the media you are cutting encounters the obtuse thick metal behind the edge, then it will not cut at all and act more like a wedge, if that makes sense.

Instead of doing a convex grind with a flat edge bevel, do a flat grind with a convex bevel. That would make for much better chopper and cutter/slicer in general. You don't even have to make the grind a full flat. You could do the flat grinds about 1/2 - 3/4 of the blade height and it would still be a large improvement over what you have.

You have a great start. Keep grinding and take these tips and you will have a good chopper. Good luck.

 

[night man]

Here is an example of a chopper I made with a blade that is a little more than 7" long and 2" high. It is 1/4" thick. Keep in mind, this is chisel ground (ground on one side only). The main grind goes about halfway up the height of the blade and the edge bevel will be either a convex edge or a 30 degree inclusive edge. I have really good results with this for good cutting and chopping performance and edge strength.