flat-grinding a dagger

Burchtree

Burchtree

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I've done some hollow-ground daggers, but I want to try to flat grind one on some turkish twist damascus. Most all my flats are full "Vs" so this will be new territory. Any suggestions or tips you almighty knife grinders?
 
Michael, the usual suggestions are use plenty of layout fluid, hold your mouth right, etc, etc.

One little cheat that I use is when you are down to the last few swipes and the line just doesn't look quite right, use a slack belt on it. That just cleans up everything for me.
 
Ya, Practice on something cheap before going at that damascus. All the words of wisdom won't help much until you are holding a miss-ground blade in your hands and say to yourself "Ohh, now I get it, well I'll save this in case I start making pocket knives". ;)

Jerry
 
Make sure you pay homage to Jambi, by chanting "mekka lekka hi mekka hiney hiney ho", and you should be fine. :p :D
 
I've never hollow ground a dagger but, I've done plenty of flat ground ones. My biggest problem starting was thinning the tip oo much. Leave your tip a little thick when you start out and the, once your going, take it down and even things out. Sacrificing a chicken couldn't hurt either...just the chicken. :D
 
Thanks all for the replies (well, some of you :D ) -- I'll see what I can do. If you see a dagger from me sometime in the future with a long fuller, you'll know things went array. :D
 
A response perhaps from an utter newbie? I had read here, many moons ago, about grinding daggers and the general concensus was that to get a crisp grind grind up to, but not all the way to, the center line before h/t and then connect in the center after. Made sense to me, at the time. Does that make sense to those of you that have actually done it????!!!!!! :D :footinmou
 
First of all, make sure it's FLAT. Even if I forge it, I take a dagger blade and surface grind it over it's entire length so that I have flat, parallel plains on each side.

Don't get very close to center before heat-treating: For one, daggers like to cork-screw in heat-treating. Unless you surface grind it and have a granite surface plate to check it on afterward....it can be hard to see it...but they like to none-the-less. Not ALWAYS, but the risk is there.

It's a LOT easier to grind a little more hardened steel than it is to straigten one out.

Also, the hardened steel will be much easier to control a straight line in (for me anyway).

On a side note. I would HOLLOW grind it Michael. Turkish twist is one of those patterns that only shows more drama and gives an even better light reflection the more it's ground into... and a hollow will certainly do that.

Just my $0.02 :D
Nick
 
10-4 on what Nick said about the hollow grind and Turkish/Persian or for any twist pattern for that matter. I just hollow ground one yesterday. My biggest one so far at 15 inch blade length not counting the riccoso.

Hopefully she won't warp during HT cause I already got her bevels meeting in the center. Time will tell.
 
I completely agree with Nick. I don't grind anything but the profile before HTing a dagger blade. After HT I grind it flat on both sides, then start the bevels.
 
I'll probably have to do some bevel grinding and thinning down before HT because I plan on doing a clay-coat. It's a pretty loose twist and would like to see what kind of hamon activity I get out of the W-2 and L-6 mix.
 
Michael,
If you get your heat just right to where the just the edges are at non-magnetic. You will get a hamon anyway without the clay. My results were with 1095. They may have had a lot to do with it.
 
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