First Stock removal knife

[donnord]

I had sketched out 3 designs and ended up going with this mini cleaver, why, because it seems easier to practice on. The material is 440C 1/8"thick. So after a few hours today here is where I am, see pics. I do have a question or 2, I shaped the blade bevel with an 80 grit ceramic belt on my 1X30 Rikon VS, so there are some deep grind lines, I assume those should be eliminated for heat treating. Also keeping a good parallel grind line is a challenge. Big cuts were made by hacksaw to rough out the shape, then I used the 1X30. I tried free-handing for a bit, did not go well, then figured out a way to make a simple jig. That helped but more work needs to be done. So should I use the grinder with finer grits to smooth the grind or hand sand? The other side is not as good and needs a little more work on the 80 grit belt I am afraid, as the top line is wavy. Once I figured out the jig I basically started over with 80 grit to even up grinds, thats where it stands. Thoughts, suggestions?

 

[Lehbauer]

There is a huge thread on here about how far to bevel before or after heat treat. From what I can see is it really comes down to personal preference. as you are just starting out, it will take a bit of time to find your preference. Personally i've had good results with pre grinding to 120 grit and an edge thickness of approximately 0.035" before heat treating. Then clean up with 120, 220 on the grinder, then hand sanding. I'm only just finished lucky thirteen so by no means an expert. I've only had two develop small warps. One that I was able to fix with the three nail method in a vise post temper, and one that I couldn't quite get all the way, but was only noticeable when sighting down the blade or placing against a flat surface.
Welcome to the makers side of the forum. What are you using for handle material?

 

[Hengelo_77]

Good one. Look up draw filing, clean up with that and sand a bit higher pre HT

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

How will you do the HT? That determines a lot about how far to go on the bevels before you do HT.

Normally, you want the surface at least 120 grit and all deep scratches gone before HT. Some folks go to 400 grit, and some folks only shape the profile and do all grinding post-HT. With your 1X30 you will want to get part of the work done before it gets hard.

 

[donnord]

Thanks for the replies. I will be sending the blade to Texas Knife for heat treating. As far as handle materials I have some Olivewood scales on hand that I think I will use. The scales next to it are curly maple but they are for another project. After doing more reading I on this subject, I think I will need to smooth the grinds out prior to HT. As Stacey mentioned it will be easier to work with the annealed steel rather than hardened.