First Knife WIP

Varga Knives

Varga Knives

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Aug 12, 2006
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Okay, I've read some WIP threads that showcase amazing knives as a first attempt. This isn't one of those. My biggest fear, the bevel, has reared its ugly head. You guys make it look too easy.

I'm starting with Aldo's 1084 in 3/16" x 2" in 4 foot lengths.

I quickly drew up a bunch of patterns and decided to first try this one.
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I cut the length out with a jig-saw and got to hoggin' on my 8" wheel. For this I used a 36 grit, 6 year old, hand-me-down, no name belt and it was slow going. When I can afford it I'm going to splurge on some good belts. Lots of sparks and lots of mess. But I eventually got it to where I wanted it on the wheel and made a last pass on the platen at 90 degrees to square up the edge. I was really pleased with the way the profile came out. (don't worry about the nubby thing it was a stupid "too little too late" idea that I'll clean up later)
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Scribed the edge and set the platen to 4.5 degrees so I could keep the knife at 90 degrees and hopefully get it to where I want it. Bad idea. My bevel is not only all over the place but very close to my scribed edge while being no where near the top mark of my bevel.
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Lucky for me I ran out of time or I would have screwed it up beyond repair. I'm going to try it at 3 degrees on my next attempt and maybe put together the jig that's in my mind. I would just finish it the best I can unaided (which would not be good) but I really love the profile and I want to save this nice piece of steel.

Once I can get passed my bevel issue I think I have a good game plan for the rest of the build.

I don't think I'll have time to get back in the garage for at least a few days and hopefully Saturday I can pick up a HF drill press.
 
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Hi Strider, On a side note, before you go to HF for a Drill Press, check out your local Craigs list? I found a 1972 floor model Craftsman Drill press for $100.00 So much happier to have found that over a HF model that will be OK but maybe not great? Sweet looking chopper BTW!
 
You can finish your bevel profile by grinding where your current profile meets the unground part of the bevel. Then you just adjust your angle a little bit so the belt reaches the edge and top of the bevel at the same time. It kinda like you are talking about in using s 3 degree bevel but this way you done have to guess at the angle ahead of time. A bit of blue or magic marker helps keep track of where you are grinding.

On a side note, at this point I usually use a 60 grit, typically a used belt to start then go the new belts.
 
PaMtnBkr - Thanks. I have been scouring Craigslist for a while and every time I get close to pulling the trigger I back off. I floor standing DP's are too big for my space but I may have to rethink that if they are much better. There are many things to like about the older DP's but I also don't want something that needs to be repaired. The Harbor Freight Central Machinery DP I am looking at has .5 HP and 12 speeds for $104 with coupon. People seem to generally think of these as one of the better items HF has for sale.

Patrickknives - Thanks. I have the blue dye so I'll cover the whole knife at this point and get a better idea of where I'm grinding. I like your idea and that's was one of the ideas I was mulling around. The guy I bought the grinder from gave me (4) 35 grit belts, (3) 80, (4) 120, (4) 220 (240?), (4) 400, (4) 600 and some in the higher microns. Not ideally where I want to start but I may as well use what I got.
 
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maintaining shallow bevel angles with just a simple jig is hard - you're working with the assumption that the table is flat, square, and the belt tracks perfectly. I know the difficulty, I had the same experience.

What I learned was how to start the bevel jigless, and then walk it up toward the spine by applying pressure in the appropriate place with a push stick. Approach the belt edge-first, a little steeper than you want. This will leave goofs at the edge, which you're grinding mostly away anyway, rather than up near the spine where they are very hard to correct.

I think Salem Straub has some good pointers on his website, IIRC.

GREAT first run, BTW! Keep at it!
 
I perused Salem's sight before but just went and read the section on Grinding Tips. What an eye opener! Also, I was on the fence about spending more money and now a drill press may have to wait because I just bought the bubble jig.
 
I don't know what I'd do without my drill press... I haven't tried the bubble jig, and haven't felt like I need it yet, but I'm sure there will come a time. You may want to read the articles on Salem's site about finishing as well, when it comes time. Keep up the good work!
 
I had some time yesterday and I couldn't wait for the Bubble Jig to arrive so I made up my own jig and got to some more grinding. I just wanted to use the jig to make some fairly even flats and then free hand from there. Here it is after grinding with the jig. photo-51.jpgAt this point I thought the blade was salvaged and I was happy with the progress.

Continued on free hand and, well, let's just say it was the best I could do. Oh, I tried Salem's side to side hip grinding with the elbows locked in and it just doesn't work for me. Could be my bench is too high. photo-52.jpg photo-53.jpg
Not like I envisioned but for my first attempt I am still happy. Unsure of where I want to go from here. As messed up as it is I may just leave the grind height alone because I think I'll thin the edge out too much if I try to turn in into an FFG. As it is right now I think it would still make a great knife for me to use. photo-54.JPG

The edge is fairly even and dime sized. I polished the handle and profile all around except for the finger grooves where I still need some more file work and sanding. photo-55.jpg


Shoulders are a BITCH! I really think I should pick up some J-Flex belts and work those on the wheel. Next time. I'll fix these up by hand but they are already encroaching too much on the choil to have much room to work them out. I'll have to work a Spanish Notch in front on the choil.

All the handle material I bought is 1.5" wide. Oops! Nothing I have will fit the width of this handle so I'll look into buying some wider stock if available.

Anyway, this has been a lot of fun so far and there is no amount of reading or video watching that can come close to the education of trying it yourself.
 
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Can't see pics, but glad you got some more practice. I'll sometimes use a file or coarse sandpaper to help me true up my flat grinds. Or the disc sander. Are you using a push stick, by the way? Keeping your speed of movement relatively constant seems to me to be important in keeping the grinds consistent. I do mine all freehand. I think the best part is seeing how much better you can get after learning the lessons from each blade. I really liked that thread about knives a year later. It's pretty cool to see how far you can go in a relatively short period of time.
 
Thanks Crimson - Pics fixed. Could you post a link to the thread you mentioned, I couldn't find it. I tried a push stick and I just don't get it. Maybe with some more practice it will grow on me and save me from more chewed up fingers on my gloves.

I couldn't figure out a good way to fix the first one so I made another to get more experience and basically the same thing happened on the bevel. Not too bad but I just couldn't get them straight. I think I got the feel of putting more pressure towards the spine a little too late. I ended up learning enough from the second one to fix the first but they are both FFG's. The bevel didn't cut into the taper at all so I am still pretty happy with them.

I still have a lot of finishing on the profile of the finger side of the handle. I plan on doing all that with a file if I could just manage to keep it perpendicular.

I also left a lot of room on the second one's ricasso to finish up the plunge. Either I'll pick up some J-Flex belts, as I mentioned, or try to finish them with files. Does anyone know trick to filing these that won't screw up the bevel? Maybe a piece of some kind of tape on the file flats which would leave the side of the file open? Hmm.

If I don't find a good used (and cheap) drill press by Saturday I'm going to pull the trigger on a Harbor Freight. When I upgrade later I'm sure I can still find a use for it.

I hand sanded up to 220 and then Scotchbrite just for S&G's. There are still some imperfections in the blade and I may go back down in sanding again but I am worried about making it too thin for the heat treating. It sure is easy to make a mistake and very hard to correct them. In the future I'll just leave out the mistakes in the first place :).

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It will help your plunge lines if you track the belt 1/16" to 1/8" off the edge of the platen, and use a flexible belt, like the red (somewhat flexible) or yellow (most flexible) jflexes, that way they flex up around the platen and nicely round out the plunge line. Just remember to pick the trailing side of the knife up off the platen a little bit, because it's still cutting 2" away from the part you're working on, and you can gouge the bevels when you're concentrating on the plunge lines.

Some people even round the edge of their platen slightly, to help with more rounded plunges.. I haven't done this as I still want to get good at simple stuff before I try to get fancy.
 
i'm so glad you started on your first knife!!!
i'm sure you'll do a fantastic job!

keep it up :D
 
Thanks! It's been fun so far and I like the way they are turning out. I think once I tighten up the plunges and work out the little "dings" they will look great, or at least better than I was expecting. Still can't decide if I should go with tubes or Corby bolts. I love tubes but that requires a few more bucks for the 82 degree dies. I know I can get away with the screw head method of pressing the tubes but I am such a perfectionist it would annoy me to no end if it didn't come out right. At least it won't be an issue for a while.
 
Did you still need the link? I linked the one I was talking about earlier.

You can also grind just short of where you want to put your plunges, and then file them in, then clean up a bit with the belts and hand sanding.
 
excellent man !!! and 3/8ths to boot !!!! yikes:eek:

I use a jig for scandis and freehand everything else (and it shows :) ) I'm kinda on the fence about 'fixed' jigs as I think one can grow dependent on them and really hinders a makers expressive juices from flowing.. course I really haven't made knives long enough for my opinion to hold water, just sayin... :D I'd love to get me a bubble jig eventually ...

your knife looks awesome brother keep up the good work !!

take care,
rob
 
Thanks!!! I think a little more practice and it will get there. My bubble jig arrived yesterday and i'll use it on my next grind. I'm mostly working without the rest bbecause I find it gets in the way but I may try it with the rest. It's all a matter of throwing a variety of methods out there and seeing what sticks. I'm.really looking forward to finishing these two and it's only a matter of finding the time
 
Wow am I upset! I really polished these two up while I was waiting for the J Flex belts to come in. There were little dings here and there and so as not to screw them up I went back down to hand sanding 100 through 600. Then scotchbrite on one and the other I tried 2000 on with interesting results (since I didn't have any paper in between 600 and 2000). It actually came out pretty good but I'm just experimenting at this point. Still very happy with the way they are turning out. May not be everyone'e cup of tea but as long as I like them...

My J Flex belts came in and so I went to fix the plunges. I tried mgysgthath's advice and still destroyed the one with the larger ricasso. I dug some huge trenches on the blade from the far side of the belt when concentrating on the plunge. It's deep. And the plunge still sucks. Arghh! I know that you learn more from a mistake but it's still deflating. I tried to fix the other one too and only screwed it up a little, it may be salvageable and that plunge still sucks too.

As much as I want to go and redeem myself and get passed this it turns out that I can only spare a couple of hours a week to play so it will just gnaw on me for awhile.

Well, at least the one that I can save was my "first" so there is some solace if I can ever finish it.

I sold my Wicked Edge and was planning to buy a drill press with that money but bills are a scary priority right now so poking holes in steel will have to wait a bit longer.
 
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strider214 said:
Wow am I upset! I really polished these two up while I was waiting for the J Flex belts to come in. There were little dings here and there and so as not to screw them up I went back down to hand sanding 100 through 600. Then scotchbrite on one and the other I tried 2000 on with interesting results (since I didn't have any paper in between 600 and 2000). It actually came out pretty good but I'm just experimenting at this point. Still very happy with the way they are turning out. May not be everyone'e cup of tea but as long as I like them...

My J Flex belts came in and so I went to fix the plunges. I destroyed the one with the larger ricasso. I dug some huge trenches on the blade from the far side of the belt when concentrating on the plunge. It's deep. And the plunge still sucks. Arghh! I know that you learn more from a mistake but it's still deflating. I tried to fix the other one too and only screwed it up a little, it may be salvageable and that plunge still sucks too.

As much as I want to go and redeem myself and get passed this it turns out that I can only spare a couple of hours a week to play so it will just gnaw on me for awhile.

Well, at least the one that I can save was my "first" so there is some solace if I can ever finish it.

I sold my Wicked Edge and was planning to buy a drill press with that money but bills are a scary priority right now so poking holes in steel will have to wait a bit longer.
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Ah the dreaded 2 inch disease. I ground 5 blades on the weekend (first time using my bubble jig) and one of them I did that too as well :( It's a bummer, but you can thin it down and salvage it still perhaps. If you lift the tip side of the knife slightly off the platen when working on your plunges you can avoid that 2 inch mark.. it's easy to forget though. Are you tracking the jflex over the edge of the platen? Also jflex come in red and yellow, the yellow is more flexible than the red (but doesn't last as long).
 
Using the yellow and tracking it over. I can't remember exactly when it happened but even by lifting the tip I was still thinning out the blade too much at the ricasso and I think it happened when I was laying it flat in order the even out the edge.

I can probably save it but I would need to bring the edge up a 1/4" to remove the gouge. Completely changes the knife but I could get rid of the choil and it may not end up too bad. Thanks!
 
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